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So, in your opinion, a person with 5 years experience operating industrial painting equipment, is not skilled?
Not if they can't do the entire job. He can paint, but he can't mix paint, can't figure out how much paint he needs for a job, etc. because of his lack of math skills. And there's more to the job than just painting, many parts of which he also can't perfrm.
So which is it? Unemployed? Disabled? Are you a freeloader? Does the government owe you a living? To answer your question from the thread "So all the taxes these people have paid throughout their lives goes towards everything but the most important needs?"
The government doesn't owe you a damn thing. Get a job.
Good day.
I pose philosophical questions because I think for a living.
Just because someone reads Mein Kampf doesn't make them a Nazi.
Go back to assembling parts, you aren't qualified to partake in the discussion.
Argh, everyone cant go to your school, thats part of the point.
Someone made a great analogy on this board Id love to give credit to, but dont remember who said it.
Its like musical chairs.
You can either look at it two ways, either, the number of people stay the same, and the chairs just keep dissapearing (this would symbolize automation)
Or, you can look at it as more people getting added, and no more chairs being added (symbolizing the increasing number of college degreed people competing for a pool of jobs requiring those skills that is stagnant).
No matter what college you go to, how much training you get, or whatever ridiculous attribute you put on those having employment, EVERYONE cant have a chair. Chairs are not created as more people enter the game.
I agree with you. That is an issue at the macro level. And it's something we need to focus on as a nation. But on a micro level, all an individual can do is increase their chances of getting a chair.
If that means placing yourself 2σ+, then that's what you have to do. But let's be honest here. You can be very successful at even -.5σ+. It's really when you start hitting below that where you have a problem.
Wow, an adult person living with 2 roommates and dont even have their own bathroom. Thats a quality of life everyone should aspire to have.
While we are at it, you technically could live on $200 a month, because, all you need to do is live with 10 roommates, and eat Ramen Noodles one meal a day.......
I have first hand experience with 17 beds in a 2 bedroom apartment in Crystal City, Washington DC.
Mostly low wage workers living together sharing costs, $225/month for your own bed and slice of a closet. Luckily there were 2 bathrooms. Included everything but food.
In that one apartment complex, there were 3 apartments set up the same. Two more in the complex across the street.
I agree with you. That is an issue at the macro level. And it's something we need to focus on as a nation. But on a micro level, all an individual can do is increase their chances of getting a chair.
Increasing your chances at a chair is often extremely expensive, time consuming, and highly risky.
Whats worse is that the costs are rising, but the chances of getting a chair are going down.
Its like the mega millions ticket price increasing to $2, but the odds also increasing to 1 in 300 million.
I agree with you. That is an issue at the macro level. And it's something we need to focus on as a nation. But on a micro level, all an individual can do is increase their chances of getting a chair.
If that means placing yourself 2σ+, then that's what you have to do. But let's be honest here. You can be very successful at even -.5σ+. It's really when you start hitting below that where you have a problem.
You can quote statistics all day long, but at the end of the day, if a significant chunk of the population is left without a chair, what do you expect them to do? Starve? Steal for a living like they do in South America? Or just live off the government largess for their whole lives?
I just wish we had an economy that provided everyone who wants / needs to work a job, and to be able to make a decent living from it. We had such an economy at one time, is there any reason to think we can't achieve that lofty goal once more? I'd sure like to think we can, for the sake of our country.
There is a trend that you are missing though. When those shops offer basement payrates, they are not always doing it "because they can". They are often times doing it because it's all they can afford. How do I know this? Because their assets are often on the auction block within the year. And there is nothing wrong with $11 or $12 for an entry level job. I don't expect any skilled tradesman worth his salt to accept that kind of a wage, but for someone starting out, living at home with the parents, that really isn't that bad at 17 or 18. Within 4 years, if they apply themselves, they can easily have a good job that pays a comfortable income. They might have to change jobs a time or two, but that's typical.
And what you are noticing is stagnating wages. This has effected many industries and professions. People were not complaining, or even noticing it when the loose ends could be shored up with the credit card. When everyone complains about union pay rates, they just are envious of a wage that actually rose on par with inflation. Nobody seems to mind the salaries of CEOs that outpaced inflation by leaps and bounds. We are a hop skip and a jump away from crossing the finish line on this race to the bottom, but have no fear, those on the very tippy top will do just fine... And since NASA has been closed down, that might put downward pressure on the wages for rocket scientists. We'll see.
So what? That's not a prospective employees problem. Period. If an employer can't paying going rates because their business model sucks, they're likely going to go under. That's just the way things work.
FYI, in the government sector is all union in my field. No one has seen any raises with to keep up with inflation. We're actually looking at another 10-20% cut in pay on top of the 10% cut with furloughs which are sort of a joke since you just work more outside 8-5 to make up for it. On top of that, there's hiring freezes, so there are a lot of people working full-time "per-diem" at top salary but no benefits hoping to get hired full-time. They're nuts, imo. Private sector pays higher for the same no benefits. A lot higher.
You can quote statistics all day long, but at the end of the day, if a significant chunk of the population is left without a chair, what do you expect them to do? Starve? Steal for a living like they do in South America? Or just live off the government largess for their whole lives?
Did you even read my post? I already acknowledged the nation-wide problem. I wasn't providing a solution for that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NorthStarDelight
I just wish we had an economy that provided everyone who wants / needs to work a job, and to be able to make a decent living from it. We had such an economy at one time, is there any reason to think we can't achieve that lofty goal once more? I'd sure like to think we can, for the sake of our country.
Studies have shown that this kind of economy is not productive. The ideal range of unemployment is 6% to allow motivation to remain competitive on an individual level. Otherwise we'll end up with a bunch of deadwoods. However, your wish is ideal in a communist society. You might want to consider those nations.
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