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C. I thought the same way until we moved to this area with 15% unemployment and really got to know people going through economic hard times. In the past few years I have gotten to know quite a few unemployed people. Two of these people really wanted to work, took advantage of opportunities, and are now fully employed. The rest are full of excuses. Our next door neighbors, for example: they have no money, but the children have cellphones with unlimited texting. No, they can't afford food, but somehow they always have beer, soda, and chips. Oh, and tobacco - smokes for her, dip for him and for the boys. The kids get breakfast and lunch at school. The man is disabled (bad hand, bad foot, which, when combined with lack of education, does limit job options). His wife? "I ain't gonna do no work!" Yep. Getting to know the "unfortunate" does change your opinions.
It is interesting to actually talk to a lot of these people and unlike what the media makes people like this out to be, I'd say 95% of these chronic unemployed people put themselves right where they are of their own doing. Liberals will have a temper tantrum hearing that because to them we are helpless meek beings with no responsibility, but really most of the these people created their own situation.
Even in bad times, good workers will find work, some work, at some point. As I saw in this last recession personally the people that got axed first where the people that were on facebook all day, gossiping, procrastinating, doing poor quality work, etc.
And people that were good workers that finally got axed due to financial reasons, within a few months they had lined up other work and in a lot of cases ended up better off for it.
For the people that do end up with the boot and feel they have been hard done by and you've now been chronically unemployed, it's probably time for a critical self analysis. Can your presentation be improved, job skills, communication skills, etc? I can say the people that have come to me with those issues and proclaim that they are perfectly employable, in reality have a lot of issues.
@sll3454: Programs to train plumbers, masons, and mechanics will only result in more unemployed plumbers, masons, and mechanics. Training helps some individuals, but it doesn't solve the larger problem because it doesn't create jobs (except for a few instructors).
This is true to some extent. However, there was an interesting article in the local paper some months ago about this guy who owns a plumbing/HVAC company. He was having a hard time getting people to work for him because he had certain standards for his employees. They had to be neatly dressed for work, they were not to smoke in customer's homes or on their property, they had to take training and do things using certain methods, they had to show up on time for work, etc. Plenty of people were coming in and saying they wanted to work, but they couldn't be professional about it and would quit if they didn't want to follow the rules.
I thought about that article recently, because I'm having some work done at my condo, and I chose a company that's been in business for a long time and who requires standards like that of their employees. They weren't the cheapest, but I'm a middle-aged, divorced mother who works in an office who wouldn't be able to tell if "Buzz The Local Budget HVAC Guy" did a good job or not so I went with the established professional firm that makes its employees go through a training program and guarantees the work.
[quote=wanneroo;17114250]It is interesting to actually talk to a lot of these people and unlike what the media makes people like this out to be, I'd say 95% of these chronic unemployed people put themselves right where they are of their own doing. Liberals will have a temper tantrum hearing that because to them we are helpless meek beings with no responsibility, but really most of the these people created their own situation.
Even in bad times, good workers will find work, some work, at some point. As I saw in this last recession personally the people that got axed first where the people that were on facebook all day, gossiping, procrastinating, doing poor quality work, etc.
And people that were good workers that finally got axed due to financial reasons, within a few months they had lined up other work and in a lot of cases ended up better off for it.
For the people that do end up with the boot and feel they have been hard done by and you've now been chronically unemployed, it's probably time for a critical self analysis. Can your presentation be improved, job skills, communication skills, etc? I can say the people that have come to me with those issues and proclaim that they are perfectly employable, in reality have a lot of issues.[/quote]
I agree with that. My BIL, an accountant, has been out of work for two years. He was taking a lot of time off to care for his dying father, and I don't fault him for that, it just happened at a time when his company was struggling and so his increased absences made him an easy choice to let go. Since that time he has interviewed quite a bit but never gets the job. He has years of great experience, however, when you talk to this guy about any subject, he is a know-it-all. You can be an expert on plant life in the Amazon, and still, he will make it a point to try to demonstrate that he knows far more about that subject than you do. I've no doubt that he comes across the same way in interviews, and that's why he doesn't get hired.
A friend of mine is also panicking because she's on unemployment and having trouble making ends meet. She lost her job because of grant-funding cuts, and she's had interviews and has been a contender for a number of jobs but gets no offers. This woman is insulted that people aren't hiring her, but on the other hand, when she worked she was always late, took a lot of days off without notifying her offices until that morning, and wasn't always respectful of the pecking order in places that she worked. I'm wondering if some of this isn't coming back to bite her during reference checks.
There are people who don't want to work, and resent being forced to, and are psychologically unfit and unreliable workers. Do you want them driving your kid's school bus? Do you want them repairing the brakes on your wife's car? Do you want them answering the phone when you call the 800-number? Do you want them doing your medical data entry? If you wanted to hire a worker, do you want them showing up at the jobsite, or do you think "somebody else" should hire them and pay them wages? Or would you feel better if those people were home watching TV? Or do you think they will all magically become reliable and competent workers if you hit them with a 2x4 hard enough and often enough, or make them and their children sleep outdoors cold and hungry?
There are countries in the world where everyone is forced to work. Trust me, you do not want to live in one of them.
Or do you think they will all magically become reliable and competent workers if you hit them with a 2x4 hard enough and often enough, or make them and their children sleep outdoors cold and hungry?
There are countries in the world where everyone is forced to work. Trust me, you do not want to live in one of them.
I think that yes, necessity does motivate people. Not all people. But people who would let their kids be homeless because they (parents) do not want to work are beyond lazy. They are either evil or mentally ill. Do you really think that sane people, given a choice between work and hungry homelessness, will turn down work? The main reason people turn down work is that they can be comfortable without working.
I was hoping you would tell me which countries. I'm sure I would not want to live in them; I'll stick with my own country. Still, I am interested in reading about them.
People who are poor under circumstances where they do not qualify for safety net assistance like housing assistance, food stamps, SSI, Medicaid, etc. are almost entirely addicts, alcoholics and criminals. When grandpa dies without a pension and grandma is all alone, we take pretty good care of her. But there are indeed people who will not sober up long enough to be admitted to public housing.
Qualified Section 8 residents here in Ohio can get nice housing with utilities paid for as little as $18 per month for their contributions. They may also get $300 of SSI, Medicaid coverage, and $600 of food stamps. It doesn't seem like much, but they make it work.
Yet in HI, there is a waiting list literally decades long to get housing assistance. Depends on each state.
Yet in HI, there is a waiting list literally decades long to get housing assistance. Depends on each state.
There is here too. But that is why they have shelters. I've heard that they discriminate in favor or native Hawiians in all sorts of stuff like housing and welfare. Is that true?
People who are poor under circumstances where they do not qualify for safety net assistance like housing assistance, food stamps, SSI, Medicaid, etc. are almost entirely addicts, alcoholics and criminals.
Are you saying that people who do not qualify for assistance are mostly addicts? Seriously? Or did I misunderstand your post?
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Seriously? Or did I misunderstand your post?
