(no subject)

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

I was going to post this as a reply to paft's post, but I think it'll get more discussion as a regular post.

I wanted to give you poor bleeding-heart liberals a little perspective on what your response to the unemployment extension bill thing should be like. This is from a recent post by a friend of mine (bolding mine):

I realized last week when I was researching my unemployment benefits that even though unemployment is extend right now, it is not extended for ME. I applied about a month too late to be a part of the extension. There is legislation that would create another extension, but it hasn't been approved & I don't know if I would be a part of that either. Most likely, I would, but I can't count on it going through. So the end result is that I have only 26 weeks of paid unemployment that I can count on. The good side, I do get an extra $25 a week on top of what I would get normally from a special Federal fund. So that helps.

As a result of this realization, we've buckled down even tighter than we had before. Things that I would normally purchase out of our group money, now have to come from our already cut in half allowance. Thats not so easy & means I won't have all that much for the frivolous stuff it was meant for. Things I consider maintenance (like basic makeup supplies) are going to eat up a good portion of it. But thats all right. At least we can still get those things. I have that to be thankful for.

We also have to cut out going out to eat. We can go for drinks instead. I mean, people used to do that, right? They used to go to the soda shop or to the bar. I think thats a change we can make.

And I have to not plan on making any big purchases. That ones hard for me. But I can do it.

Where is the whining about not getting the extra unemployment? Where is the bemoaning the silly senator who doesn't care about the poor? Where is the sense of entitlement? Nowhere to be found because this person is actually intelligent and rational.

Comments

[chemchick.livejournal.com]

Right, because everyone's situation is just like your friend's. Your friend, who even with no unemployment, can still go out for drinks and considers make-up a "need".

Deleted, edited and reposted

[chessdev.livejournal.com]

Actually, I am deleting and modifying my previous post because I realize
the POSTER is not stereotyping...gunslnger is! I'm yelling at the wrong person
so allow me to correct that:

The OP's assuption is that millions of unemployed people are just *BLOWING* their money. Yes, they would go to the movie or a drink to blow off stress...but that is not the majority of where their money goes.

There are a lot of people who are ONLY in their home due to unemployment; Who are sick and can ONLY afford their medicine because of unemployment benefits and DSHS/Medicaid;

The OP's is naive and frankly stereotyping how they believe people are really spending their money.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

Strawman. That's not the argument I'm making.

[verytwistedmind.livejournal.com]

Good luck to your friend.

[penguin42.livejournal.com]

I rarely go out to eat or get drinks or make big purchases and I never buy makeup. Can I get a pat on the back too?

[dwer.livejournal.com]

I'm glad your friend can still do things like buy food and pay for electricity and heat.

[reality-hammer.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised the Democrats want to extend unemployment. They used to be smart enough to realize that extending unemployment benefits keeps the unemployment rate artificially high. And while that was fine for making Republican administrations look bad (see Bush 41) they always stopped once they had control of the White House.

I guess this time they're playing the government dependency card all the way.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

Well golly gee I wonder what could be different now than at other times. Could it be that right now the jobs simply don't exist? Could it be we're in the middle of a recession? Nah that can't be it. Unemployed people choose to be unemployed, the poor would just be rich if they didn't like being poor. Derp derp derp.

[johnny9fingers.livejournal.com]

Even I, though not American nor resident in the US, can appreciate that not everyones' circumstances are the same.

I mean I'm technically unemployed, but I have a private income from property, and my missus is a partner in a major law firm, so I should have little sympathy with unemployed folk on benefits, or paying extra tax to help folk out but....some of you guys don't seem to think that paying for society is important: or even that paying to keep your unemployed in minimal standards is useful to society, or socially cohesive, or productive and good for the nation overall.

If there are no jobs or unemployment benefit, do you let those American people starve?

I guess the limited notion of patriotism doesn't extend to helping the ordinary people whose general welfare contributes to society as a whole, whether giving them incentives to work rather than be involved in crime, or helping them in matters of welfare or health: all of which can make society a better and safer place.

I would have thought that impoverished and underprivileged Americans would be a source of shame to those wealthy enough not to worry too much about the privations of our present economic conditions.

Obviously there has to be a balance between benefits and disincentives to work: but if there are few jobs and many unemployed (as it appears at present) what then are your duties to your society, and your nation, and your flag?

It appears we live in difficult economic times. Surely now is the hour when, as JFK said some years ago, you should as individuals be asking "not what your country can do for you, but rather what you can do for your country". Is that not a more acceptable definition of patriotism in times of trouble? Because these are troubled times.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

The jobs currently don't exist. Should we a) tell people to go rot in the ditch where they spend nothing, b) aid them with unemployment so they still are spending money on their basic needs to create an artificial bridge until the jobs exist but at least money is circulating from them in the meantime.

Even if you're a completely heartless greedy bastard you can see the value to yourself in it. I know you don't care about anyone else.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

I apologize for that, probably a little harsher than needed.

[dzlk.livejournal.com]

until the jobs exist

There's a very large assumption there. One of the notable differences between this recession and previous ones is that a higher percentage of job losses are classified as permanent.

Not that I disagree with your immediate point.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

In order to give them money, the government had to take it from someone, which ultimately means there was money lost and probably jobs too, which means the government is contributing to the lack of jobs in the first place. So circulating it through the unemployment payments is using the wrong circle.

[dzlk.livejournal.com]

Nowhere to be found because this person is actually intelligent and rational talking about her individual situation, and no grown adult likes to talk about the unfairness of their own situation, because it's embarrassing. Even when the situation is genuinely unfair.

I'm tempted to use a vocabulary word I learned recently.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

no grown adult likes to talk about the unfairness of their own situation, because it's embarrassing

Bullshit.

[squidb0i.livejournal.com]

[squidb0i.livejournal.com]

[squidb0i.livejournal.com]

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

oooo....purrrty....

[drcruel.livejournal.com]

The simplistic and privileged manner in which you view unemployment goes a long way towards explaining your utter lack of social justice.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

LOL

[eracerhead.livejournal.com]

When an internet startup I was working for went bust I could have enjoyed the life of Riley on $250 a week. All I needed to do was buckle down.

That 250 wouldn't even cover rent on a garage. I suppose I could have moved to a cheaper part of the country but that requires *drum roll* money, and those places usually don't have any jobs which is why they're cheap. Once the car gets repossessed I could buy a clunker but even that would require a month's unemployment. Once I become homeless and carless I could live in a cardboard box, but then I would stink up the place when I applied for jobs.

Of course none of this happened to me because I had the privilege of family and friends to help out, and a still useful skill set. But what would have happened if the rest of my family and friends were in the same situation, and the skills I acquired were no longer in demand?

There are way too many effects that are caused by things which the individual has absolutely no control. People have less control of their future than most people like to believe; the average American is only 6 month away from being a refugee, just like everyone else in the world.

For all the bravado from the privileged right about individual responsibility I offer a challenge: Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. Literally. Try it. It is impossible, it violates a law of physics. Please don't expect someone else with fewer resources to do the impossible when you cannot do it even with all the resources at your disposal.

[dzlk.livejournal.com]

Well said.

[politikitty.livejournal.com]

Man. This is hilarious.

When I was let go, I also buckled down. Do you know why? Because unemployment benefits were 1/2 of my previous take home pay.

Even before I exhausted my benefits (that I paid into, mind you) I was motivated to find another job because I would be paid more in virtually any other job.

You're cute. Comparing your friends fall from a two income household to a one income household to the average situation going on in America.

To get another job, I had to move cross-country to find something in my field. Luckily I had a 401k to tap, friends in the airline business to get me to interviews on the cheap, and familial help. I realize that most other people would have a much larger hurdle to secure employment, either changing fields or waiting longer for an opening to show up.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

Since most families are two-income, yes, I think the example is a majority of the situations.

[mcpreacher.livejournal.com]

genuinely curious: what was your opinion of the people who were fucked over during the whole enron/worldcom stuff?

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

Stocks are not guaranteed investments.