Jobs jobs jobs

It's hard to know who to believe.

The economy is recovering. The nation has increased productivity. Job growth is slow.

How can we say that the economy is doing better when people are out of work and more and more people are declaring bankruptcy? Maybe our indicators are wrong.

There are jobs in India, jobs in China, jobs in Mexico, jobs in Iraq, jobs in Northern Ireland, jobs in Pakistan.

If you don't have a job you can get welfare benefits but for only a couple of years because you are supposed to be working.

There are undocumented people in this country illegally who have jobs. They are going to get to be here legally now. Maybe they will get benefits and be treated decently, get taxed like the rest of us. They come from places so poor or so oppressive that whatever they get, however they are treated, this is an great opportunity.

People hate their jobs but don't complain because they can't afford to lose them.

80% of all businesses in this country have fewer than 5 employees. Micro businesses employ more people than the big corporations. But the tax breaks and the legal breaks seems to go to the big corporations.

People do contract work and work part-time and don't have pension, retirement, savings, or health insurance.

You have to have insurance for you car in most states yet you maybe unable to insure your health the lack of which will probably make your life much harder.
hmm.
That might actually be a toss up.

Many people who declare bankruptcy do so because they or a loved one gets sick and the medical bills are too high and maybe their insurance doesn't cover enough of it, or they don't have insurance at all.

People get all excited about free trade. I have been promised cheap manufactured goods. I can buy a DVD player for $70 and ugly shoes on sale for $8.

It may bring opportunity to these other countries. I hope it does. Although it might be another fiasco where poor people suffer. Like Shell in Nigeria.

But the thing that no economist can seem to tell me is:
What are people who have lost their jobs supposed to do? What jobs exist for them?
People say vague things about how Biotechnology and Nanotechnology are going to turn this country around. Biotech jobs are already leaving this country or being automated. And frankly, those jobs were pretty specialized to begin with.

Economists insist that free trade must be allowed to continue and that things will work out somehow. They believe in the ingenuity of the American people. Vague blah blah bullshit.

This is all hearsay.


I think we need a dream, a big impossible research initiative like going to the moon. It doesn't have to be science but if it's science the discoveries might lead to new manufacturing applications and new industries.

People often say that we should not as a government spend money on crazy research discovery projects because there are people who are starving and suffering in this country. It's a nice sentiment but the truth is if we cared about suffering people, social workers would be paid more than any other human in this country. If we really cared about nurturing and investing in humanity, day care providers, teachers, and social workers would drive cadillacs and live in lavish homes. Lawyers and professional basketball players would live barely above the poverty line.

We need projects that capture the national imagination, that inspire people to strive for something great. Something beyond our everyday existence. And the money to back it up.