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One of the problems of the present "structural unemployment" dilemna is that technological progress, particularly in cybernetics, has diminished the marketability of many skills that were once valued. When I worked in trucking during my first years after graduating from college, geographic knowledge, which you learned mostly by constant exposure to routes and maps, could be a big help at performance-review time; the development of GPS systems made that redundant -- and I'm sure there are similar examples in many other fields.
I've been re-employed steadily now for about a year and a half, but in a warehouse where electronic micro-management is the order of the day. The median age here is somewhere between 30 and 35; I'm 63. The only bright spot is that business is heavily skewed toward the Holiday season. So I can count on that, and summer work at a nearby theme park, and Unemployment Compensation to fill in the gaps, delaying Social Security for a couple of years in return for the 5% annual increase (in addition to COLA)
permitted for each year delayed beyond normal retirement.
Cushioning such as that is how the transition to a post-industrial economy, dependent to some degree on an older work force, will be established. It won't sit well with the "living wage" dreamers, who can understand neither that not everyone can expect to make enough to support a family when they have no family to support, and that there's not some huge vault full of "stolen" wealth -- somewhere. The economic advisers of both major parties understand this, but they also understand that the typical "swing voter" doesn't have much of an attention span.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 03-29-2013 at 04:37 AM..
We need to reindustrialize to both make a profit in this country and to employ more people. The first step is to make the investment community more secure about their expected profits.
The government can aid that by installing countervailing and protective tariffs on imports made in countries with their own import tariffs like China and with slave level wages and government subsidy like, again, China. The Chinese government and business community are dumping vast amounts of stuff well below and rational manufacturing cost and they are robbing us blind for their profit. We have to stop that first.
Then we have to create suitable work for the structurally unemployed. I am talking about industrial jobs like spot welder or brick stacker. These are being done by machines like programmable robots. This work is never coming back. The same applies to IT people that have not kept up with the programming currently being used. There are only so many legacy systems using COBAL for instance. Even if these people are retrained in modern programming and systems there are so many new graduates available at desperation wages I doubt if the unemployed would be hired.
So what do we do? As these people, due to their income cuts, are spending most of their income on shelter, food and energy we need to keep their income at the current level or, if we stop their unemployment payments, all the business they are currently buying from will go broke and creates even more unemployment. Our economy operates as a positive feedback system and is quite unstable. The people problem is that a business can shut down a factory and mothball the machinery until increased demand lets them reopen. The machinery does not starve or freezing in the dark during the shutdown. Without unemployment payments the former workers can.
Thus we may have to continue the unemployment payments until these people either become employed or reach retirement age and live on their pensions, if the still exist, or Social Security.
I know one thing for sure, we shouldn't cut them off. Many "unemployed" people want to go back to work, but they can't either find work, or aren't qualified or in distance of that job. What are these people suppose to do? Go on welfare?
I know one thing for sure, we shouldn't cut them off. Many "unemployed" people want to go back to work, but they can't either find work, or aren't qualified or in distance of that job. What are these people suppose to do? Go on welfare?
As I've said before, I had to take some pretty low-quality jobs at places like theme parks and C-stores in order to renew a claim during the six years I was underemployed. From some of the comments I heard on other sites during those years, I'd suspect that a lot of the people I met there viewed this as too much of a come-down, or were just too proud to take that path.
(And in fairness, I saw first-hand an instance or two of people who found only a few weeks of work, then were forced onto a miniscule claim, rather than, as intended, the 73 weeks of Tiers. It's my understanding that this "kink" in the "system" was later addressed and corrected.)
It just goes to show that any over-bureaucratized "safety net" is likely to develop a few holes from time to time.
I know one thing for sure, we shouldn't cut them off. Many "unemployed" people want to go back to work, but they can't either find work, or aren't qualified or in distance of that job. What are these people suppose to do? Go on welfare?
Semantics. You see a difference between endlessly extending unemployment and welfare? Either way these people are being given money for doing nothing.
Maybe rather than extending unemployment government could have relocation vouchers, bus tickets, some moving expenses, to get people to jobs somewhere else.
Lets say you were a logger out in Forks, WA and lost your job. There is virtually no other industry out there at all other than some tourism. Should government keep paying someone UE forever because they can't find a job in Forks, or should government offer a ride somewhere they might find a job?
I think the government should put long term unemployed people to work with public works projects. After the normal 26 weeks of state unemployment runs out the people should be shifted to public works projects. If we are going to be giving them money they would be better off working for it as it builds their self worth and gives them purpose.
That's an easy one. Give them enough money for their family to live on with dignity. Or is America so poor that we can't afford to?
The typical liberal answer to everything, give someone something. Forget earning it, just take or give it away.
Since when is welfare (exactly what you're talking about) living in dignity?
You just want to take from others. How about requiring people work on public projects to earn their "dignity" money? Oh no, that wouldn't be right, can't have a requirement to work for a social benefit can we?
People do not have jobs for a reason, could be one or many of many reasons. You help fix the problems that cause the unemployment, you don't treat symptoms. That doesn't fit into the give away mentality though. No, it is easier and more beneficial to those that take from one and give away to another to just say "here, take this money, its free and no, you don't have to do anything for it".
We "gave" people huge loans to buy houses they couldn't afford and look what happened. We've sunk untold billions into educations systems without requiring effort to learn and look what happened. We've given money to those who don't work so they don't have to for a long time and look what happened.
Now, lets just give them more.
Aren't you forgetting something? American doesn't have a penny. All of the USAs money comes from taxes and do you know where taxes come from? People who work or do something to earn money.
Tell you what, we start with you first. Send more of your money to the US Treasury, there is even a procedure that allows you to do it. Send them your money and stay away from mine because my dignity required I work for and earn it. I'll be damned if you take away my dignity so that someone else can just spend my money.
I would love to see something like the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) reinstated to "employ" long term unemployed people. However, I get the feeling from your post that the friends and relatives that you are talking about would think that common labor would be beneath them.
Fact of the matter is that there are only a precious few places where there are absolutely, positively NO jobs to be had. My philosophy is that there are always SOME kind of jobs out there, whether it is working at a convenience store, or cleaning motel rooms or waiting tables. The problem is NOT that your friends and relatives cannot find a job. The problem is that your friends and relatives are being too particular about how low they are willing to stoop to get a job.
Personally, I would love to see all unemployment compensation require 40 hours of labor to receive. Whether that labor be painting government housing or weed eating by the side of the road or whatever. There is PLENTY of work in this country that needs to be done (have you counted the pot holes in your city?). The hard part seems to be that everybody thinks they are too good to do them. Mind you, these are the same people who think that Welfare Mothers should "get off their butts" and do something for their checks. It's a tidy little double standard if you ask me.
20yrsinBranson
The government cut funding to Job Corps. Job Corps isn't taking new applications.
This government is not about helping Americans with jobs. No one cares either because it's Obama's administration making these cuts even in one of LBJ's Great Society programs.
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