Fewer people actually looking for work

[Fire Marshal Bill]

I saw on one of the morning new reports that fewer people are looking for work. They have noticed that by not working, they can still get everything they need and a lot of those things they don't need but want.

I wonder just how long this can continue, with more and more people not working, being supported by fewer and fewer people actually working.

[lifesaver]

Sept 2, 2013 6:32:17 GMT -5 Fire Marshal Bill said:

I saw on one of the morning new reports that fewer people are looking for work. They have noticed that by not working, they can still get everything they need and a lot of those things they don't need but want.

I wonder just how long this can continue, with more and more people not working, being supported by fewer and fewer people actually working.

Until we decide that there are no more free rides.  That being said, I believe our welfare system is designed to keep a lot of folks in poverty.  It is a way of control.  I think the solution is to have no more free rides.  You want assistance, you "work" for it.  And also give that hand up to help them cross that bridge out of poverty and not punish them by cutting their benefits when they try.

[Venter]

Sept 2, 2013 8:40:59 GMT -5 lifesaver said:

Sept 2, 2013 6:32:17 GMT -5 Fire Marshal Bill said:

I saw on one of the morning new reports that fewer people are looking for work. They have noticed that by not working, they can still get everything they need and a lot of those things they don't need but want.

I wonder just how long this can continue, with more and more people not working, being supported by fewer and fewer people actually working.

Until we decide that there are no more free rides.  That being said, I believe our welfare system is designed to keep a lot of folks in poverty.  It is a way of control.  I think the solution is to have no more free rides.  You want assistance, you "work" for it.  And also give that hand up to help them cross that bridge out of poverty and not punish them by cutting their benefits when they try.

Of course, working for WalMart or McDonald's is ALSO designed to keep folks in poverty

If you have 2 children, and work at WalMart, what do you do with the kids?
Pay $40 per day for childcare while you work 8 hours for $64?
Travel, food, housing, clothing, etc. will set you back more than that.
Then You take on a second job... so much for raising the kids

It is a vicious cycle.
So what do we do about it?
A "Work Program"? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_Progress_Administration
Let's face it, there were just a shitload of bridges put on the endangered list (or whatever it's called) and the "fix" was to lower the load limits - that'll fix 'em.
Get the people to work (MAKE them work, if they are capable) in order to receive pay.
Instead of making them take a job at WalMart, which we know they won't want to do, put them to work on public projects that we need done.

Maybe, if there is a Government Contract given out to a large corporation, that corporation would need to hire 10% of their workforce from welfare rolls.
I haven't really thought it out, but something HAS to be better than just handing them the money and the benefits.

[Alex Oreilly]

And I thought President Obama was going to fix everything:)

[HoneyBadger]

Sept 2, 2013 20:54:58 GMT -5 Alex Oreilly said:

And I thought President Obama was going to fix everything:)

Yes, I fooled myself into thinking that and I'm sorry to admit that I was very, very wrong.

I've decided that I can't trust my own judgment so I'm sitting out the next presidential election.

After being retired for a year I desperately want to work again. Part time work would be fine. But, the only jobs available for someone like me pay so little that - after paying $20.00 an hour for someone to sit with my mother while I was working - I'd owe more money than I earned. Even hiring someone privately it would cost me more than I would earn. It's a losing situation.

[Fire Marshal Bill]

One problem is that it is very difficult to get off the system once you are getting assistance. I have never been there but I am told that you get a certain amount of assistance until you make a specific amount of money and then you lose all assistance.

So you get assistance with food, lodging and bills to let you survive. Now you are one who wants to get off the system, so you get a job that pays a little and you live a bit better, but still can’t support yourself on that income so you stay on assistance, but continue to get the full payment.

After a bit you get a job that pays well enough to get off the system and you lose everything and are back to living almost in poverty.

How about, first if you are on assistance, you must do something. There are highways that need trash picked up. Public buildings, and churches that need cleaned and painted, why can’t people on assistance do that? If you can’t do physical work, there is some volunteer organization that can use you to answer phones and take messages.

As you get a job once you reach a certain income level, you don’t lose all the support, but for every two dollars above that point you earn, you lose one dollar of your support. That way you can work your way off the system.

As to working, a while back I read that one state, or community was having people work. One of the jobs was to clean the public restrooms in the community. The community was taken to court that these jobs were degrading to the individuals who had to do them. Doesn't someone usually do this kind of work?

[HoneyBadger]

I presume that you are speaking generally, FMB, because I am not on assistance. I'm receiving my retirement annuity and spending my savings. When my savings are depleted I will eat less. Of course, if my mother passes in her sleep, I can get a job cleaning public restrooms. I did it in the past and can most certainly do it again. One man's shit stinks as much as another's.

[Fire Marshal Bill]

Sept 3, 2013 14:12:24 GMT -5 HoneyBadger said:

I presume that you are speaking generally, FMB, because I am not on assistance. I'm receiving my retirement annuity and spending my savings. When my savings are depleted I will eat less. Of course, if my mother passes in her sleep, I can get a job cleaning public restrooms. I did it in the past and can most certainly do it again. One man's shit stinks as much as another's.

You and I and many others have worked for our retirement. I am referring to many people who have never worked. Now I have nothing against people who get assistance because they have come into hard times. I have friends who have worked for companies for years and then the company downsized, or relocated or just shut down, and they are suddenly out of a job, and many even lost what they had invested in the company retirement fund. These people need help and I feel they should get it. Many want to work their way off of assistance, but the older you get the more difficult it is to get a job, especially if your experience, is in a limited field or area.

My problem is with people who have never worked and don't want to work.

Maybe I am narrow minded, but I feel if you can smoke two or three packs of cigarets,and get in your two year old vehicle to drive to the liquor or beer store, you can probably do some kind of work.

Yes there are some people who physically or mentally can't work, and we should take care of them. But if you are physically capable of some kind of work, you should be working.

And yes I have cleaned restroom, chicken houses, and dairy barns. I have had a few jobs in my life I have not been happy with, but they paid the bills.

[diogenes]

My understanding is that the term "no longer looking for work" is government "talk" for unemployment compensation has expired for those people. Any one else hear that explanation?

[Venter]

Sept 6, 2013 18:22:04 GMT -5 diogenes said:

My understanding is that the term "no longer looking for work" is government "talk" for unemployment compensation has expired for those people. Any one else hear that explanation?

I thought "No longer looking for work" means "I'm dead"!

[MattC]

Is my "I Told You So Files" thread on this board or the old board?