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Staring Down Desperation
The Senate’s failure to extend unemployment benefits has left 30,000 jobless here with nothing coming in
Until he lost his job, Jim MacPherson figures, he had worked every day of his life since he was 15. Now, after 18 months of desperately seeking new work, MacPherson is among the estimated 2.1 million US workers, including 30,000 in Massachusetts, who have been without jobless benefits since Congress allowed an extension of the federal program to expire in early June.
This week, with unemployment still at its highest level in more than a quarter-century and hiring down to a crawl, the US Senate will try again to break a stalemate over extending through Nov. 30 the emergency benefits that allowed unemployed workers to collect for up to 99 weeks. The legislation has become tied up in deficit politics, with Republicans, including Senator Scott Brown, insisting that the $33 billion cost of the extension not be added to the nation's burgeoning debt. Brown has proposed legislation that he says would pay for the benefits with unspent stimulus funds.
Some Republicans and economists have even argued that the time has come to end the extensions, which they say is providing incentives to turn down work.
"If the goal is to get people back to work, why tie the money to the condition that you stay unemployed?'' said David Tuerck, executive director of the conservative Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University.
But other economists say hiring remains so weak and unemployment so high that extensions will provide much-needed support for the economy.
"The vast majority of unemployed are hard-pressed to find a job, and the risks of not passing the extensions are too great,'' said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pa. "It could reignite the foreclosure crisis, and if the economy swamps again, there is no response.''
In the meantime, those who have lost benefits are clinging to the hope that they'll find new jobs while wondering how they'll pay mortgages, keep food on the table, or send children to college. Here are some of their stories.
■ ■ ■
The desire to work was never a problem for Jim MacPherson. He spent 28 years at the same construction equipment rental company, putting in 10- to 12-hour days. When the firm laid him off at the end of 2008, he had 29 unused personal days.
But MacPherson, 51, of Holbrook, has found that desire is not enough. He has sent out scores of resumes; networked with colleagues, friends, and friends of friends; and tried to transfer his purchasing and inventory management skills to other industries. Recently, he thought he might get an offer from a local hospital - until administrators imposed a hiring freeze.
MacPherson also thought he would get another extension to his unemployment benefits, which ran out two weeks ago. "It's not a matter of giving people money,'' he said. "It's giving us more time, because the jobs are not there.''
For MacPherson, whose wife works on a per diem basis at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, the loss of benefits is making a tough situation tougher. The father of three, MacPherson drained his savings to cover health insurance costs, particularly important because his 13-year-old daughter has diabetes.
Already, MacPherson said, he and his family are doing all they can to make ends meet. When MacPherson takes his daughter to Children's Hospital in Boston for diabetes treatments, he donates platelets to get free parking and save $15. He has even participated in four nutritional studies at Tufts University, earning $500 for each.
Soon, he said, he'll have to tap into his retirement account to pay the mortgage. Meanwhile, his oldest daughter, 17, is increasingly stressed about the cost of college. MacPherson keeps trying to assure her that he'll find a way.
"The unemployment checks meant I could pay my mortgage and keep food on the table,'' he said. "Right now, I am just trying to keep a positive outlook that tomorrow will bring that phone call.''
■ ■ ■
After she was laid off from her job of 16 years, the easiest thing for Karen Bureau of Methuen would have been just to stay home. Diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at 12, and dependent on a motorized wheelchair and home health aides, it takes her up to three hours to wash, dress, and get ready to leave the house.
But during 15 months of unemployment, Bureau, who was assistant director of a Lawrence nonprofit, has not been content to stay at home. Day in and day out, she clambers into her modified minivan, aided by a chair lift, and heads to interviews, the local career center, or volunteer work, which she does in part to build connections that might lead to a job.
"It takes a lot of energy,'' said Bureau, 42. "But I didn't come this far to be unemployed.''
Despite her efforts, Bureau is still without a job, and has been without her unemployment benefits of $554 a week since the end of June. Unless a job comes through soon - she's in the running for a position at a local social service agency - or Congress approves the benefit extensions, she could lose her house, a ranch-style home that she renovated to make it accessible.
"Unemployment benefits have been my lifeline,'' said Bureau, who lives alone. "It's becoming a question of whether I go into foreclosure or a short sale. It's difficult not knowing what step to take next.''
Bureau, who holds a bachelor's degree and master's level certificate in human services management, had never been out of work before her layoff in the spring of last year. She said she doesn't understand how Congress could take a weeklong recess when so many like her are unsure if they'll be able to keep their homes. In the meantime, she said, she'll keep looking and hoping.
"I'm determined to find something,'' she said. "I want to be out amongst people. I want to be working.''
■ ■ ■
Tom Bergendahl has been sending out an average of four resumes a week for two years. A few weeks ago, he seemed close to getting a contract job with a financial services firm, when at the last minute, the company decided to use existing employees. "It vanished right before my eyes,'' he said.
Also gone are the $502-a-week unemployment checks, which he had expected to last, if necessary, through October. As a result, Bergendahl, the father of two teenage sons, is burning through what savings he has left, hoping his job search succeeds before the money runs out.
"The unemployment benefits,'' he said, "were a helping hand in a time of real financial stress.''
Bergendahl lost his contract job with State Street Corp. in the summer of 2008. With a fair amount of savings, and believing he would soon find work, he didn't file for unemployment until March 2009.
Now, with his wife working part time, he has had to take financial help from relatives. His family has cut back where they could. Summer vacation will be a low-cost camping trip without Bergendahl, who will stay home to look for jobs.
"I try to be as upbeat as possible,'' he said. "The economy is going to get better. This can't last forever - I hope.''
■ ■ ■
It took 20 years of night school, one class at a time, but in May 2009, Donna Rafferty finally earned the bachelor's degree in human services she thought would advance her career. A month later, she was laid off from the social services agency where she answered a referral line.
Since then, Rafferty has had to lower her sights from the case manager job she hoped her degree would bring. Sending out more than 250 resumes, she has applied for clerical and administrative jobs in a variety of industries, even fast-food restaurants. No luck.
"As time goes on, it gets more discouraging,'' said Rafferty, 58, of Jamaica Plain. "I've had two interviews, and both times came in the top three, but that doesn't make me feel any better.''
Making things worse: her sole income, $420 a week in unemployment benefits, ended last month.
Rafferty, who is single, said she has always lived frugally, aided by the modest mortgage on the condominium she bought in 1998 for $75,000. She figures she has enough savings to get through August. After that, she said, "I'll hit the panic button.''
In the meantime, she is making daily visits to career centers to search job listings, sending out more resumes, and calling "anyone who's given me a business card.'' She's even dropping by companies in the hope of persuading someone to hire her.
"I'm doing everything I can, but there's just not that many jobs out there,'' she said. "I'm trying to understand what Congress is doing. This is not the time to teach government to stop spending when it's working people who need the help.''
45 Comments so far
Show AllA Country, a Capitalist system - that encourages people to take risks, out to have a safety net to catch people until they can get back on their feet.
In 1996, while many people were happily employed, Clinton and Congress, "ended Welfare as we know it."
How do all you unemployed Welfare Queens feel now?
Poor people spend all their money. There is no saving those $420. or $502.. They will take that money to every local business and spend every last dollar. That doesn't sound like such a bad thing for the economy right now!
Well, Dancing Bear it is easy to see that you are not one of the unfortunate thousands who are out of work. I am "un-qualified" for Welfare,free college education,and jobs with additional training. I am fortunate enough to be married to someone with a steady income that can pay our mortgage & other bills. Of course, I can no longer help out with the college bill for our daughter(who works 2 jobs),groceries,car repair bills & all those other little miscellaneous items that add up, when the 2nd income isn't there to cover it. My husband's job recently took away his work vehicle, backed out of their "promise" to give $$ to buy a new used one, and so my husband now has my car. The PT p/event Security job that I currently have(for $8 p/hr) I can now only fulfil on weekends only. So, I'm wondering where you are getting your bias from....or do you just assume that EVERYONE UNEMPLOYED is milking the system? Until you lose your income, you have NO idea what jobs are available out here, or what those employers are willing to pay. My daughter makes more $ tutoring than I do doing SECURITY work...where is the sense in that? My unemployment was less than $200 p/week, so let me tell you that used to cover 1 tank of gas p/week and 1 small bill($100 or less). I did manage to decrease almost all of my credit card debt,so I won't have to worry about that in case,no real job is forthcoming. The majority of the people showing up at job fairs & unemployment are those of us 40+yrs. old...it's very sad to see some of these folks laid off just so some company doesn't have to pay their retirement. Just think about what I've written.
Dear MMDG,
I wrote what I did with sarcasm. I am sorry I did a bad job conveying my intention. I am very sorry to hear that you are suffering as you are right now. Not only do I understand, but I am home with a screaming spinal tumor and cannot contribute at all except I have disability, less than $700 to contribute to our household. My husband's business just laid off everyone on June 1st. I guess I try not to sound or feel down.
Peace,
dancing bear
p.s. I got sick in 1996, but got turned down for emergency food because the rules had changed the month before.
I don't get it. Having an extremely deprived underclass cannot possibly be making rich people feel any happier or safer. It is like a self fulfilling disease. Especially when this deprived underclass come into your homes to take care of your children, clean and fix things cannot make for happiness! No wonder certain people are so afraid and have such intensive security needs.
"I don't get it. Having an extremely deprived underclass cannot possibly be making rich people feel any happier or safer."
The Oligarchy that runs things today is the descendant of the Robber Barons (or "Captains of Industry," as they liked to be called) that controlled the economy at the turn of the last century. They felt very powerful, as they rode in their carriages, then in their limos, from one party to the next, passing thousands in rags with their hands out, hoping for a little to get their family through another day. For them, that is the natural order of things; a handful of extremely wealthy and powerful people and millions of sick, hungry, homeless serfs, willing to do anything to survive.
Roosevelt gave them a bit of a check during the depression, but since then they have quietly bought the Legislature, the Executive, and now the Judiciary.
We the People have no more use than serfs, to do what we are told, to provide cannon fodder for our wars of conquest and theft. When people are hungry, there is always lots of cannon fodder.
Hitler said that, to really control a country, you needed to control its judicial system. Then, whatever you do is legal. Whatever the opposition does is a crime. If you have noticed the recent Supreme Court decisions, QED.
Rich people frequently do not relate to those who provide services such as cleaning their home or painting the walls, dancing bear. These ordinary working people are perceived as lesser and don't count for much other than having the usual polite exchanges as they are told what to do.
The mega-rich people who are currently playing all the financial and power games for their profitable benefits are disassociated from "lower levels" of humanity. They don't care; they don't relate. It's the profit sheet that counts and their own amenity-filled circumstances that come from having a lot of power and a lot of money. They are used to being important and deferred to.
There are exceptions, but once upon a time many years ago now when my circumstances were quite comfy because I'd married into wealth, I was appalled by what were callous, unthinking, unfeeling attitudes and actions on the part of too many to those who provided services ... plumbers and other workmen, housekeepers, groundskeepers, etcetera. "Oh. He's thirsty? ... No, don't give him that glass. That old stained one will do." ... Needless to say, I did not hang around in that whole situation very long.
The Class dividing line was as thick and strong as a concrete wall, when the MAJOR PROBLEM in the world, as one young, old-money, mother said to me when I asked her what that was, and she said: "You just can't get a proper Nanny anymore." Ohhhh.
Old Money? Too often incredibly boring, shallow people. Always having every need met without even having to ask can make for flabby souls.
Currently this country is divided by "Class" more so than at any other time in our more recent history. There was the bright bubble, after World War II, when strong unions, good pay, an abundance of jobs available moved Blue Collar folks into the solid middle class with homes of their own, and college educations were available from the G.I. Bill, and some blue collar folks and then many of their children moved to white collar status.
What's happening is NO ACCIDENT, and that must be understood clearly. Hell, with the opening of the FREE market, all that cheap labor was available elsewhere and made sense for all the major corporations to set up shop in that elsewhere. It's the PROFITS and the MONEY and the TAX BREAKS and the POWER, stupid.
The American workers of many stripes have outlived their usefulness to those whose solid perch is connected to Wall Street and global investments.
We are fast becoming a "has-been" nation. It doesn't have to be this way, but then you need genuine human beings who really care about the nation, and all of its people and their well-being, to run things. With a few exceptions, those significant, but few, genuine human beings have been replaced by the power-trippers who lack the combined emotional and mental calibre that helped make us what we used to be. In addition, too many of them are incredibly ignorant.
Now we have CORPORATIONS, once again affirmed, by the Supreme Court of the Land, as PEOPLE in their own right with all the RIGHTS of PEOPLE, but very few to none of the RESPONSIBILITIES that the rest of us HUMAN BEINGS have to cope with on a daily basis. And RULES AND REGULATIONS went out the window beginning with Reagan/Bush time.
Providing social and human services are considered a wasteful nuisance by too many who represent us. Do you really think they care about the people and what's happening to them as reflected in the stories in the above essay?
HOWEVER, be that as it may for now, it ain't over until the "stout" lady sings. Is it?
We are the People after-all!
/cm
Extremely well said. It rings true.
Wow! Cee Miracles and minitrue! Thank you for saying what you did and providing much clarity.
Love and peace to you both.
d bear
In Roseburg, Oregon this June 3000 people showed up for 100 potential openings at a new CostCo. Some drove 7 hrs. The real unemplyment rate is 18% in Oregon. The political economy is giving up on the people who've " worked hard and played by the rules ". The Dems are making themselves irrelavent because they have no answers or courage. A 3rd Way will emerge. It may not play out in traditional patterns and economists should be leery about saying that the people in the article " will go gently into that sweet night ". They may be, as my unemployed union member friend says, " a lot more into homicide than suicide. " Just sayin.
In that last great time of unemployment - the 1930s the unemployed understood the role of capitalism in their distress, and the presence of an alternative - socialism, or at least, a united working class bargaining as one. Such ideas, Marx's Spectre, continued to haunt the wealthy and powerful in US, in spite of an enormous propaganda effort, through the 1970's.
So, from FDR to Nixon, the presidency and congress understood that a big enough safety net beneath the capitalist syatem was needed to steer workers away from acting on these socialist or syndicalist ideas, while overseas, crushing any threats of a good example of such worker organizing, from Vietnam, to the Congo to Chile. But as long as there was a Soviet Union providing material and moral support to worldwide socialist movements, the safety net had to stay in place.
But then came 1991. Happy Days! The capitalists could now safely roll back everything since the 1930's. Real wages and worker security plummeted, while a massive media propaganda machine convinced the amnesiac worker that "Big Government" is the cause of all their woes.
We now face the spectacle the unemployed or tenuously employed believe that their unemployment is due to "Big Government" and if we only remove the last impediments from letting their bosses wield their power any way they want, happy days will be here again. The next election is going to see big gains, particularly at the local level, of the most reactionary capitalist forces possible. It WILL be happy days for the top 10% or so. The rest misery. The US, and later the rest of the "industrial world", will descend into economic conditions seen in places like El Salvador or Honduras.
And with the complete annihilation of historical memory underway, it will take centuries for the worker to re-formulate, from scratch, the origin of his misery.
But humans will probably be extinct before then.
Yeah, sigh, you've got it!
The fact that the government is not extending unemployment benefits so that people can have more time to look for jobs is not only beyond disgraceful, but it's equally disgraceful that the Democrats at large, including our present Administration in Washington, don't even have the spine to stand up to the Republicans, which has been the case for the past several decades.
I have long ago concluded that it has nothing to do with "lack of spine". The Democrats behavior can only be consistently explained by assuming complicity with same powerful economic interests that back Republican party.
A much better model is the "good cop/bad cop" model such as is used in interrogations. The role of the Democrats is to be the kinder "good cop" in ramming the interests of the powerful down the throat of the public.
Billions on 'defense' while we implode from within. Stop financing the Pentagon and we'll have plenty of money for food, housing and REAL SECURITY.
Oh, and a note to the lawmakers, bankers and other scum that manufactured this societal collapse: Millions of unemployed, hungry, desperate people will make things a little dicey in your gated communities and out there in the Hamptons, don't you think? It won't take much more of this before you'll have to hide behind your gates and there will be nobody bringing food to you. You'll be in a prison of your own making. Soon, 'eating the rich' will not be just a bumper sticker slogan.
Beyond the callousness of the Republicans and Bluedog Democrats is the dysfunction of the Senate and its filibuster which prevents this legislation from happening. Yet almost all Democrats in the Senate uphold the Sanctity of these arbitrary and undemocratic rules. Meanwhile we are so disgusted at their inability to act even when in the majority that we are likely to turn them out. Perhaps that is why they defend these absurd rules so adamantly, they can see themselves returning to minority status in the near future and look to these rules to preserve their power, just as Republicans have. How will the new Republican majority act if it the Democrats try to use anything like the obstruction the Republicans have hereto for exercised? The Republicans threatened to "go nuclear" over judicial nominations. As misguided as they are I think they, unlike the Democrats are truly motivated by their beliefs and will not let themselves be impeded by such unjust and arbitrary rules as now hold sway in the Senate. That will be the one good thing that happens when the Republicans take back the Senate-- the end of the filibuster. When we see the consequences of unimpeded Republican rule in this undemocratic body another good thing could happen, a counter reaction so profound that its revulsion will provoke real reform of our governance-- the end of the Senate.
I too have been out of work since 11/2008 and have sent hundreds of resumes,attended free workshops to make me more of an asset,taken a few certificate classes,network, and am now working a PT p/event Security job. Pays just enough to cover my gas. I was able to cut down on most of my credit card debt & was hoping to get the extension. I was getting less than $200p/week...now it will be nothing. Those NOT out of work have no real clue as to the JOBS out here, practically non-existant. The jobs listed online seem to be just to fill out applications, few interviews are forthcoming,no callbacks/email notifications from most jobs applied to. How about if those in Washington could take only 1/2 of their paychecks,lose transportation,possibly housing and see how LOUD they'll yell about it?! NOT all of us out here,unemployed, are milking the system. I'd rather have a job,a steady paycheck instead.I'd like to be able to go back to college & continue my Associate's degree, but I can't afford the $511 course(+ $100 for textbook)since I've been out-of-work. I try to keep up on course work on my own through the library. What else can one do? Love to hear suggestions.
'Those NOT out of work have no real clue as to the JOBS out here...'
You're so right! I've been without a permanent job since 2/09, finding only sporadic, temporary work that doesn't pay the bills. And I can't tell you how many times I've heard statements like, 'There ARE jobs out there,' or 'I know someone who just got a job,' or 'Did you look [here] and [here]?'
Also, let's not forget the impact of joblessness on being able to afford health care. My COBRA runs out next month (of course, a COBRA extension wasn't even up for consideration in Congress). My state, New York, advertises plans you can buy into if you can't afford insurance on your own. I earn too much for these plans, even though when I can get work it's not even enough to pay all my bills, let alone health insurance.
I will lose my insurance next month because I will be unable to pay even the cheapest rate for single HMO coverage. Just to get it out there, here's a link to New York State's list of Standard rates for individual plans:
http://www.ins.state.ny.us/hmorates/html/hmoqueen.htm
How can anyone who's not wealthy afford any of this, most especially if you have a family?!
There ARE jobs out there,' or 'I know someone who just got a job,' or 'Did you look [here] and [here]?'
Don't you hate that kind of patronizing? It's just a way to tell you that there is something wrong with you for an inability to land a job. Don't give any credence to these cretins.
"Love to hear suggestions."
Hi, consider the situation, as it is: serfs v Land Owners. Maybe it is time to find a Bllionaire who needs some help. Might as well go right to the source of where the money is.
Love and peace,
dancing bear
Tight government money policies mean belt tightening in the form of noose around working people's necks as they always have.
AD
Tight government money policies mean belt tightening in the form of noose around working people's necks as they always have.
AD
In any decent society, all people should have the means to take care of their basic needs. If people lose their jobs and there are no other jobs in the private sector, then the government should provide them with unemployment compensation or with government work projects. In short, provide the unemployed with money or with government jobs.
Pay for this with taxes on Wall Street transactions or get the billions back that are being wasted by warlords in Afghanistan.
We're in a Depresssion. No! Wait, it's a "jobless recovery!" That sounds so much better.
They find the money though for these illegal and deadly Middle East wars of agression and hegemony don't they! Or the rapacious TARP bailout!
The "little people" of America have to start pulling themselves up by their (strapless) boot straps.
We're not in Kansas anymore Toto.
This is a war between elite powers and their agents against the middle class. For decades, the government/business union has engaged legislative factors in support of unregulated monopolistic behavior encouraging unfair trade and labor practices to increase the concentration of wealth. Through centralization of mass media, elite powers have polarized the masses and successfully constructed a subterfuge to obscure relevant issues.
The masses need to unite in opposition to this manipulation and fight back with words, peaceful action and systemic disobedience:
1. All unemployed people who are seeking work need to continue to certify their status with state agencies after compensation expires, regardless of available or proposed extensions. Unemployed people who have exhausted benefits are not instructed to certify and discouraged to keep the unemployment rate far below reality, benefiting the government and Wall Street. According to http://www.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=2&RecNum=8588, "The unemployment rate identifies those who are out of work and looking for work regardless if they are eligible for unemployment insurance. A person not collecting unemployment benefits still will be reflected in the unemployment rate if they continue to look for work".
2. Unemployed people who volunteer their time are giving a gift they can not afford. Employment is selling time in return for money required for survival. Volunteering time is giving away your only renewable asset in return for a false opportunity presented by elite forces to get free labor. If you can not sell enough of your time to buy food and shelter, giving it away is a disincentive to increase employment opportunities. Yes, you can network and meet a few influential people who will pat you on the back and tell you how much they appreciate your time but so what? Their appreciation won't pay your house note. Your free labor gives them an immediate benefit at your expense.
3. Directly and firmly correct anyone you hear claiming that they pay so the unemployment can get compensation. According to http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=104985,00.html,"The Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA), with state unemployment systems, provides for payments of unemployment compensation to workers who have lost their jobs. Most employers pay both a Federal and a state unemployment tax... Only the employer pays FUTA tax; it is not deducted from the employee's wages".
Although many former employees are accustomed to following the whims of perceived "authority", that behavior did not guarantee survival. Screen everything you hear through a filter of "what's in it for me NOW?" and don't be swayed by unenforceable future promises. This is a crucial time in human history. Everyone's actions make a difference, even when we don't notice.
New Paradigm said "All unemployed people who are seeking work need to continue to certify their status with state agencies after compensation expires..."
Not all states have this requirement or even ability for non-eligible unemployed to 'cetify' their status. A quick check into several states showed that, other than UI, there is no place for certification. There are job-seeking assistance programs but they are not used for determining how many are unemployed, or at least that is how it appears as you will look in vain for a way to certify that you are looking for a job but not trying to collect UI.
Also "Unemployed people who volunteer their time are giving a gift they can not afford."
At least one state, Oregon, didn't permit volunteer work as it would interfere with job seeking and availability to accept work. That may be true in other states as well or perhaps that has changed in the time since my close encounters with that system. If it hasn't, I hope the woman in the article doesn't find she has lost her eligibilty to collect benefits, once benefits are restored, if they are restored.
"What’s new in America is not the existence of these destructive patterns and forces but rather their ascendancy to such dominance."
Privatizing gains and socializing losses has been and continues to be the gamed played by elitists who now obviously own our government concumbines. Bringing back jobs to this country is not going to happen any time soon, as long as the vultures are calling the shots. According to an article at this link..(http://publiccentralbank.com/), former Treasury Secretary, Robert Rubin, who fought hard for deregulation and the destruction of Glass-Steagall had this to say: "...ending the Link between human rights and trade is a very good objective to shoot for."
"Under the compensation rules and emphasis on shareholder earnings that hold sway in the U.S. today, corporate executives maximize earnings and their compensation by minimizing the employment of Americans." – Paul Craig Roberts
It's a Crisis of Mal-Distribution of Income and Wealth. Economist, Henry C.K. Liu has written a great article on this at http://www.henryckliu.com/page230.html. If you have time, you might want to read some of his other articles as well.
I have a job and I am over the full retirement age, so I still get Social Security even with whatever else I make. However, none of it is that much (like $400 per month for Soc Sec and gas money from my job, which is at a startup I hope will work out and really pay me someday). That latter is the only idea I can offer about work.
I would hire someone to help me if I were convinced s/he was really competent and had a good attitude--not easy to find, either way. I can't believe the number of people out there supposedly looking for work where I live near Palm Springs in California who think they should be paid minimum wage to get trained for no telling how long, but they're more trouble than they're worth from the beginning and never get better. And on top of it, s/he would have to work the same way I am, betting on the come that someday it would work out, and if not, it's been a great learning experience in an industry I was not qualified to get a "real" job in b/4 I did this for three years.
That attitude is really hard to find in anyone else, and to tell the truth, it's hard to maintain myself sometimes. In fact, maybe once a week until I pull myself out of the doldrums feeling sorry for myself b/c I used to be a professional and eat lunch on Rodeo Drive.
But the employer also needs me to live on site and be on call 24/7, so I have free housing, if you want to put it that way. I work for it. I'm valuable.
The other ideas I have on other things besides work are, first if you make little money you are entitled to food stamps. They are great. In addition, there are Pell grants for going to school, $5,500 per yr if you go full-time, and you are entitled to them if you get food stamps or any other govt assistance. You are supposed to use them to live on as well as pay tuition and books. Here we have virtually free schooling, $26 per unit at the local junior college, which also gives free bus rides any time any line. The state also gives exemptions from most tuition for people who get food stamps, so the $5,500 is mostly to live on and for books. If you're in a state that doesn't do all this, I'd say go to a better state. O/w, settle down to the task, do your best where you are, and kwityerbitchin if you don't choose to move somewhere better.
Finally, I am Pres of a 501 c (3) charity that encourages people to build their own ultra low-cost housing, grow their own food, and produce their own renewable energy. When you think about it, what else do you need?
I think we can take advantage of this horrible economy to do what our parents and their parents did during the Depression and the Dust Bowl--move wherever conditions are best for people who have nothing--in our case this was California from Arkansas, which wasn't the Land of Opportunity for my parents, and for me in my own life this meant moving 125 miles from high-priced LA to the high desert where, yes, it is hot as H*** in the summer, but land is cheap and you can build something you can live in in this climate for $40. I'm not kidding. We've done it.
Then you can plant the seeds left from the peppers and tomatoes and melons you bought with food stamps--and once you get creative about it, the cuttings from trees and berry bushes people will give you--and water the plants you grow in the shade house you made with the $40 with the free water they give away to campers at the National Park five miles away.
A friend even gave us three wonderful egg-laying chickens, and my husband Peter built a moveable chicken coop for $10 with PVC pipes and chicken wire and reused building materials we found for the perches and egg nests, so we have 2-3 eggs a day in all the seasons except winter, when the hens stop laying but many things grow in the nice warmth of the desert. They eat weeds that grow free in the yard, and greens the produce guys at the grocery store give us, the trimmings off the outside of produce they sell.
My husband and I do just fine, thank you very much, in our 1986 Toyota pickup that gets 20 mi to a gal and is so simple we can fix anything that goes wrong ourselves. (We are regulars at AutoZone.)
Americans were for centuries masters at self-reliance and ingenuity. We can be again. And it looks like we'll have to be to survive the totally bought-off Senate and the ridiculous Supreme Court. Maybe someday we'll have our lives so together that we'll have time to lead a new revolution that takes back our government to help us and the rest of the 95% at the bottom of this new hierarchical, allegedly trickle-down actually give it all up to the rich society Reagan and his followers built, instead of taking the few crumbs we have left to give to the rich along with the Bush-Tea Party tax cuts. In the meantime, I'm happy.
"Peter built a moveable chicken coop for $10 with PVC pipes and chicken wire and reused building materials we found for the perches and egg nests, so we have 2-3 eggs a day in all the seasons except winter, when the hens stop laying..."
I've read that you can keep them laying in winter if you put a light in the coop.
Your post is excellent. As a retired professor of Accounting, Finanace and Economics with two Ph.D.'s, one in math and the other in the fields just mentioned, and being the offspring of a clerk and a homemaker, our family lived simply when I was growing up - - no cars, didn't have money to buy a bike - - just walked or took a bus.
Whenever I read the jobless stories in this or another recession, and I have been through several with the same old idiotic politicians trying to nickle and dime people without jobs, and people without jobs endlessly bitching about how an individual SCRAPES by on"just $500 a week" without saving a dime, it is clear the person does not know how to be imaginative and creative like you, and most likely does not know how to count and manage money properly.
In addition to what you said, I found that one can buy 3 foot long Subway sandwiches of roastbeef and plenty of vegetables for about $3.50 each. Water instead of a costly and useless sugar ladden softdrink would provide enough nutritional food for a day for about $10. If one is out of a job, one can make the same sandwiches at home with a glass of milk for about $6. So for a month of 30 days, good healthy food for a single individual would cost about $200 tops. If the person is like you and grows his/her own vegetables, it would drop down to $150. If one cuts down on the meat and substitutes beans or eggs, $100 for food for ONE MONTH would be sufficient to survive AND improve your health. If you own your own home and don't have a large mortgage - - say AT MOST $100,000 is left unpaid on an original $150,000 to $200,000 house - - then you already have $50,000 ( or in this market if you are in a bad area, about $30,000) in equity. And if you shift to INTEREST ONLY home credit line rather than a mortgage until your cashflow improves for you to pay down your loan principal, then at the corrent 3-4% interest only lines, the monthly mortgage would be about $250 to $300. Then if you get rid of your gas guzzler and use public transport and walk or bike around, your travel costs for job hunting would be covered in about $100 tops.
So now I have calculated about $500 for an indivudual per month for food, travel and home. Add to that property taxes, gas and electricity, some TV and that would bring the total up to about $700 in most metro areas.
Now you can add in health insurance, education, and some entertainment, lots of books or classes to change or upgrade skills, and a person could live well and comfortably in their own house without losing it for about $1000 to $1200 a month. if a family of four is COMPLETELY dependent on you without any money contribution, then, I believe there are foodstamps, Pell grants and welfare and Medicare that they can access. The only additional costs I see are those for utilities, about another $150, and travel, another $100. If the perosn has been getting $400-500 a week in unemployment, and is complaining that he/she can hardly make ends meet and can't save a dime, then the person either does not know how to count and be frugal, or is spending money on alchohol and cigarettes, and costly junk food with tons of costly sugary drinks, driving around in a gas guzzler, and generally living like an overconsuming American. Sorry, there is no help for that under any type of economic regime - - capitalist or communist.
If a metro area is costly, move to a smaller town or community. If you are mentally prepared, find persons in similar circumstances and move altogether as 4-6 families or larger groups, start living COMMUNALLY. Get off the grid, so to speak, become self sufficient and live off Nature, saving your unemployment funds for buying trade tools and so forth. If of the 2 million unemployed, 500,000 took up commune living seriously and that example were to spread, all the rich bastards would have their Walmarts, and Starbucks and Banks close down. They would then start screaming bloody murder to the politicians to get them back on consumption by giving great financial incentives. Be shrewd. Take the money and and don't return to Walmart or McDonald and Exxon consumption.
People have power, if only they use their noggins to wield it.
I can tell you from personal experience (with a husband out of work for almost 18 months, after 25 solid years in his profession) that the psychology doesn't work that way.
I don't know anything about $500 because in Florida, where we live, unemployment tops out at $276 a week. When he lost his job, as primary breadwinner (I was and still am pursuing my Ph.D in history) we still had one teenager at home.
Rather than bore everyone here with a blow by blow detail of what we personally went through (scrambling for any work, all three of us, trying to procure state aid that will give you nothing, not even health care until you have literally nothing left, etc.), I can tell you that the job seeker knows that he/she will find a job. Especially if you have a solid work record. Yes, we could have gone off to live with relatives in other states, but all of my husband's professional contacts are here. His best hope of finding another job was here.
And he did find a job, finally, and we are recovering, but it happened because we stayed put.
At any rate, beware smug calculations that look good on paper. Without a crystal ball, you don't know what you should do at any given point and so humans do the best they can. It certainly doesn't make them stupid.
What is your point? That your family's one person who got unemployment received $276 per week, which is about $1,100 amonth? Then I do not see where my computations are wrong. With the situation you mention, your husband or yourself were unemployed for about what? 3 months, 4 months, 6 months? Let us say that it was 6 months given the way you describe your expectations and your husband's contacts. Then in my calculations I allow for the possibility for a family of 3 ( which is what you have)needing about $300 to $400 per month more than $1,000-1200 that I had calculated for one person. In your case, at $1200,say, plus $400 = $1,600. From this subtract $1,100 from unemployment, and you are short $500. Are you telling me that there are no welfare or other sources for family and daughter for tiding over these 6 months with help of $500/month? Or are you telling me that you did not have savings, or friends or realatives who could lend you $500 per month for 6 months? Yes, I do not have a crystal ball, but you yourself say you were confident that your husband's contacts etc. would get a job in a reasonable amount of time. If your prospects were bleak for the next 2-3 years until you finished your Ph. D., then you are looking at a debt of $18,000 by staying put, or moving to less expensive locations if your classes had been completed and you were writing your thesis.
Either way,learn to think a little computationally, and do not be smug yourself that you can survive the future with no ability to think like I just did for you.
At any rate, I am not pushing my advice down your throat. Take it and prosper; reject it and whine and lose the game of life.
Thanks
It really is astonishing that the banks' losses have been indemnified by the workers, even those now losing their jobs as part of the price, but the banks in their turn won't repay the favour. Instead, they pocket the cash and continue on their in-house bonus benefits train - funded by the taxpayer. Too big to fail.
The man whose job has disappeared is too small to matter of course, until such time as he meets up with those millions in a like situation and the scales fall from his eyes.
Watch this space...
The same entities who pushed NAFTA and sent our manufacturing jobs elsewhere are the ones who were avoiding the high labor costs here and now wish to cut off unemployment payments to out of work labor. Perhaps they would also like to ship the workers to third world countries. They seem to want EVERYTHING and give up nothing. I really think that their lifestyle and aspirations are crimes against humanity. There is enough for everyone to live comfortably if those now in power would just die.... .I mean share a bit more equally of their abundance
I think you probably got it right the first time.
Who exactly are these Republicans and economists Mr. Gavin who say that paying out unemployment benefits gives an incentive to turn done work? Name them sir, any elected official or economist that makes such statements just proves that they do not know the law or their jobs. Any state that I have ever lived in will stop paying benefits if you refuse work unless the job pays about 20%-25% less than your previous job. So quit the crap with the unnamed sources, name them so we can at least weed out the welfare queens in our federal and state governments. As far as the economists go, name them so that when we see them on CNBC, CNN or FOX we will know better than to take anything they say seriously!
Give us names Mr. Gavin, or don't bother writting the article. Because unless you give us the names you aren't doing anybody any good!
Two words-PEAK OIL
I suppose that people must get more creative to get the proper attention:
Everyone, find your local government representative or senator's address. They have local offices so you don't have to go to D.C.
Get all of the people that you meet at job fairs to group together, or better yet, post on craigslist under "politics" and announce a meeting of the unemployed for each government rep.
Get the local office address and post it in the ad, and ask people to bring signs, like: 'We're here! Where are the jobs?"
Have all of the unemployed for that elected official show up in person at the local rep's office. Be sure to be early and announce to the local media. Be sure to have someone present who can also post to youtube. Make sure that each sign has THAT Congress person's name on it too.
Now, if too many people only show up for just one political party, tell the tea patry people to go home.
Perhaps THEATRE will get more action than writing letters. If the crowds show up every day ( work out shifts) then Congress will have to pay attention.
Oh yes, and Hearst, during the last Depression, had soup and food lines. Outside of dissing Helen Thomas, what has Hearst done lately?
It might be a good idea to hit them up too.
It's easy for Congress to ignore faceless numbers of people, but "bodies in person" are a whole other thing. Besides, the reps all advertise that if you have a problem in your area to go to their local office.
Take them up on it, EN MASSE!
What a wonderful, practical, helpful post. Hopefully your idea will spread.
AGAIN, ANYONE READ ANYTHING ON PEAK OIL.
This is really our saving grace. Eventually there will be less and less of this drug. But I am afraid of the desperate actions the addicts will take in order to keep getting their fix, supply, etc. The rich will do anything, anything to keep up our addiction to this shit drug. There are things we can do to get off it ourselves. We have to lessen demand we have to push back and do what ever we can to make oil IRRELEVANT.
Please, if any of you haven't read anything on Peak oil, go to Counter Currents .org and read... especially May, very good articles on there.
In the meantime, people need ot eat and sleep indoors - waiting for oil to run out is not a practical solution to the problems of mass unemployment, homelessness and starvation.
You're kind of a one-string banjo, aren't you? I notice you reiterate farther down the page.
oh but we're too busy funding senseless occupations of two foreign countries and making sure rich people and robber barons who run big corporations don't have to pay any taxes.
What we really need are federal jobs programs to create jobs like the many of which, we had under FDR during the Great Depression. Because there simply are TOO MANY UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE and NOT ENOUGH JOBS!!!
But that would take guts, courage and leadership from our president to even push for something big like that - all of which Obama tends to lack most of the time - unless he's running for election than he'll say and promise whatever people want to hear to get elected.
This is absolutely absurd. The unemployed should march on these swine in Washington!
Perhaps there will be a time when people do not have to rent their bodies to survive.
What a sad state of affairs after they handed Wall Street such vast sums of money which they used to speculate and then in turn record bonuses, instead of lending it to create growth, and with it, jobs.
Seems they are taking out the unemployed, who are that way because Wall street got carried away with the innovation of financial products.
Punish the victim ! Sounds like capitalism to me!
"There are two things which are infinite: the universe and human stupidity. And I am not sure about the former."- Albert Einstein
Even before the 2008 crash our country teetered on the brink of chronic overproduction of goods and services which is rarely if ever mentioned as one of the root causes of this prolonged recession/depression. The cause was almost exactly the same as it was in the early 1930's: not enough spending money available from the working class. Even if the rate of unemployment falls to, say, 5 to 6% the fundamental problem continues to threaten stability if mean annual incomes continue to lag behind inflation which they have done for at least the last decade. The antidote is not just job creation but the creation of millions of well-paying jobs. Unfortunately the following will happen because it has happened before. Well-paying jobs will be created, say, in the "green" industry. As soon as that is off the ground the companies will shift their production abroad to countries with much cheaper labor and less regulation. It is a vicious economic circle from which there is no escape until comparative wages are paid in these countries. What we need to support first in these countries is a better life for labor and not "democracy" which does not necessarily raise wages there. Yet our "children of laborers" fight and kill "children of laborers" all over the globe. How stupid! How self-defeating!
Redballon
There is probably no one left on this, but I should not let this go... didn't I say, we need to make oil irrelevant, didn't I say, we all need to do our part to do this? Didn't I say something about getting off oil now?
My point is that we are behind in replacing oil, so far behind that we won't cacht up. It's not that we will be completely out of oil before the real shit hits the fan. No, it is that the lack of supply will cause prices that will keep economies from growing. Economies that do not grow, eventually collaspe. Moderen economics depend on "cheap oil". Expensive oil, and extremely limited supplies, are a big problem
If you would take the time to read the articles you would know what I am talking about.