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No, you financially punish the companies for shipping the jobs overseas since we the taxpayers are basically funding their cheap labor policies. You send the illegals and visa workers home until all the jobs that can be filled with Americans are filled - and at a real wage... none of this under the table crud. You end the crap about "Durr... we can't find any qualified Americans, but we sure can hire a half-dozen cheap people who also aren't qualified from another nation for $3 an hour!" You start enforcing the various laws that already exist. You stop Bailing Out crooked banks that crashed the economy. You hold the crooked rating agencies who rated all that mortgage-backed security crap as AAA responsible. You start holding crooked executives accountable. You start pulling the money out of politics, overturn Citizens United, and get us past this crap of corporate interests picking our candidates for us *before* we even get to vote.
And that's a starting list... no hostages required - just people willing to take the nation back.
Companies hire people who take highly skilled jobs at the lowest possible pay they can get away with. Companies are not charities that hand out jobs left and right. If you don't like capitalism and corresponding inequality, there are other countries you move to with different economic systems.
Or you get off the internet and become a leader who leads change, and redefine what capitalism means among the Fortune 500.
Companies hire people who take highly skilled jobs at the lowest possible pay they can get away with. Companies are not charities that hand out jobs left and right. If you don't like capitalism and corresponding inequality, there are other countries with different economic systems.
Or you get off the internet and become a leader who leads change, and redefine what capitalism means among the Fortune 500.
You do realize that taking what you're saying to its logical conclusion leads to 3rd world status, right? And, no, you're not a special snowflake who's going to be above that outcome - they'll slap you down into poverty wages when they get the chance. Maybe you won't live to see that day, but your kids will.... but they won't mind so long as somebody at the top is making more money per year than they can spend in a lifetime.
As for "getting off the internet and leading" - last I checked, most leaders still use the internet... I'm not claiming to be a leader, but at least I recognize the problem instead of meekly accepting the notion that corporations should now and ever be all powerful and free to reduce everyone to serfs if that increases their bottom line.
Honestly, I don't think you fully understand what it is you are advocating.
You do realize that taking what you're saying to its logical conclusion leads to 3rd world status, right? And, no, you're not a special snowflake who's going to be above that outcome - they'll slap you down into poverty wages when they get the chance. Maybe you won't live to see that day, but your kids will.... but they won't mind so long as somebody at the top is making more money per year than they can spend in a lifetime.
As for "getting off the internet and leading" - last I checked, most leaders still use the internet... I'm not claiming to be a leader, but at least I recognize the problem instead of meekly accepting the notion that corporations should now and ever be all powerful and free to reduce everyone to serfs if that increases their bottom line.
Honestly, I don't think you fully understand what it is you are advocating.
What is your solution? I really want to know.
Change starts in Washington. Do you live in the DC area? I used to....
No, you financially punish the companies for shipping the jobs overseas since we the taxpayers are basically funding their cheap labor policies. You send the illegals and visa workers home until all the jobs that can be filled with Americans are filled - and at a real wage... none of this under the table crud. You end the crap about "Durr... we can't find any qualified Americans, but we sure can hire a half-dozen cheap people who also aren't qualified from another nation for $3 an hour!" You start enforcing the various laws that already exist. You stop Bailing Out crooked banks that crashed the economy. You hold the crooked rating agencies who rated all that mortgage-backed security crap as AAA responsible. You start holding crooked executives accountable. You start pulling the money out of politics, overturn Citizens United, and get us past this crap of corporate interests picking our candidates for us *before* we even get to vote.
And that's a starting list... no hostages required - just people willing to take the nation back.
The only thing they respond to is money. Stop their flow of money and watch them change their attitudes. Boycotts would be a good start.
I think the current political and economic environment is ripe for a 3rd party to rise. I think in order for that to happen though we will need an incredible charismatic person to lead that party.
When I say charismatic I am thinking of someone of the caliber of Mahatma Gandhi or Dr Martin Luther King Jr. I do not see anyone of that caliber currently, and unfortunately society seems to only be blessed with these types of leaders every 100 years or so.
Can you imagine the type of chaos that would result if we could organize a boycott here against (fill in your company of choice) similar to the boycott of British goods that Gandhi orchestrated against British goods in India? If we could reach that level even the American politicians would sit at the bargaining table.
I think the first several posters in this thread really got to the heart of the issue with the myth of the meritocracy, which fosters the belief that if you aren't employed and/or successful, it's your own fault for not working hard enough. Anybody can lose a job and fall on hard times through no fault of their own. You can be the most talented person in your field, and it's no guarantee of anything, if your bosses want to hire someone younger and cheaper, or just outsource your job altogether. Heck, I've been there. At an old job, we had a new VP come in and shake up our department, and one of the things he did was eliminate my position along with one other. My boss loved my work and fought for me, but it didn't matter, because he ended up getting bought out into an early retirement.
So to those for whom "no one owes you anything" means "suck it up and pull yourself up by your bootstraps," you need a lesson in human empathy. You're right in the sense that all employment is at-will, but if that employment ends, why do we suddenly work so hard to denigrate that person, making them feel as if their unemployment is some kind of personal moral failure? Why do we rail against the social safety net for a family down on its luck and trying to make ends meet? Not everyone is lazy bum mooching off the system, and even if there are lazy moochers, that doesn't mean those who genuinely need the help deserve to be stereotyped as such.
As for this belief in a pure meritocracy: Sure, a lot of my success is due to the solid reputation I've built through my own hard work, but I've had tons of lucky breaks, too, and I don't know anyone who hasn't. Just to give you some idea of my own story:
-- In my junior year of high school, I still didn't know what I wanted to do when I got to college. I was working as the bookkeeper on the yearbook staff, and when the editor wasn't available to do her job, our advisor asked me to fill in -- not because she thought I had any special talent for the job, but because I was a reliable kid. She liked my work so well that I ended up becoming the editor my senior year. I ended up majoring in English in college. Lucky break No. 1.
-- So what do you do with an English major? I didn't know for sure, until a professor in one of my journalism classes saw that I had a knack for editing and rewriting. He used to work at the local paper, and he put me in touch with a colleague of his who still worked there. I had a part-time reporting job before I even graduated. My professor knew someone -- lucky break No. 2.
-- Six months later, I'm freelancing for three papers, and a part-time opening comes available on the copy desk at one paper. I got the job and found my niche -- I was a better editor than a writer. But it soon became clear that the part-time gig wasn't going to translate to full-time, and I started looking around for other options. Then one night, someone in the newsroom said her husband worked across the hall from a department that was looking for a full-time editor, at another company in town. I interviewed and got the job. I talked to someone who knew someone -- lucky break No. 3.
-- When that job was eliminated, I ended up taking a job in D.C. that I hated. But if not for taking that lousy job, I wouldn't have become a local candidate for a job I ended up holding for six years and enjoyed great personal success at. Losing my original job and ending up in D.C. -- lucky break No. 4.
-- When we moved from D.C. to Seattle, we did it without jobs. Nothing was panning out for me. Then one day, out of the blue, my old D.C.-area employer (the one I liked, not the one I hated) called up and asked if I'd like to work as a contractor for them. The job started out part-time but has since morphed into a full-time gig. I'd left the place on good terms, but I never expected to hear from them again. Lucky break No. 5.
Like Cerebrator, I've also given other people what they would probably consider lucky breaks. When I was in a position to make a hiring recommendation at one job, I recommended a woman who hadn't worked in my field before but displayed a natural talent for working with words (as evidenced by her editing test). I passed over other, more qualified candidates in favor of giving her a chance and seeing if she'd shine the way I thought she would. She didn't let me down. She was a quick learner and a great fit for the department, and I mentored her when she needed help. (I had zero input over salary considerations, before somebody asks, so for me that was not a motivating factor in my decision.) She got downsized along with me, but now she's back working there in a slightly different role -- and she probably wouldn't be there if not for the break I gave her in the first place.
Of course my own talents and ambition have played a role in my success, but they haven't played the only role. The point is, again, that success is a combination of personal ambition and lucky breaks. No man is an island. A perfect world in which your skills and qualifications alone are a guarantee of success is the fantasy of Ayn Rand novels. That's what the social Darwinists seem unable to comprehend. Also, I'm doing well now, but my job could end tomorrow, and I'd be in a world of hurt. I saw my own dad fall on hard times when I was growing up, and it killed him to have to take public assistance. He was a hard worker, and he felt humiliated. He didn't need anyone telling him he was a lazy bum who needed to work harder, which wouldn't have been true anyway. He needed people who could help. Helping others in need, rather than looking down on them and making them feel even worse than they already do, seems to be something we've forgotten in this allegedly Christian society. I'd like to think we can still reclaim that sense of empathy, and shed a little bit of our coldness and ruthlessness. I hope our society doesn't prove me wrong.
Which implies - incorrectly - that those who are out of work are lacking in skills, experience, etc. The same old argument that has been proven incorrect time and again.
I find it amazing that: working hard, getting a good education, and gaining years of solid experience doing a good job in one's field and then expecting a job in return for that is now considered "handing you something." Hilarious and sad both at once.
It's not amazing. It's reality. You learn an occupation. You do a good job. But the economy changes and the job is eliminated. That's reality. Jobs are not static arrangements. They are fluid and dynamic and change and appear and disappear, just like the clouds that float above us.
We now know that. It happens more quickly in the Internet era. Since we know it, we should now expect it. And stop being "amazed" that you don't get to learn one thing and expect to be paid for it for a lifetime.
The defense is simple. Keep your skills sharp. Learn new skills as they become rewarded. None of this is a mystery or a surprise. What companies need is subject to change. So today's worker has to keep his eyes open and be keen to changes that will be required. It may become apparent that the job will not last. Time to learn or expand the skill set!
If you see your job being outsourced in your chosen industry, then reality has struck again. Time to learn something new or expand the skills. Or work for less and undercut the outsourcees. Or open your own business. Or change industries. Think, don't whine. Everything changes. We know that. We expect it. We must react to it like winners and not whiners.
The only thing they respond to is money. Stop their flow of money and watch them change their attitudes. Boycotts would be a good start.
I think the current political and economic environment is ripe for a 3rd party to rise. I think in order for that to happen though we will need an incredible charismatic person to lead that party.
When I say charismatic I am thinking of someone of the caliber of Mahatma Gandhi or Dr Martin Luther King Jr. I do not see anyone of that caliber currently, and unfortunately society seems to only be blessed with these types of leaders every 100 years or so.
Can you imagine the type of chaos that would result if we could organize a boycott here against (fill in your company of choice) similar to the boycott of British goods that Gandhi orchestrated against British goods in India? If we could reach that level even the American politicians would sit at the bargaining table.
There will be no 3rd party. And we don't need a third party. Or a phony messiah. We need 2 parties with far less power and far less money.
It's not amazing. It's reality. You learn an occupation. You do a good job. But the economy changes and the job is eliminated. That's reality. Jobs are not static arrangements. They are fluid and dynamic and change and appear and disappear, just like the clouds that float above us.
We now know that. It happens more quickly in the Internet era. Since we know it, we should now expect it. And stop being "amazed" that you don't get to learn one thing and expect to be paid for it for a lifetime.
The defense is simple. Keep your skills sharp. Learn new skills as they become rewarded. None of this is a mystery or a surprise. What companies need is subject to change. So today's worker has to keep his eyes open and be keen to changes that will be required. It may become apparent that the job will not last. Time to learn or expand the skill set!
If you see your job being outsourced in your chosen industry, then reality has struck again. Time to learn something new or expand the skills. Or work for less and undercut the outsourcees. Or open your own business. Or change industries. Think, don't whine. Everything changes. We know that. We expect it. We must react to it like winners and not whiners.
It's kind of hard to "learn a new skill" when most employers will ignore that. For example, one could take classes on some new tech, but most employers want years of experience in a business environment using it.
Change starts in Washington. Do you live in the DC area? I used to....
A valid question. I'm not politician, but here's how I would approach it:
Inform: Fight back against ignorance regarding what is going on in the economy. No, we're not really "Recovered" and the real unemployment rate is not 6 to 7% since that doesn't factor in all sorts of people: underemployed, forced early retirement, people who have "given up," people who never held a job, people hiding out in grad school, etc. The U6 number, which is around 15% is closer to the truth, but even it is optimistic.
Remind people of the facts - people who are out of work are not "lazy, useless, and unskilled" - the fact is that there are not enough jobs. I've run into this ignorance regarding the unemployed so often it makes me sick. Remind people how the jobs didn't just magically "vanish" - they were sent overseas or filled with cheap imported labor on the orders of other people to line the pockets of the elite.
Finally, keep the entire historical context in mind. No, this problem didn't just happen under Obama - nor just under Bush. The bad decisions date back before either of them, and both parties are sell-outs.
Expose: Shine light on corruption wherever it is found. The banks, the politicians, the executives, the corporations. Point out the lies and wretched behavior. Avoid buying products from companies that are known to be lousy corporate citizens. And, finally, keep all this in mind when voting.
Vote! Vote the bums out! Vote against whoever is the deepest in the wallet of the corrupt corporations and special interest groups. Ignore party lines and vote for whichever choice seems best, or whichever choice is the lesser evil. 3rd party votes are also valid - at least then, you can honestly say you did not support whichever crook is in power. An informed voter is a wise voter. The list of major donors to every political candidate (at least on the national level) can be easily found online. When that list is little more than a rogues gallery of the crooked groups that created this Great Recession and profited from it, don't vote for that candidate.
Summary: These are small steps, but they are steps in the right direction. If the majority of citizens followed them, we'd have a far more accountable leadership and far less delusions about the real causes of high unemployment and the backstabbing that comes with those misguided beliefs.
Okay... so the corporations are not to blame for: the Housing Bubble, The Debt Bubble, the outsourcing of jobs overseas, the insourcing of jobs with illegals and visa workers, or even buying up our government. Right - they are perfectly blameless because "we're free to quit" - which has nothing to do with anything - and because they sometimes give raises when they are doing well... which also has nothing to do with anything. A person's - or organization's - true nature is revealed when times are tough; I'm sure there are bank robbers out there who buy expensive gifts for their kids, but that doesn't make them good people. Now that times are bad, we have record corporate profits and staggering unemployment. The conclusion should be obvious...
Sorry, but your argument holds no water at all.
Rambellman,Put down the broad corporation brush. Where was the government in all this?? Go ahead blame the corporations. You may not like it but labor is a large component to a business expenses. If wages go up too much (thank the unions) options will pop up to be considered. When business complain they cant afford wage increases don't be surprised to see them move overseas. Corporations need to compete globally with product/service and price. Think about it. If your household expenses go up you will always evaluate what can be done to keep expenses in check. You may even drop an expense or switch over to a competing product or service. You don't call your self evil when you do that do you?
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