Posted on 08/26/2012 7:32:21 AM PDT by ex-Texan
America is becoming a very cold place. If you don't have money, you don't really matter much in our society. The ads on television aren't for you - they are directed at people that actually have good jobs and that can afford to buy the nice little "extras" in life. The politicians aren't really interested in you either - they figure that they can buy your vote with all of the money that they are getting from the wealthy people. When you don't have money, even friends and relatives start to distance themselves from you. Perhaps they are afraid that you will ask them for money or perhaps they are afraid that your "failure" will start to rub off on them. * * * In the United States today, there are tens of millions of people that have been forsaken and forgotten. They mostly stay at home (if they still have a home), and for most of them quiet desperation has become a way of life. You won't ever read much about them or see them appear much on television because nobody really cares too much about them. As far as society is concerned, there are just way too many of them and they are a problem that "the government" should be able to handle anyway. Sadly, the truth is that many communities all across America want absolutely nothing to do with those that can't take care of themselves. All over the country cities are passing laws making it illegal to feed the homeless, and in other instances cities are actually making it illegal to be homeless. Unfortunately, this problem is not going away. In fact, the number of Americans living in poverty increases with each passing day. So where do we go from here?
(Excerpt) Read more at theeconomiccollapseblog.com ...
Nice BLOG.
Years ago, one used to be able hire someone for “odd jobs” around the place for a few bucks or a hearty meal. Now the gov’t inspectors would swarm you for safety regs and the like (unless, of course, they are illegal immigrants). Heck, they even frown upon bake sales and lemonade stands.
Years ago, crazy people were put away, so they could be cared for and not a danger to themselves or society.
Years ago, the gov’t wasn’t in the charity business, so they weren’t looking to eliminate the competition.
sheesh, depressing. How do you like this obama? are you happy now
You seem to have missed the BLOG section.
This ain’t news.
This is a big part of the problem, that unemployed people can't find something quickly because the bar is set so high to enter.
People who don't work can still do a lot to contribute to society. Maybe most importantly they can hiomeschool their kids. We should be making it easier for them to do this. They can also contribute time and energy to charities and noble causes. Such work should count towards getting back in the workforce more than it does. And they should be able to work for odd jobs, because those odd jobs are interviews for other more permanent work.
Socialist BS. Get government out of the mix and this will go away. Some of the redistributionists comments at this blog are disturbing to say the least.
Probably the best bet would be to reverse the longstanding demographic flow from the towns to the big cities. That is, for the states to revitalize towns with the idea of spending going to the town to create local jobs, much less to individuals within the town.
If such towns have some water and some farmland, they can grow some crops for themselves, and sell other crops. People would live in one story apartments if single or childless, similar accommodations if elderly or infirm; and houses if they have children.
A big reason that such towns have faded away is that they are boring. But in this case, economy trumps boredom. People can live there for much less money than they can live in the city.
It is likely that the entire US will be in a protracted recession-depression for 10-20 years, and people over the age of 30-35 who are unemployed will likely stay that way.
By providing a decent life for them in towns, it will also clear a path for unemployed young people to get jobs and start families, which is essential for our recovery.
If done with some planning and care, it could be a win-win, and far better for everyone than the painful alternatives.
In my little area - all he would have to do is be responsible, show up, do a good job and many neighbors would hire him to do odd jobs. But after this - I would climb up on the ladder myself before I would deal with him again!! I also would never recommend him to my elderly neighbors.... And I know for a fact that he desperately needs the money..... Some people are just hopeless :(
What a ridiculous statement.
Why would any company run ads aimed a people that could not afford to buy their product?
are you freaking kidding me? Most people cannot afford the junk hawed on tv, but the attitude in the commercials and info mercials is that you should be able to and there is easy credit so you too can have a glass sunroom or whatever extraneous thing they are selling
>>The ads on television aren’t for you -
That’s because I don’t watch television.
Those ads are targeted at the McSheeple who are too feeble to unplug the antenna from the Useful Idiot box.
>>Get government out of the mix and this will go away.
“TO SECURE THESE RIGHTS, governments are instituted among men”
—The American Declaration of Independence.
To “SECURE” them from who or what?
[Probably the best bet would be to reverse the longstanding demographic flow from the towns to the big cities. ]
Or you could transform urban mega-failures by facilitating more localized community structures within; a part of which being the maintenance of technologically-enhanced, efficient, and sustainable urban agriculture methodologies such as:
https://www.facebook.com/ColoradoAquaponics
It frosts me when they say Ann Romney never worked a day in her life. She raised 5 kids for cryin' out loud.
The left's feminist flank has been trying to denigrate homemakers (dare I say housewives) who have been the backbone of civilized society for centuries.
And basically that's where we are going to end up again. Before the recession is over, we will have returned to single wage earner families. It will not be a sex segregated recreation of the 1950s, but we are going to have more intact families for economic reasons, and single wage earning families.
Just like we experienced a debt bubble, we may have been experiencing a jobs bobble. Historically, 90% employment was considered good, and 5% to be full employment. The jobs numbers of the bubble decages were not the historical norm.
This could be good both within cities and in small towns from the provision perspective.
But I’m working off the idea of “human maintenance”. For many years now, both Europe and the US have come to accept high rates of unemployment and underemployment, because a limited number of people, with technology, are hyperefficient.
So instead of being creative or productive, the “excess population”, as E. Scrooge would say, are instead wasted by distracting them with empty entertainments. But these, too, are products of the big cities.
It is the tradeoff of a million monkeys using Twitter, vs. one bored individual at home writing a book. In many ways, the book is better for all concerned.
During the Baby Boom, there were huge tracts of boring suburbia with very limited entertainments. One of the few things most families could afford were instruments, so garage bands proliferated, as did the amount of music produced. A huge burst of creativity.
As I suggested, the US may be looking at 10-20 years of economic torpor. Is it better that millions of people spend their lives on welfare, hypnotized by the flashing lights of the Internet and video games, or that they actually do something?
If you can’t take the city to the heartland, then bring the heartland to the city.
http://www.pbase.com/wm25burke/heartland
Plenty of time to play music after the construction is done.
I am told that music was commonly part of the evening barn-raising entertainment.
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