I agree that Americans have to be pushed further, but the despair in this country is becoming palpable. I can’t believe how many people I know are resigned to probably never working again in their fields, and they’re being joined by lots of government employees with jobs skills for little else (police, fire, untenured teachers, Motor Vehicles types). At this point if they can find a job at all it is for food & rent; home ownership is lo longer an option without viable jobs. The cut-off of unemployment benefits was the final warning: the jobs we used to work (or jobs with comparable salaries) are not returning anytime soon, so head down to your local Wal-Mart and fill out an application. While many of the gov’t. layoffs are the youngest workers, the worst situation is the older workers (often with mortgages, children, etc.) who feel they may never work again. People can prattle on about how it is their fault, and free-market economy, blah blah blah, but in the end those terms mean nothing to someone involuntarily retired at 50. Telling them it is their own fault (which may or may not be true, depending on the individual scenarios) isn’t solving anything for them.
Imagine the “Okies” in the Grapes of Wrath arriving in California and it looked just like Oklahoma...
... the jobs we used to work (or jobs with comparable salaries) are not returning anytime soon.... People can prattle on about how it is their fault, and free-market economy, blah blah blah, but in the end those terms mean nothing to someone involuntarily retired at 50. Nobody makes running boards for cars anymore either.
There's no "pattling on" about the free markets and no one is blaming anyone or their age. It's up to you to remain current and relevant in your skills-sets.
Plenty of salaried people become stale and ossified in their jobs, and the corporate umbrella can only provide cover for so long before that catches up to them. Employees need to remain trainable for new things and current in what they do to remain competitive in today's employment market.
And it has always been so....
Whenever you land a new job, you start from day 1 planning for where or what your next job is going to be. That has a way of keeping your skills sets fresh and relevant.
Don't resent the fact that there are such things as free markets, else we'd all be paying for more things that only the government thinks we need. You'd best hope the free market stays free or with the ascendancy of a new breed of free-marketers (e.g., tea party) the world becomes more free and America's industrial productivity is once again allowed to become unshackled.
In the meantime, set your sights higher than Wal-mart. If you are 50 years old and the experience you gained in your career has real value, figure out a way to market it to someone who will buy that experience directly from you instead of the company you used to work for.
It's a liberating thing when you do. FReegards!
