I feel a great disturbance in the (work)Force. As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced.
From: Zero Hedge
Also this from ZH.
People don’t just drop out of the labor market, they drop off the ladder. Step by step they lose the ability to maintain ourselves in a state of readiness to work. The home, the car, the wife or husband, cable access, the cell phone line, the computer, one by one they drop away. The wardrobe deteriorates or pieces get left behind. Health care, diet, appearance deteriorates. Teeth are a big problem. You can get to a health clinic with luck and effort, but the only free dental care is extractions. Once your teeth go you’re marked. And then personal hygiene goes. It’s hard to keep it up when you’re feeling hopeless and ashamed of yourself, sleeping on a courch, a shelter or your car.
Being told there’s plenty of work if you’re just willing to take it is like a kick in the teeth to the many who aren’t even getting those jobs.
I honestly don’t know what people are going to do. It amazes me that there is so little fight-back in them. But millions are just giving up.
Comments
9 responses to “I Feel”
From one of the comments at zerohedge:
Try being over age 50 and getting the ax. You ain’t gonna find no stinkin job like you had before. That is the reality. Luckily I figured it out after I exhausted all my contacts still working in my industry. And that was in 2008. It hasn’t improved. I work 3 jobs and over 80 hours per week dealing with arrogant, still-employed, higher than mighty people who look down on those unemployed. I am truly grateful I found work but I don’t begrudge those getting unemployment benefits. Someone just needs to clue them in that they will have to make huge, downward moves in their lifestyle and that isn’t easy to do. They’ll have to cope with depression, a lack of self worth, and most likely losing everything and filing bankruptcy and enjoying foreclosure. It isn’t pretty but it’s survival in 2014.
I’ve cleaned up after a few of those drop-out situations. Enough to know how it works and that it can happen to anybody. You point about dental work hits home. Dentist’s rates have doubled in the last 10 years. It’s getting to where you need to be making $90K/yr just to keep your teeth and see the doctor.
I think you can connect the dots between the U6 series, continuing unemployment payments, the rise in SS disability payments, and the increase in part-time jobs as a percent of employment. It’s actually difficult to find anyone willing to work for $12/hr above-board. They’ll only do it for cash, no 1099. That’s my indication that people are surviving by maximizing transfer payments, and that the effective tax rate makes $12/hr starvation wages. There’s no point in working for so little, since it will just be confiscated by the feds.
That also means that if you fall between the cracks of the welfare system, you’re toast.
We desperately need to roll back fiscal Progressivism before the Treasury market blows up. Once it becomes impossible to borrow at low rates, the welfare payments dry up and you’ll see the fight-back come out.
Neil, exactly, and amen.
What they will do is what they did in 1932 vote democrat! And we are dragging the democratic party kicking and screaming from being too corperatist! You think this means socialism which is why you always lose look up sun tzu he will explain it to you!
cap*,
Actually, “progressivism” is fascism. Glad we could clear that up.
democrats are liberal. liberals don’t make very good fascists. republicans are conservative. conservatives make great fascist remember house un-american activities committe.
Ah, channeling Forest Gump. I get it.
I understand the House Un-American Activities Committee had people shouting from the rooftops they were afraid the speak above a whisper.
Yeah, the early 20th century Progressives stole the Liberal tag after they’d fouled their own brand beyond any possible cleanup. It took them the better part of the 20th century to rehabilitate the label. It’s really hard to claim you love the little people when you’re subjecting them to compulsory sterilization. And segregating them by race. And putting them in prison for leisure time activities (and even survival activities) that you don’t approve of. So yeah, the “Liberal” cum Progressives make great fascists. Just look at how enthusiastic Mussolini was about FDR’s program. And how the admiration was reciprocated.