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There is some truth to the 80/20 rule, but it cuts both ways. I would say the dating/marriage game is rigged against "average" white and Asian men on the coasts primarily due to the income requirements to maintain a "middle class" lifestyle and women having high expectations. If you are a single, average heterosexual man living in Coastal California or in a major metropolitan center in the Northeast, you should go ahead and do the world a favor and perform seppeku if you don't have six figure earning potential or a cushy union/government gig (SARCASM... sorta ). The break down of traditional American social "normalcy" is also responsible. The media tends to gloss over a lot of the non-racial social malaise in this country.
There are more than a few places better than the US for the man who
wants to work and doesn't have a lot of money. It depends on each case.
The first thing anyone has to do is take time to look into it. As Americans
we are painfully unaware of what life is like in most of the world. We are
not educated on these matters so must take it upon ourselves to spend
a lot of time researching and talking to people who know.
People I know have done better in a lot of places from Australia to Italy
to Ecuador to Philippines to Portugal to Russia to Spain to Romania.
The list is very long. The greatest barrier is language.
What made America exceptional for a while was it's frontier which included
the general availability of inexpensive real estate. That's long gone.
.
Isolated instances does not mean a trend.
Living as a temporary ex pat somewhere else rarely turns into a lifetime.
60% of GE's profits are derived from offshore business. GE will relocate the required experts from their global divisions within brand to participate in a new project. These resources are rarely permanent. This kind of nomadic corporate life gets old and sooner or later most seek to return to their home base.
Those fluent in multiple languages often have advantages over those who are not.
Most generations of men throughout history have been "lost".
If you want to see lost, look at the WW2 generation of men. Millions of mens lives devoted to world-wide warfare and death and the mass killings of millions of civilians, in some cases, genocide and war crimes.
I'd rather be lost but peaceful than full of purpose but violent.
Most men do not want sole custody of their children. Where did you get that from? I know of men that wanted custody of their children, and lost in court. It is literally true that attorneys tell fathers that they will spend a lot of money in a custody case, and in the end, they will lose. I know of men that have been there, done that. It's sad that they do not have a fair chance in family court.
About 13.7 million single parents ( mostly women) have custody of 22 million children. About 50% recieve child support. What percentage of these women receive government subsidies? I bet it's 70% or more.
Lifetime alimony was once common and persisted until the beneficiary either remarried or died. The age of the woman at the time of divorce was a huge factor.
Today, only 15% of divorces involve any form of alimony. Of that, 5-10% of recipients are male. Most alimony awards are very temporary, not lifetime.
The Pell grant is the primary federal grant for college for very low income people. About 40% of recipients are male. The grant caps out at $5,500 a year. The grant requires the recipient to qualify for college admission and retention. I could be wrong, but are there not government college funding programs exclusively for women, but not for men?
Last I checked it took a man and woman to engage in unprotected sex to create a baby. Easy enough for either party to take responsibility for themselves and use birth control, no exceptions, when a baby is not the intended outcome. I agree, but if it's a women's body, her choice, then she is ultimately responsible. If women want to have children without the father being involved, then she shouldn't use the government to force the father to support the children under threat of prison. If a women has the choice to keep the baby or not, then the man should have the choice to decided if he want to be a part of the child's life, including financially.
My comments are in red above.
The worst is when women decide to walk away from their marriage commitment knowing they will get the children 85% of the time, then use the government to force the now ex-husband to fund her, and the children's new life without him. If the father doesn't pay up, he is sent to prison. What kind of a sick world do we live in that this happens as a matter of routine. No wonder divorced men are 2.5 times more likely to commit suicide. Also, when are we as a nation going to abolish the barbaric practice of imprisoning people for debt (including non-payment of taxes).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shankapotomus
Most generations of men throughout history have been "lost".
If you want to see lost, look at the WW2 generation of men. Millions of mens lives devoted to world-wide warfare and death and the mass killings of millions of civilians, in some cases, genocide and war crimes.
I'd rather be lost but peaceful than full of purpose but violent.
Not from where I sit. Companies still want EXACTLY the experience they want for experienced engineers. That is a sign of a weak job market. In a strong job market they're willing to train people who come close to what they want. Right now if they're willing to train they hire new graduates and I still see boarded up buildings where businesses once thrived. Granted not to the same degree I did 6 years ago but I don't see us as having recovered in the least. Planet Michigan often languishes after everyone else is out of a recession. We're way too dependent on the automotive industry and it does not recover as quickly as other industries especially in a world economy.
This was an interesting recession. If you never lost your job you never experienced the recession. If you did you're likely to be still struggling. At least this is what I see among my peers. The only ones who landed on their feet had something else to fall back on or some specific talent that is hard to come by. The engineers who went into teaching aren't doing well because they have simply stopped giving teachers step increases and districts are demanding cuts every year. We made a logical choice because the state SAID they wanted subject matter experts in the classroom and pretended to value them. Reality is we're not wanted or needed. In fact most schools would just as soon never hire us. I'm lucky to have a job at all. The other engineers I know who work in teaching are at private and charter schools because it's hard to find a job if you're a subject matter expert because schools prefer jack of all trades teachers who fit anywhere. I'm in one of the few districts that actually wants subject matter experts.
I've never understood the aversion to hiring older workers and retraining them. The attitude seems to be that since we didn't fast track or survive the lay offs we're not worth retraining. Our society does not respect older people. We view them as used up. Especially women. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'll believe there is a shortage of engineers when 50+ year old engineers can find work. Yes Michigan is recovering and it's not a bad place to be IF you're a new grad or have a specific talent to sell that is in high demand. Not so much if you're just a good worker who got downsized out. Unfortunately, the longer we're out of the game the less likely it will be that we'll get back into it. You really have to make it back in within about a year but the economy was terrible for the first 4 years after we were downsized out. I don't know of anyone who found a job in engineering during that time. I get the run of the mill $28/hour offers from temporary agencies but that won't pay the bills given they don't give benefits.
Not seeing the recovery here. My family is doing well but with the exception of me they all kept their jobs during the recession.
IIRC, you were in chemical engineering, correct?
There have been some very specific things that have happened in Michigan over the past few years that have made it difficult for chemical engineers in the state. First, most of the jobs are concentrated either with the Dow/Dow Corning/Hemlock Semiconductor conglomeration in Midland, or are various automotive industry positions associated with metal treatment or painting for building vehicles. Apart for some startups, most of the remaining positions supported the above industries. To make things even better, at the same time the auto industry woes were happening, Pfizer (I think) closed operations in Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo (2006 I think.) Then there were some rough business decisions that impacted Dow Corning and Hemlock Semiconductor in 2012 that resulted in a lot of layoffs. End result: there is a glut of experienced chemical engineers in Michigan competing for not enough positions. I can't imagine that the Dow-Dupont merger is going to help things either.
I know I've been affected as well. That might explain why most of my chemical engineering classmates have jobs out-of-state at disproportionately higher rates than other people I know.
I don't know what the current marriage rate is among the newly married population, but we are seeing a overall lower marriage rate. Of course it could be that many women eventually become more realistic, and "settle".
I think marriage is falling out of favor but that doesn't mean people aren't pairing up. Many of the ones who marry later have been living together for years. I have three nieces who have been living with SO's long term. Who knows if they'll ever marry but they are attached. In many ways marriage is no longer necessary.
Most men do not want sole custody of their children.
About 13.7 million single parents ( mostly women) have custody of 22 million children. About 50% recieve child support.
Lifetime alimony was once common and persisted until the beneficiary either remarried or died. The age of the woman at the time of divorce was a huge factor.
Today, only 15% of divorces involve any form of alimony. Of that, 5-10% of recipients are male. Most alimony awards are very temporary, not lifetime.
The Pell grant is the primary federal grant for college for very low income people. About 40% of recipients are male. The grant caps out at $5,500 a year. The grant requires the recipient to qualify for college admission and retention.
Last I checked it took a man and woman to engage in unprotected sex to create a baby. Easy enough for either party to take responsibility for themselves and use birth control, no exceptions, when a baby is not the intended outcome.
I was a very low income people and I didn't get a Pell Grant.
There have been some very specific things that have happened in Michigan over the past few years that have made it difficult for chemical engineers in the state. First, most of the jobs are concentrated either with the Dow/Dow Corning/Hemlock Semiconductor conglomeration in Midland, or are various automotive industry positions associated with metal treatment or painting for building vehicles. Apart for some startups, most of the remaining positions supported the above industries. To make things even better, at the same time the auto industry woes were happening, Pfizer (I think) closed operations in Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo (2006 I think.) Then there were some rough business decisions that impacted Dow Corning and Hemlock Semiconductor in 2012 that resulted in a lot of layoffs. End result: there is a glut of experienced chemical engineers in Michigan competing for not enough positions. I can't imagine that the Dow-Dupont merger is going to help things either.
I know I've been affected as well. That might explain why most of my chemical engineering classmates have jobs out-of-state at disproportionately higher rates than other people I know.
Yes. I'm a degreed chemical engineer. I worked in automotive paint, plastic exterior components and then testing. It seems to me that the jobs I do qualify for are with companies that are being very picky about experience. That is a sign that there is a glut of talent but I also know several mechanical engineers who have been unable to find work. Interestingly all of the chemical engineers I knew who were downsized out went into teaching. I met a few more when I was interviewing for the precious few positions where schools would consider a subject matter expert.
As I said the only job offer I had after being downsized out was in Tennessee but it was at well under 50% of my previous salary. 20/20 hind sight says I should have taken it and worked my way up with the new company. At this stage of the game I don't even know if moving would make a difference but I would move for the right offer. My fear is the only thing I can get is entry level because I've been out of the game so long.
"But those tiny homes are not available," Sure they are. maybe not everywhere but are available.
Heck there is even a few TV shows about them.
Yes they are available in BFE - remember the Unashack? In populated areas, not so much.
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). The break down of traditional American social "normalcy" is also responsible. The media tends to gloss over a lot of the non-racial social malaise in this country.
