Underemployed And Hating Life (millions of smart, hard working folks are working dead end jobs)

The Economic Collapse Blog ^ | October 21, 2011 | Michael Snyder

[SeekAndFind]

Today, millions of smart, hard working Americans are flipping burgers, waiting tables or working dead end retail jobs not because they want to, but because they have no other options. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 14 million Americans are currently unemployed and another 9.3 million Americans are currently "underemployed".

[donna]

Besides, truthfully, if they are "smart" and "hard working" they aren't flipping burgers for very long.

You're missing something. That's only true when the President is Reagan.

Obama is using government and unions to destroy jobs. No longer is it a matter of being willing to work hard; it is a matter of the long arm of government stopping hard work.

[ottbmare]

Besides, truthfully, if they are "smart" and "hard working" they aren't flipping burgers for very long.

Think so? You're quite mistaken. There are a lot of jobs for which there is no up--no possibility of promotion. If you're not young enough, if you're not the right color or ethnicity, you are not going to get promoted even if you save the company's bacon.

[cripplecreek]

So a days hard work is now evil and detested in the USA.

God Knows how many Americans have spent their whole lives working those "Dead end jobs" and never complained a bit. The derision heaped on manual labor in this country is disgusting.

[ex-snook]

“If they really are that smart and hard-working, they will gradually move up through the ranks. A good employee is worth his or her weight in gold. “

---

And then your company is bought out or shipped out and you are the smartest most hard-working guy on the unemployed line.

[seeker41]

I too am one! Unemployed! In my area there are way more people then jobs, 5 for every one job. Many low level admin or cashier positions get upwards of 100 applicants.

[cripplecreek]

What a brainless, didn’t get the point, comment.

So they can all be CEO?

[dennisw]

I worked at IBM for some years and watched them gut the U.S. work force while creating tens of thousands of jobs in India. Wall St. forces a focus on ‘the quarter’, which results in myopic corporations and CEO’s to lose anything resembling long-term vision. The impact on the country figures not a jot in their calculus....trust me. Zero. Nada.

Corporate executives with zero loyalty to American workers. With these turds in charge we would have lost WW2. Of course they could care less about trade deficits.

[Hugin]

Didn’t Herman Cain start in the food/restaurant business by actually flipping burgers and making pizza?

Yes and no. He did all those jobs, but as CEO so he would have a first hand understanding of the business he was taking over. He didn't start out doing that and work his way up.

[dfwgator]

Technology is only making the demand for human labor less and less.....think about how many people it used to take to farm, compared to what it takes today.

[TwelveOfTwenty]

This is what you get with conceited moronic theories of free trade. This is what you get with outsourcing.

This is also what you get when you decide that saving a quarter on a foreign made notepad and pen is more important than keeping jobs/taxpayers in the US.

The free trade agreements only made it easier to outsource manufacturing. We made it profitable by buying the cheaper stuff.

[TruthConquers]

Your comment shows your inabiltiy to engage in this topic with any logic.

[varyouga]

It doesn't matter who you vote for. They are all thieving pay-for-play bastards who turn us against each other. Then they go buy votes, give our tax dollars to whoever pays them most and look the other way when businesses use slave-state labor to crush US labor.

This decline is more frightening and dangerous than what I saw in the USSR. It's simply sad to see so much wasted potential...

[cripplecreek]

Taxes, regulation, and unionization make outsourcing the attractive choice.

[seeker41]

It’s so funny, I worked at UF until 8/31/11 and have been in high tech for years. Noticed your gator moniker:)

[dennisw]

This is why you put up tariffs....and nuke the EPA

[GlockThe Vote]

1. Inflation
2. Over Regulation
3. BS Trade Deals
4. Insane taxes , fees, fines, surcharges, etc
5. Too many illegals and their apologosts
6. Too many govt workers on all levels

The only way back for this country is to slash taxes and govt spending, bring back more production and manufacturing of the items we consume, drill drill drill, etc etc.

[dfwgator]

Years ago, Bob Graham, when he was running for the Governor of Florida, had a pretty good little idea during his campaign, he worked one day at a job in all 67 Florida counties, and he wound up getting elected.....didn’t particularly care for the guy’s politics, but I liked him as a Governor, although I was disappointed with his Senate career.

[Niuhuru]

Even still, back then, the culture of America was drastically different. Back then if you had the work ethic and right skills, you could move up; these days single mothers with six kids from a variety of lovers gets preferential treatment over single, smart, self disciplined people.

[EGPWS]

If you're not young enough, if you're not the right color or ethnicity, you are not going to get promoted even if you save the company's bacon.

I'm pushing '60 and was unemployed in '09 and '11 both.

I have never collected a dime of unemployment in my life, I have always found work whether I had to move or not.

So when am I supposedly too old to get hired?

[NoGrayZone]

"It sucks. My GF can’t understand what this is like and it adds a lot of stress to the situation."

Dump her. She should be lending a supportive role in your situation, not making it worse.

Peoples real selves come out when there is trouble and or problems.

Looks like you're seeing her true colors....and they don't seem real pretty.