Forum Post: To the critics of OWS who say "these young people should just get a job and shut up"
Posted 13 years ago on Nov. 15, 2011, 9:19 p.m. EST by Publius1981
(22)
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Give a person a job to occupy and a task that you're willing to pay him or her for. They'll take you up on the offer. Be a good citizen and offer a job to a young person and mentor him or her to be the kind of worker you wish there were more of in this country. But you're the problem and not the solution if you're just pointing fingers.
You're calling a lot of people who want to work hard and share in the American dream lazy. I have seen hard working Americans - veterans, parents, contributing members of their community - served a pink slip when their job was shipped overseas with no place to turn.
You could be next. You have no protection from being unemployed when multinationals care nothing about this country, its residents, your values, and your work ethic. You have more to worry about than excessive taxation or regulation when your business can't compete against a multinational or you're a worker that's not going to be fairly compensated for your skills and labor.
You speak the truth! I was talking to some of my coworkers the other day about OWS. Several of them made fun of the protests and then with their next breath (literally) they said they wished their son or daughter could get a job and move out or their basement. They just don't get it - they need to wake up before their children become the 21st century version of the "landless peasant." The "crony-capatlism" we have now is quickly becoming a type of "neo-fuedalism." To assume that this movement is just the homeless or unemployed would be a big mistake.
I have "juicy green apple shampoo." Is it important that the apples were juicy?
I certainly wouldn't use "shriveled green apple shampoo".
Thanks....I think you are right.
What do people in China call their good plates?
Hear, hear!
Those who now oppose OWS have not yet had the experience of personal financial meltdown. But they will...that's a given simply because the world global economy is headed into chaos. And when it happens they will not only embrace OWS, but given the nature of converts are likely to lead the protest.
I've posted a thread earlier that is somewhat related.
http://occupywallst.org/forum/jobs-are-becoming-obsolete-due-to-advances-in-tech/
You're singing to the choir. Obama is the reason you can't get jobs. He has been systematically destroying our economy since he took office for reasons none of us can figure out.
He's made it impossible for businesses to plan for the future with his socialist health care bill. Businesses can see it is going to cost them fortunes to comply and do not want to expand, meaning they aren't hiring.
He just delayed the Canadian Keystone Oil pipeline which would have provided tens of thousands of jobs and industries for absolutely no good reason. On one hand he is telling Congress to pass his 'jobs' (stimulus 3) bill and on the other he kills the pipeline deal and a whole lot of jobs.
There are many pipelines existing right now and none of them have any environmental issues, so many can't figure out why he won't approve it. Canada is probably going to sell the oil to China now that Obama has killed it here.
You should be in DC protesting the job killing policies of Obama instead of OWS.
Do you really think one man has that much power? Or that the other 535 obstructionists in Congress are immune from criticism? I don't blame Obama for the current recession any more than I blame Bush for the downturn in 2008.
I'm a little confused about opposition to Keystone XL by the OWS people - not because I'm blind to the environmental danger (seeing how scarce water resources are being used for fracking in South Texas also worries me), but because we're not in a position to rely on alternative energy exclusively yet, and I would rather be buying oil from Canada than Saudi Arabia. This is a case where they need policy people to think about what's the alternative to Keystone - in terms of our existing and future energy needs.
FYI, I'm not an Obama fan. Jobs are becoming obsolete due to advances in technology. This should be a key issue with the OWS movement.
Check these links out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0Z8TR4ToNs
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201109/are-jobs-we-know-them-becoming-obsolete
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/09/07/rushkoff.jobs.obsolete/
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/24/technology/economists-see-more-jobs-for-machines-not-people.html?_r=1
How often should I wash my clothes?
Workers around the world are willing to do the same job for a lower wage. It's called competition. Nobody said life was fair. It's the new reality.
YEAH, but we have a competitive advantage when it comes to brains, drive, and loyally, if only the people with all the job creating mojo, would except us as we are and not on our knees.
Yes we do. It's easy to blame Big Business. The reality is that they are in a highly competitive new world. It's foolish to think they don't want a strong economy and middle class. They do.
You don't know the term "wage slave"?
Historical education is helpful in avoiding unnecessary repetition.
And your solution is?
It's called enslavement.
Yeah, if you let it be. The question everyone has to ask is - what am I doing to improve my skill set? What am I studying or learning that I can offer? Otherwise, yes, tougher times lie ahead.
it results in a country that is weak. if there were a crisis.. this country can do nothing because of what the government has allowed to happen to the economy. and continuing, the country will decline further .. thats ok?
Adjusting to a lower standard of living is never easy. Social unrest and misery are to be expected. People will adjust over time along with their expectations. Talk to a depression era person about how they felt during that period. They will tell "we were poor but we were happy with what we had".
Haven't you ever heard of Hoovervilles? In the Depression, people formed similar encampments, made similar demands. They changed their government and demanded a social welfare state that was far more radical for the time than anything that Obama is proposing. And they got what they asked for. The U.S. did not adjust to pauperism after 1929 - nor will it now.
We can't do it this time. Look at our debt rapidly approaching 100% of GDP. The world will not finance it for us. Austerity can happen now or be forced down our throats soon.
They won't be willing to forever. The minimum wage is constantly going up in China as the workforce shrinks (the population distribution by age is coming to resemble Western countries).
The new reality of which you speak is unsustainable.
Also - who is going to buy your cheap foreign produced goods/services if there's not enough high-paying work in Western countries? Henry Ford didn't pay his workers $5 a day out of altruism. He did it to create a middle class that would be able to buy his product.
If buyers don't exist prices go down. And, yes, China is beginning to loose it's cheap labor advantage. It will take time but manufacturing will strengthen in the US.