The Work World Growing Harsher Every Minute

There are some nice bosses out there, ones that look out for their employees. I had a couple who helped me prior to when I was disabled help me in career advancement. That is the way it is supposed to work, while one works for a boss, they can serve as a mentor too for a younger employee. With one, she respected my work, entertained my ideas and advanced my creativity. That would be my favorite job, sadly it would be lost to funding issues from on high. She was such a great lady, I tried looking her up to reconnect but was unable to find her.  Some may even make long lasting friendships with coworkers.  There are bosses who will reach out to employees, and will work with them and who care about people but what happens in a world where faceless mega-lith corporations with minions of bean-counters who never see the people that are harmed by their policies?

When you get a chance, this may sound odd, but check out the obituaries sometime, look for people who range in age from 70-100+, and then for those who had careers, notice something about their life story, and notice how long the jobs lasted. I did this some months ago, and noticed several had the same jobs or better said worked for the same business for 25-30-40 years. And their lives were well-rewarded for it. How often does that happen anymore? Between all the lay-offs, business changes and more, younger people cannot depend on having jobs of any longevity. How does buy a house or build a community of any sort when one has to scramble to find a new job [often in a new location] every few years? Some start jobs thinking it will be great and then 5 years later face a lay-off or a boss who loves to fire people. Does global competition, explain the new lack of stability out there? Or something else? The relationships seem different, there seems to be no loyalty anymore. Why isn't anyone finally saying look this globalism experiment is destroying us, or that bigger isn't necessarily better anymore?

It seems years ago relationships mattered more, and now workers are just seen as cogs in the wheel, disposable at any minute. Do any of these bosses who fire slews of people on a bad hair day even sit down and think about their actions? Do they care that the man they are sending out to chronic unemployment or underemployment has a disabled wife to take care of? How about those who have families or aged parents to support?  Do they care, that they are basically taking away people's stabilities, community, and taking a wrecking sledge hammer to the financial foundations of people's lives? With small business owners who see their businesses almost sliding into oblivion some of those decisions are not made with ease, but then with companies that take down a factory in America to send it to Mexico or choose to outsource jobs, it seems conscience about these things has ended.

Worse yes, some of the bosses have now started tossing people away, who have simply grown older, and thinking they can get a cheaper deal out of a healthy 20 year old, get rid of the older workers, and their more expensive health insurance and retirements to come. We know some of them may be feeling immense pressure from the top with THEIR BOSSES yelling at them to make profit margins higher, but what has happened out there? One thing some business will have employees work with old out-dated technology but then blame them for the constant break downs. How much greed is running some of these terrible decisions?

I've seen too many loved ones, with the financial moorings of their life absolutely destroyed. This includes friends who had a boss fire them for ONE mistake, one mistake among months or years of perfect articles, papers, phone calls and hours of work. It seems some of these people no longer desire that human beings work for them but perfect robots. Don't any of them face their own mistakes and realize all human beings make errors? Didn't they ever get a break? What has made people become like this?

One sees this kind of mentality in corporate culture, where conformity now seems to be the rule. What is going to happen to American innovation or creativity when they are so busy making everyone THE SAME? Does anyone out there, ever wonder why corporations more and more seem to demand more of the same personalities, and more of the same look? Some make a nod to "diversity" but do we really see this? Could your grandmother go get a corporate job tomorrow if she needed one and even had the skills?How many overweight people get high level corporate jobs even though the obesity rate in America runs at 70 percent? How come the smallest physical and/or emotional difference now seems to shut people out of the running? Why am I reading on some websites, that if someone is unfortunate to get laid off or fired from a job in their mid 40s and over, that they may never work a full time job again? Who is making these decisions and why?

Here too, it seems instead of just getting a job done, you have "the right personality" or they will think of a reason to just throw you to the wolves. When did the work place get so saturated with personality games. Everyone today knows the horrors of office politics where backstabbing seems to be the name of the game. Why is that happening? Yes I know not every office is a updated twisted high school of never grown up "Heathers" waiting to stab you in the back but it's wide spread enough, that people often face the work day with trepidation, stress and fear. Wouldn't productivity be higher if one got to go to work, not feeling like they were going to be fed to the wolves? Have companies even faced this problem?

The Squawker remembers her last job from years ago, before she was disabled, she was getting sick, and getting a write-ups for going bald. Because she could not afford a wig [having an extra large head, none fit] due to the low wages and endless bus fares and bosses would tell her to remove scarfs and hats, due to an illness, she was losing patches of hair on her head. One day while in the bosses office, she would see a write-up for "poor hygiene", she showered everyday and did her best to hide her problems, for daring to have thinning hair and bald spots!

This is part of what I am referring to, among this story, I can list those who have lost jobs, simply because the new boss didn't *like* their personality, because of who they were friends with, because of their beliefs that differed from the bosses. Do people want workers or do they want to own people's souls too? While one can understand people losing jobs for being drugged out, not showing up to work, lying and total full blown insubordination, most people I know lost jobs for far more draconian and dare I say PETTY reasons.  It seems the reasons are endless for some power-hungry employers to just toss someone in the proverbial trash can and future homelessness.

The school system can't even match the punishments they are ready to dole out, a school principal never could lord over the worse teenage bully and druggie, the punishment the work world is ready to give an adult employee which basically is the shame, stigma and horrors of poverty. How many Americans could have seen the entire tapestry of their lives change from JUST ONE GOOD JOB. How many now saw the whole thing unravel by seeing the jobs taken away? Now that the country seems focused on blaming the poor for it's problems instead of the trillions for wars and bail-outs, the corporately owned [see how that works?] media influences people to demand that worker's rights be chipped away. This is why some of these companies felt no conscience and really got only little outcry when they started saying, HA, if you've been out of work TOO LONG, by our rules, you've lost the job Lotto and no more job for you! That more then anything has shown the low levels that corporate culture has sunk to. How is that fair, or even reasonable or even moral?

Years ago, someone could be a little shy, or have a few minor health problems but still be able to make a living, as long as one stayed sober and put in some honest labor, you weren't relegated to Mom's basement or a life time on skid row. If one was at a certain level of health and willing to work hard, there was some work for you, and you didn't have to every minute facet of your personality analyzed to pull it off. When businesses were smaller and everything wasn't owned by mega-corporations, a person could easier make their way in the world. There wasn't endless HOOPS to jump through. One had more freedom to make their own way too.

And speaking of hoops, why does searching for a job have to be the horrible process they have made it to be? The resumes, the cover letters, the endless printing of letters, and copying or applying online never to get a response. Even the old rules of at least pretending to be polite have ended. How are people supposed to feel when they send resume after resume in, never to even get a neutral polite response? Why is so much hiring now by committees, looking to see who will conform more rather then seeing who may do the best job? They've turned getting a job into a science project from hell. So wonder many unemployed Americans have given up. One thing I want to know, is how come there isn't one boss or one company that has given an alternative to the usual resume wheel of drudge? Maybe they are out there and I just do not know. Whatever happened to having a little independence and giving someone a chance for maybe even some new experiences? It seems things are growing far too regimented.

If you are a boss and reading this, I hope you are one of the nice ones. Sure hold a line so you are not taken advantage of, and you do have to attend to the survival side of your business, but keep the human side of things in mind as well.

If you are a worker, try and do the job you are being paid for the best you can, but seek to understand the human side of things as well. Do not verbally or otherwise abuse your co-workers or engage in combat office politics, give people a break!

I hope one day more people will speak out about certain things being broken in the employment world. People deserve better.--The Squawker

Horatio Alger--- You Have Met Your Match!

Caveat: this is not everyone, there are many people of better means who have been down and out themselves or having more independent mindsets or who are more spiritually minded, that this DOES NOT fit. But sometimes out there in the world it is interesting what is said and the attitudes.

How many times have you heard this said about poor people?

"They have no work ethic"

"They do not believe they control their own destinies so it's their fault they are poor"

"If you give them too much, they learn to expect it"

"Rich people are smarter then poor people"

"Rich people are more moral then poor people"

"Poor people have negative attitudes instead of positive ones and that is why they are poor."


Many of these have been said to my face. The Squawker does not go around advertising her socio-economic status to the general public, while sometimes a cracked car windshield or some old shoes may reveal some of her status, most of these things she has overheard has been said with straight faces by those unknowing of her or the Reckoner's true circumstances. In some circles, dissing the poor is common. Sometimes one can sit there and think, "did they really say that"?

Three days ago at a book club, the Squawker heard "The poor have no work ethic" and decided to speak up and say, "How can a person have a work ethic with no job?" and then asked this person to think about the fact that the jobs are no longer stable and those who struggle with no end in sight do lose motivation, it is a psychological reality, yes better off avoided if possible but there. What is even sadder is that as the economy implodes, is these "whistle past the graveyard" attitudes remain so numerous.

The other day, I read this book, called "Coming Apart: The State of White America"

Why did I hate this book? While the author points to some of the realities such an out of touch elite being out of touch with the rest of the populace like the residents of Wilmette and Greenwich living in their own protected bubbles with BMWs galore and a gourmet shop on every corner. The general gist of book says the rich are becoming richer because they are more moral and smarter. This guy talks about out of touch wealthy people while being one himself. If one knows about the book he previously co-authored, maybe one should not be surprised to see some of the lies from the right, being so adamantly repeated.

Supposedly education will save that day! [well if you can afford the Ivy League] and supposedly in some fantasy world free of crooked bankers and corporate corruption, those who ascend the corporate ladder are more moral and "religious". The book focuses on poor whites, not the inner city, but the overall typical messages and blame game remains cognizant here too. In other words it's your fault if you happen to be white and poor. "Fishtown" is poor in other words to this guy because they are supposedly a bunch of non-book reading degenerates. One thing I want to tell Murray, is many men who cannot get decent jobs to support families on all sides of the equation, often are less apt to marry. It's a chicken or egg scenario. Where do all the unemployed and underemployed college graduates and neo-poor fit in? Even the odd conjectures that journalists are part of the upper classes, ignores collapsing newspapers nation-wide.

I also found his seeing moral degradation as being a upward enterprise from the lower classes moving up, to be quite strange. How many of the elite have impacted morals especially given the 60s influenced Bohos? Weren't the elite the first ones to shout "God is dead" back then? What about the endless Ivory Tower academics, who wanted to change things in a "radical" fashion? Where is the altruism and caring about the community that the very rich used to at least pretend to care about? Today they care more about advancing globalism, while the American people are last on the list. Seen anything like a Carnegie Library recently? Then there are the bankers who enriched themselves for trillions of dollars at tax payer expense. And add to that Hollywood, whose making the movies? Whose writing and publishing the books? Will Cather today wouldn't have a chance writing about poor people.

Horatio Alger you have met your match!

Check out this review of this horrid book.....

One review struck me as very interesting.

Charles Murray ignores the fact that the policies of the upper classes has inflicted so much economic pain on the lower economic classes. Specifically, free trade and massive immigration.

The industrial working class has been destroyed by the movement of jobs to China and Japan. Once thriving cities are now faced with abandoned houses that they must tear down because nobody has working class jobs to afford them.

Michael Moore very well frames the argument that Flint, Michigan was not destroyed and sent into bankruptcy from a lack of morals or any other such degeneration by the working class in GM. It was destroyed by the liberatarian policies of Free Trade (otherwise known as a race to the bottom.)

In the 1960's a man with less than a high school education could get a job in a factory, work his way up from a sweeper to a machinist and support his wife (living at home) and a family. Where are these jobs now? Who is doing this? It is the working class in Japan who has this type of living. Not Americans.

Niall Ferguson and Charles Murray treat this as some mass social issue rather than as a consequence of economics. What Murray pointedly ignores is that the difference between the mean income (average income) and median income (half above and half below) has grown much larger. This indicates that the wealthy are earning greater sums while the working class is having its income reduced.

This book is an arrogant piece of tripe. Working class people if they are in despair and poverty are not completely to blame.



Please Mr. Murray, tell us, where is a nineteen year old kid going to get a decent job. Your answer that he become a PhD is nonsense. What made American the envy of the world was that ordinary people, not just the elites, could live well and have hope. The elites destroyed that with their economic policies of free trade, globalism, outsourcing and massive immigration. Working class people had their country sold out from underneath them. There was no change in their attitudes, just a change in the greed level of the elites.



Paul Streitz

I totally agree.

That is just one example. Why are poor people getting such a bum rap? There's very few of us getting a voice out there outside of the few of us who are blessed with Internet access. I sit at tables, and hear people rap their knuckles on the table who start talking about those "lazy, no good for nothings", who are sucking the states coffers dry due to "entitlement" programs. Some are so angry, that being disabled around such folks can be a scary enterprise.  Usually I like to say to such types while keeping my own status hidden, "what about the trillions in bail-outs or trillions for wars that have brought nothing but more government debt?" You never hear about that.

The Republicans have "Blame the poor" as almost a defacto platform for their party. So the Tea Party contingent, even those who get Medicare and social security, start yelling about all the "bums" on welfare. While there is something to people not choosing dependence on the government and avoiding generational welfare, what is offered people as an option? If there are no jobs and all the factories have closed, what do they expect? Instead the big money types, close another factory overseas so they can pay pennies on the dollar to some cough "slaves" cough, third world workers, and pay off the politicians to shake their fist at the poor, and it works. Try even admitting you are poor in a few socio-economically closed circles and see how it works.

Then there is the Democrat party, remember The Squawker doesn't think much of either of them. They build themselves as "the party of the people" for generations with many working class people signing on, while the Republican party was seen as the party for big business as well. Sad how old stereotypes die hard. Obama is still sending jobs overseas and signing overseas trades deals. Here too none of the real economic realities are not confronted either. The outsourcing of jobs overseas has destroyed our economy. Remember Clinton signed NAFTA to help in the "race to the bottom" mentioned above as one of the defining moments of his presidency.

Whose speaking for the poor out there in the media? No one really outside a few independent bloggers, authors, journalists and a cartoonist like Ted Rall on occasion. None of the elite are telling the truth, they are more busy hiding it. Instead of asking "Where's the beef?", ask "Where's all the jobs?" The elephant in the room is that manufacturing in America has been closed down. There's only so much need among a newly impoverished populace for hair dressers and chefs for fancy restaurants.

They are basically tell us what they think of us every chance they get in that self-congratulatory type of talk---. "We are smarter, more moral and more deserving".....but the worse thing are those normal people who lap it up, and buy into it, when it could be them soon one day without a job, seeing the huge pile of unpaid bills piling up or trying to make ends meet instead of saying "There but for the grace of God, go I." There is nothing smart or moral about what they have done to this country---The Squawker

1 in 2 New Graduates is Unemployed or Underemployed

1 in 2 new graduates are jobless or underemployed

WASHINGTON (AP) — The college class of 2012 is in for a rude welcome to the world of work.

A weak labor market already has left half of young college graduates either jobless or underemployed in positions that don't fully use their skills and knowledge.

Young adults with bachelor's degrees are increasingly scraping by in lower-wage jobs — waiter or waitress, bartender, retail clerk or receptionist, for example — and that's confounding their hopes a degree would pay off despite higher tuition and mounting student loans.

Things are getting bad out there, when for one out of two young people, the expensive student loans and college education are not paying off. When one is making 7 bucks an hour flipping burgers or stocking shelves, the student loans are not going to be paid.

Unsaid, that when someone does not get a job in their early 20s, that matches a certain professional level, catching up can be very difficult. Job gaps, low level employment, part time jobs, make it harder later to get that "good job". So if 50% of our young people are coming out of college with their degrees unable to get a job that matches their investment, well the college bubble bursting is next. I am middle aged and warning young people to rethink college because of the cost/pay off ratio being so disjointed. Sadly it looks like they are still selling the college "dream". But how many people seeing their college educated brothers and sisters floundering will make the same choices?

One thing I want to say to young people, think outside the box, think of community and question the old formulas, I and the Reckoner are middle aged, and the formula's failed for us as things started changing by the 1990s, you can still have a happy life, but consider redefining success, and put relationships rather then the careers first. Careers do not pay off like they once did. We learned that the hard way. The world is full of those who are comfortably situated who while living in a bubble, do not understand how the world has changed for the Generation X and under set. Think independently, maybe look to history to see young people that sought a different way of life. I guess that is my best advice, there are many things I would have done differently.

Also see "53 Percent Of All Young College Graduates In America Are Either Unemployed Or Underemployed"--The Squawker

US Standard of Living Has Fallen More Then 50%

This is a great article that really lays it out. We all know that years ago, a working class man, could finance an entire family with a stay-at-home wife, providing a home, car and groceries for himself, her and the children. This investor lays out the numbers and the chart. One shocking statistic is this one.

On several occasions, I have glibly referred to how it now takes two spouses working to equal the wages of a one-income family of 40 years ago. Unfortunately, that is now an understatement. In fact, Western wages have plummeted so low that a two-income family is now (on average) 15% poorer than a one-income family of 40 years ago.

Think about that for a minute...two incomes today are LESS then ONE income 40 years ago. That's if both adult members in a household are employed which is today less and less. Things have changed and not for the better. Generation X, already has seen itself struggle, what will life be like for Generation Y, as more and more jobs disappear?--The Squawker

Who Knew That Americathon Would Predict the Future?

One comment from Youtube sums it up:


"Let's see... China is a global economic superpower, the USSR is gone, the UK relies on tourism for money, the world is running out of cheap oil, Americans are broke and living in their cars, the USA is heavily in debt to foreign countries, TV programming is reaching new lows... I'd say this was an accurate prediction."
 


The USA is broke and well I guess many knew that was the road we were on even as early as 1979!--The Squawker

Bill Collectors From India?

You know things have gotten sad in America, when you get late on a small medical bill, no office calls or writes you, and right away, they have a collection agency call you.....


FROM INDIA.

I suspect this is for blood tests for The Reckoner where even the "free clinic" for the destitute unloaded a $300 dollar lab charge for blood tests. The Reckoner at the time said, "Please no huge lab bills, we can't handle it!" Who determines these prices? The Squawker sent a few 10 and 20 dollar payments to no avail. One thing, we have no problem paying the debt off, if we could. This being a smaller medical bill, the original company probably will get 10 bucks from me this month. It may take time, but it's the best I can do and afford groceries. Never pay to collection agencies where the money could disappear in a vat of red tape. 


In this household unless we are dying or we are on the cusp of respiratory or cardiac failure or have skin falling off from a third degree burn or a leg about to rot off, we don't go to the ER. Why? The horrendous bills. Even if one is on Medicare, you still have to pay 20% off the top. So gout attacks, projectile vomiting for hours, we stay home, knowing the hassles that lay in the future, should we go in. The cash register in your local ER can go caching! for a thousand bucks as soon as you walk in the door. Each spouse has begged the other to go to the hospital while one shakes their head 'no, no no'.

So the heavily accented person calls, and wants to demand money....[I googled the number and it is a company that does medical collections]

When they call I love to have a conversation with them....

It goes something like this...[fortunately these ones know enough English to converse]

"Are you from India?"


[yes]


"Do you realize that America is in a depression and that none of us have jobs anymore to pay these bills?"


[cough ummmm]


"They gave all our jobs to you guys, think about the absurdity that while we are left without even the option to get a low-paid bill collector's job, they hassle us over bills that remain unpaid"




and


"They are not telling the world the truth about how poor people are getting here" 


[a couple have sounded shocked at that one]



Then usually I sashay into socio-political economics. Hey why not?, they called me at 9:00 am on  a Saturday morning and have been harrassing us daily.

"You do realize your country isn't going to be able to depend on the failing American system forever, don't you?"


"You should plan accordingly."


"Please, don't call here anymore!"


[click]





In 2009, they said bill collection centers in India were booming. 


U.S. Debt Collectors Watch Jobs Go To India--The Squawker

Not Allowed to Feed the Homeless?

Feeding The Homeless BANNED In Major Cities All Over America

What would you do if you came across someone on the street that had not had anything to eat for several days? Would you give that person some food? Well, the next time you get that impulse you might want to check if it is still legal to feed the homeless where you live. Sadly, feeding the homeless has been banned in major cities all over America. Other cities that have not banned it outright have put so many requirements on those that want to feed the homeless (acquiring expensive permits, taking food preparation courses, etc.) that feeding the homeless has become "out of reach" for most average people. Some cities are doing these things because they are concerned about the "health risks" of the food being distributed by ordinary "do-gooders". Other cities are passing these laws because they do not want homeless people congregating in city centers where they know that they will be fed. But at a time when poverty and government dependence are soaring to unprecedented levels, is it really a good idea to ban people from helping those that are hurting?

Some "rules" are made to be broken, and this one is on the list. Here is a time where obeying God in helping someone out, should take precedent over wicked rules of man. How heartless is our society growing?

So you buy a homeless person a meal at McDonalds or give someone poor food from your kitchen, or hand someone a sandwich and they want to fine you?

Also do not buy all the rules they make for "safety" reasons, using that as an excuse. Soon none of us will be allowed to cross the street for our own "safety". That is just an excuse to starve the homeless and send them underground. After all in the non-depression "Depression", they want to keep the homeless as hidden as possible.

The Squawker and the Reckoner have never been homeless but have been close so they have compassion for those who have ended up this way. It is far easier to end up homeless then anyone could dream. Rent is always paid first in our household, above everything else, but what about those when the income stream totally stops? The landlords may give you a break for a month or two but after that the streets await. The Squawker still remembers when one of her neighbors in a big city became homeless, she ran into her warming herself by a trashcan fire, and asked "What happened?". She had been laid off, and could not get another job and was denied unemployment.

The help of friends and others has kept both of us off the street and fed before. While the stereotype that everyone who is homeless ended up that way from substance abuse or other bad choices, the reality is more and more of them are people who simply lost jobs, and could not keep things going.

It's like they want to legislate heartless cruelty and no more compassion and kindness for fellow mankind. Why are the churches silent in the face of this too? Sadly most of the 501c3 churches, will "follow the rules", hopefully some will realize that feeding the hungry, is a spiritual duty that trumps draconian laws. Even in the many disasters that now impact this nation, many people come together in those to even feed one another. The social worker and out of touch types will say "Oh there are plenty of options for the homeless!". Do not let that deceive you either. There are reasons, some of the homeless avoid shelters.   The concerns range from lack of handicapped accommodations to husband, wives and children being separated. The author of the article of the link talks about how they were forced to even give up their walker, leaving them totally helpless. That stuff really does happen.

Many homeless shelters in big cities are in dangerous neighborhoods, they force you to wander outside all day, even if you are ill and old, they have draconian rules, meant to control more then to help. Many ask why don't the homeless use shelters and why do they choose to sleep in doorways or under bridges? Well there is a reason for that. Some shelters are even overtaken by crime, you lose your little bit of stuff, should you dare to actually sleep. I am not trying to dissuade people from the use of shelters to save their lives, but there is more to the story. Those with children fear losing custody due to their poverty and those with ill health fear being warehoused away into a nightmare nursing home. For many homeless, they learn quick survival lies in the area of pretending not to be homeless. Some of our homeless even still have jobs, just too low-paying to keep shelter. There are also those who go to the shelters and find out all the beds are full. Imagine that happening on a cold night where you have no where else to go?

The Squawker has known and befriended numbers of the "hidden homeless" in her old town, who found alternative housing in RV campers, and house sitting and odd jobs. She would worry and ask them about winter, will you be OK and offered what help she could, but she has seen homelessness from the personal level. It is scary they are using food safety rules to outlaw giving help to the homeless, so they leave the homeless to go dig in the trashcan instead? Of course now, they are locking up more dumpsters, surrounded them by locked gates, so the homeless do not even have that option. Having personally seen how bad off the food pantries are, those who lack all options are in far worse shape then ever before. No one should stop anyone from feeding someone in need who is hungry. They are so nuts, soon they will outlaw people even eating at other folk's homes and church potlucks. Will they drag us off to jail as one commenter wrote for handing a friend a sandwich? Something has really gone wrong with this country, really wrong.--The Squawker