I Need A Freakin' Job

Tip Jar & Cross-post (4.00 / 2)

Tips for millions of young minds going to waste in this shining shitty on a hill.

Cross-posted on DailyKos.

I'm sure it'll appear on Soundpolitic when the library opens again...I'm getting kicked out right...now!

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by: Soundpolitic @ Fri May 14, 2010 at 00:00:26 AM UTC

Currently, unemployment and underemployment (4.00 / 2)

...are totally multi-generational.  Lots of people from lots of generations are "lost" in this economy.

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by: robinia @ Fri May 14, 2010 at 01:13:21 AM UTC

Robinia... (4.00 / 2)

I understand your point, but I think Soundpolitic has a better point. I say this based on his experience, which is all too common in New York (and in other hard hit areas) and the experience of someone close to me.

My soon-to-be father-in-law worked at Delphi for 30 years. He had a retirement (although it's been cut into over the last couple of years) and he had a chance to build his savings. Finding work out of college was not hard for him. He became an apprentice then went on to work in production and, later, skilled trades.

By contrast, I have friends from high school and college who can't find anything. They have degrees, but can't find jobs in their field or, perhaps more importantly, jobs where they can start a career and provide for themselves while saving for later in life.

The idea of "savings" or "retirement" could be lost in our generation. I say that because while you are right that lots of generations are lost in this economy, at least older folks have had a chance to build something. It is true that 'something' could be gone, but with many young people, they have nothing.

I'm with you that we should be concerned for all Americans, but I also think we need to be very concerned about the future - our generation - that has nothing to show for years of education and money spent toward that education.

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by: robert.harding @ Fri May 14, 2010 at 01:28:00 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I am truly sympathetic towards your situation (0.00 / 0)

However, I don't think you or anyone else should link to and essentially endorse a group, website, or platform just because you like their name and general purpose.  To be kind, their manifesto makes no sense.  I guess they're deficit/spending hawks who also want a government that is activist about the unemployment rate?  By doing what?  The government should "get out of the way"?  Then, why are they yelling "I need a job!" at the president, instead of "don't do anything!"  And, the recession is "the greatest injustice in American history"?  I can't even describe how ignorant and offensive I find that kind of hyperbole.

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by: Erstroneck @ Fri May 14, 2010 at 03:34:55 AM UTC

One additional point (0.00 / 0)

They say "Catastrophic is being a recent college graduate".  All the comparative unemployment numbers I've seen have said that the unemployment rate among college graduates has not been nearly as bad as the unemployment rate among those with less education: http://www.bls.gov/news.releas...

Certainly, I don't mean to diminish the difficulties college graduates or anyone have had, but, if your movement's slogan is "I need a friggin' job", the problems of college graduates probably shouldn't be your first priority.  

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by: Erstroneck @ Fri May 14, 2010 at 03:42:03 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm not making an endorsement (0.00 / 0)

If I linked to the RNC website to quote one of their ridiculous press releases, would I be endorsing them?

I read this blog and I'm incredibly disappointed.  Grammatical errors everywhere.  But, as I said in the diary, I had but a few minutes to get this up.  All I wanted was to perhaps let people know what was going on, and part of my motivation was the fact that this movement was getting started in our home state.

My first impression is that this is not a political movement in the way you described it...it's more a social movement.  I don't believe it's the government's job to create jobs.  It's employers who have to create them.

The problem is that when many employers saw this recession coming, they cut jobs and job opportunities instead of their own six figure salaries.  All research shows that once you're making about $50K a year, happiness levels off.  I don't think it's American government necessarily that's responsible for this, but American culture: the idea that the system exists to simply serve you and only you to the infinite maximum extent.

Again, I wasn't endorsing this movement.  It's simply a message that resonated with me.

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by: Soundpolitic @ Fri May 14, 2010 at 21:09:42 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Jobs vs. a living (4.00 / 1)

If you don't have any social influence, you can make a good living with a job.  A job provides you with steady income so you can get what you need.

If you don't have a job, you can make a good living if you have a lot of social influence.  If you have social influence, you can threaten people, or call in favors, to get what you need.  (Some people use the term "social capital," but I think "influence" is more descriptive.)

If you have neither a job nor any social influence, you are not going to make a good living.

The problem isn't so much that young people (or any other unemployed person) don't have jobs; it's that they also don't have any social influence.

It's a bitter lesson for many young people to have to learn now, that jobs aren't out there for them -- and that a drug dealer on the street is actually making a better living than they are, because, while the dealers may not have a job, they have social influence in their own circle (threatening people, running organized crime, etc).  

I also do not believe that you can build a movement out of jobless youth if all they're going to do is complain and threaten to withhold a few piddling votes.  The political system is run on money, as well everyone here at TAP knows (the constant exhortations to donate), and young people without jobs and social influence are young people without money and therefore, young people without much power, unless they pick up a baseball bat (as an extreme example).

I don't believe it's a good idea for people trying to start a political movement to go public too loudly with the fact that they are long-term jobless.  Unfortunately it makes the powers that be inclined take you less seriously as a force to be reckoned with.

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by: NYCO @ Fri May 14, 2010 at 15:02:33 PM UTC

P.S. (0.00 / 0)

Boycott bp
Tattoo Fade

......Thinking is an inside job.

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by: instead @ Fri May 14, 2010 at 19:24:00 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Social influence vs. the powers that be (0.00 / 0)

I chuckled a bit when I read about social influence.

All the social influence I have, I earned from TAP :-)

And of course, the longer I remain unemployed, the worse I look to employers.  "Gee, I wonder why this guys been unemployed for so long?  Could it be the recession?  Nah...must be he's just unemployable.  Have a nice life!"

I hope your extreme example doesn't come to pass.  A new pair of shoes and a good candidate for office to support is a better idea...

...but honestly, I don't know how much longer people of any age group are going to take this.

By the way, it seems that this INAFJ movement is, in fact, right-wing astroturf, pointed out by BingChester below.

I see stories about online scammers preying on people desperate for work every week.  And stories of corporate CEOs making record profits.

I have one question:

What the fuck kind of a country am I living in?

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by: Soundpolitic @ Fri May 14, 2010 at 21:26:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

This is a tough topic for many of us (0.00 / 1)

For anyone reading this, I am from Florida and they ARE hiring for the oil spill clean up. This is cleaning the planet and they are paying about $12 in most cases. This is also a chance to get recognized by a possible employer and parlay an opportunity into a full time job. Please do your research before taking a job with any specific company, but a good place to start is by contacting BP's human resources and taking it from there. Good luck to everyone and hang in there. I know it's tough.  


Boycott bp
Tattoo Fade

......Thinking is an inside job.

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by: instead @ Fri May 14, 2010 at 19:19:38 PM UTC

Uh oh (4.00 / 2)

http://www.dailykos.com/story/...

Looks like the motive behind the billboard was less than honest.

That doesn't invalidate your post at all and what you've said is still legit.  Unfortunately the "movement" isn't really a movement.

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by: BingChester @ Fri May 14, 2010 at 21:03:17 PM UTC

Good find (0.00 / 0)

Just like every interview I've been on in the past year and a half, this one also turned out to be too good to be true.

By the way, if you're interested, that's six interviews out of about 1,500 applications.

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by: Soundpolitic @ Fri May 14, 2010 at 21:22:14 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

cizgifilm (0.00 / 0)

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by: cizgifilm @ Mon May 17, 2010 at 17:22:50 PM UTC