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While we are all on this subject I am going to tell you the reality of what I am doing right now. I couldn't get a job as a paralegal in NYC that paid more than 27K (actually it was in Jersey City, but I still was living in NYC). I left and went home to attend grad school for accounting. I am pulling solid grades and about halfway through the program. I'm told starting salaries with the Big 4 around here (metro Detroit) are about 55K to start. Go with a smaller firm, it's going to be less (maybe 40-50K). My family and school keeps pouring the Kool-Aid rhetoric of 'You have great grades and such a bright future ahead of you!'. All the while I know it's a crap shoot at best in this market and I could very well end up with nothing, even with the excellent grades.
So I made a 'Plan B'. Plan B is me applying for SSD (Social Security Disability) while I am still in school. I suffered from depression since I was 14 and have a whole medical history, including me being hospitalized after my parents' divorce. I am going to see if I get the benefits. If grad school does not pan out I should receive $1400 per month in assistance. I will also be allowed to work up to 24.5 hours a week for no more than $1080 net (which I'd pull in with 15 hours). I'd also plan to 'work off of the books' doing caregiving work for the elderly to push my income up to what would amount to 50K a year AFTER TAXES. Not to mention free medical care.
Is it any wonder this country is in the crapper? I'd like to give an extra-super-special thank you to all of those who believe in 'trickle down economics'. The last time I checked the only thing that's trickled down is the **** onto my legs as I drink imagining my future. The only real 'trickle down' in this country is the criminal mentality of Wall Street, which I believe we may have to riot at some point to get things back to a normal order. It's what Jefferson would have wanted for us.
Last edited by EastBoundandDownChick; 05-18-2011 at 09:01 PM..
The economy will never recover, as a previous poster mentioned earlier in the the thread. You can't have a recovery that's jobless, once this phony stimulus wears off that's when we'll really see the brown stuff fly. This isn't really the end of the world, It just means you have to be creative about how you find your opportunities. I graduated from college a few years ago with next to no debt (thanks cuny), but the job opportunities have been very minimal and low paying. I'm a bit fortunate that I'm also a working musician and my career has only recently started to make me some $$$ that I never dreamed of (this is after seven very hard years pursuing it).
The game is rigged and has always been but that doesn't mean you have to let it depress you. There are plenty of places in this HUGE country to go and gain some experience. You have to find something that doesn't make you feel depressed or stressed to do when you wake up. It might not pay you what you expected at first, but there will be other payouts that will make it all the more valuable. Save, and live below your means to accommodate your life at the moment. Things won't always be like this but unfortunately they are for now (and years to come).
I'm a bit fortunate that I'm also a working musician and my career has only recently started to make me some $$$ that I never dreamed of (this is after seven very hard years pursuing it).
Very cool. Good to hear of someone prospering off of their passion!
It says that of all 2009 4 year college grads,22% are unemployed and another 22% have found work in jobs where their degree is useless.The median starting salary for them dropped by 10% (to 27,00/yr) from the median starting salary for 2008 college grads.The article also raises questions about whether "higher education" is always worth it .
If the national median starting salary for those with 4 yr college degrees is 27,000/yr, I wouldn't expect the starting salaries in NYC to be more than 10 to 20 percent more than that....or around $33,000. So a 35,000 or 40,000 offer these days is actually pretty good( relatively speaking).
I'm sort of over the hill right now so I'm not taking my butt into the streets unless younger people do but I don't understand why the younger people who are suffering the most in this disaster aren't literally out in the streets in revolt ,as young people are in other parts of the world.The total passivity of our country's younger generation is astounding.I also don't understand why everyone seems to have adopted an anti union philosophy when it is clear that unions were the only reason why we got such a big middle class in this country in the first place.At the very time when young people need the strength of unions and collective bargaining,people are turning their backs on them.
I guess the old corporate philosophy of divide and conquer really works.
The reality is, the United States have been living over its means for decades and decades now. It sucks but Americans have to accept the fact that they will have to make do with less. America is not the center of the world anymore, India and China are moving ahead a lot quicker. As I said, it sucks, but that's what always happens when a once world power loses its standing.
The reality is, the United States have been living over its means for decades and decades now. It sucks but Americans have to accept the fact that they will have to make do with less. America is not the center of the world anymore, India and China are moving ahead a lot quicker. As I said, it sucks, but that's what always happens when a once world power loses its standing.
I agree with your points. However if the new reality means low paying jobs, high unemployment and housing costs that no longer match the reality. What on earth will happen....especially in one of the most expensive cities in the world? People can adjust their expectations and lifestyle to a certain extent but cannot control the prices they must pay for the necessities of life (food & housing). Along the lines of what you said about India & china growing fast. I truly believe that the biggest mistake that was made in the US was short sided greed (instant profits) that made the US make the bad decision to stop producing most of the items we use everyday.
Then again really too late now....as you said US is not a world power anymore, it just pretends that it is!
I agree with your points. However if the new reality means low paying jobs, high unemployment and housing costs that no longer match the reality. What on earth will happen....especially in one of the most expensive cities in the world? People can adjust their expectations and lifestyle to a certain extent but cannot control the prices they must pay for the necessities of life (food & housing). Along the lines of what you said about India & china growing fast. I truly believe that the biggest mistake that was made in the US was short sided greed (instant profits) that made the US make the bad decision to stop producing most of the items we use everyday.
Then again really too late now....as you said US is not a world power anymore, it just pretends that it is!
You're absolutely right. I try not to buy "made in china" items, even though it's hard to avoid sometimes. I noticed a lot more companies are trying to manufacture here in the USA.
That's the problem. Not only do individuals have to live with this new reality, politicians and businesses have to adjust as well to make it possible for people to live. Unfortunately, the rich and powerful in this country are still dilusional in thinking that somehow everything can go back to the boom years of the 90's and 00's. Apart from banker douchebags with no conscience, financial crisis' happen for a reason. It's the market downgrading itself to a healthier size. Big business' and Washington's reaction so far has been "let's blow the bubble up again and hope for the best" when really they should readjust to the new reality.
A timely article in today's NYT:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/bu...9grads.html?hp
I also don't understand why everyone seems to have adopted an anti union philosophy when it is clear that unions were the only reason why we got such a big middle class in this country in the first place.At the very time when young people need the strength of unions and collective bargaining,people are turning their backs on them.
I guess the old corporate philosophy of divide and conquer really works.
Unions in the private sector seem to be so rare. I think more private sector unions would be great in general. I think the reason some people have become hostile to public sector unions is that their own personal situation in terms of pay and benefits is so bad, that they feel is is unfair to have to subsidize the health care, pension and other benefits of those working in the public sector. Politicians try to steer people's anger towards public sector unions to deflect attention from what is the real outrage - tremendous corporate profits that don't trickle down to the workers.
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