“Young Workers: A Lost Decade.”

reply to post by Distractions4Nothing

I'm sorry, but young Americans are NOT discriminated against in my experience. I live in the MidWest, just so you know. Different regions may have different experiences.

What I have seen(I'm 38) is a severe decline in attitude, conscientiousness, and pride in workmanship in the younger generation. I'm obviously not crazy or have ill-conceived perceptions, because businesses will always "thin the herd" according to their best financial interests. The point is... The better your work ethic and attitude, the better chance you have of retaining employment, advancing in pay and position, and warranting the respect of your employer.

You can preach all you want about what's "right and wrong" about business ethics, but the fact is; You have to play the game according to their rules if want any chance of winning. You can be an "Idealist" forever, and live a life of strife and poverty, or you can compromise a little and actually attain a decent quality of life. Unfortunately, the younger generation expects to have everything handed to them without effort, and as they grow older they are becoming (predictably) disappointed and frustrated with NORMAL LIFE.

In summary, I blame the parents for not preparing their kids for the REAL WORLD. Idealism will only get you so far...

20 years ago (1989)when I worked construction I made $18 an hr for basic labor and had free insurance and 1 week paid vacation.

During the next several years I went to college at night and weekends because i wanted to get a higher paying job.

By the time I finished my BA degree 10 years (1999) and $25,000 in debt my construction pay had gone down to $12 an hr and i was a labor forman by then.

I never got that dream job I thought a BA degree guaranteed me. I ended up bouncing around doing temp contract work and had to keep my part-time job at an electronic store (sales).

Then 2001 came and a recession started. I got laid off from that part-time job. I read that it was a short recession but I didnt see it because the job offers never rolled in.

The only jobs I see on monster.com or the other various sites are either scams (pay them and they send you a manual on tips to finding jobs) or they are commision based jobs which means no salary.

The last paycheck I received was in feb 2004. Its been 5.5 years since I worked so to me the recession has been going on for a lot longer than reported.

And considering I am 40 with no experience in my field (BA in advertising) Im essentially screwed. No ad agency is going to hire an entry lvl 40 yr old man to fill a 22 yr old's position.

I have no references anymore as its been years since i worked.

I cant go back to construction. Those jobs are long gone. The few that come up are quickly grabbed by illegal immigrants willing to take less than minimum wage.

So dont cry for the younger kids. At least they have time on their side. People like me are totally screwed. I have no chance to get a job these days and i get older and less desirable as time goes on.

and what happens when this recession ends for me ? I dont see anyone wanting to give a 40+ no experience man a nice job pushing papers around for a fat salary with insurance and a 401k.

if im lucky, maybe an electronics store hires me for minimum wage in a few yrs after all of the 20 somethings have landed better jobs.

Nice circle of life there eh ? I started out with no education but a job that paid well with full benefits. 20 yrs and a BA degree later, Im in debt and no job at all.

Originally posted by nikiano
Here's my advice to all the young people on here who can't find jobs:

Consider yourself lucky that you haven't yet fallen into the rotten trenches of corporate America (or corporate global) and get out and start your own company while you are young and idealistic and still have a lot of energy.

I myself graduated college in the early 90's, where there was a huge recession going on. My freshman year was '87, the year of a big stock market crash. I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up, and my parents pushed me to choose a career where I would have job "stability." Well, I did, but it's such a boring career, it made me nuts, and it still makes me nuts. It's the most boring career in the whole world, to be honest.

Do I have security? Yes. Is it worth it? No.

Instead of looking for a job....ask yourself...."Where do my PASSIONS lie?" Then, follow your passions. That's what I would suggest.

Don't fall into the rut of living for security (like I did) because it takes all the fun out of living.



[edit on 3-9-2009 by nikiano]

No offence, sir, but I got the same "do what you love" speech once, too. It just about ruined my life and it took me a decade to dig myself out of the hell I ended up in and a few more decades of "boring" work to achieve actual comfort and meaning in life.

Rather than you, see, I took the advice to heart. Nobody ever taught me how to balance a chekbook, keep a ledger, or the rudiments of how to set up a business. All I learned from those who were supposed to give me guidance was "DO WHAT YOU LOVE" or "FOLLOW YOUR PASSION." I took it to heart.

Result: I ended up broke and 1 step away from homelesness, without the contacts or resources to make it out. My startups flamed out, my life was a mess, I was literally one step from being a bum with nowhere to turn.

Then, miracle of miracles, I got a job! A real, honest job with a paycheck! Not only was it boring, it was hard freaking manual labor work! And low status, too. But boy, was I happy not to have to go dumpster-diving for dinner.

Then, guess what? I kept at the "boring" work, then moved to other, better paid but "boring" work, then wash, rinse, repeat...

And now tat was all along time ago. I still do "boring" work rather than "what I love" but, you know, the benefits of a stable home, moderate financial success, and simply knowing where my next meal is coming from make the "boredom" well worth it. And guess what...I also have the time now to "do what I love" at last...which provides me with not a single penny but is worth all the rest of what I have to do.

I think giving kids the advice to "follow your star" or whatever is just about the WORST piece of advice possible for 99.9999% of the population, ESPECIALLY on the edge of hard times. First of all, most people don't particularly have a "passion" and it is utterly untrue that "everybody is the best in the world at something." No. Most people are mediocre all around, have very little "passion" of a non-sexual kind, and if you drop them in the deep end of the Great Swimming Pool of Life with no more instruction than "do what you love," you'll see them sink like a stone.

Not everyone is a shining special star, you know, and not everyone is going to build the next better mousetrap. You want to let that 99.9999% of the population that isn't Einstein to follow some nebulously defined "dream" and then simply...starve? Or, perhaps, in the process of so doing, they will discover that "doing what they love" consiststs of burning down the mansions of the wealthy and hanging their inhabitants from lampposts.

What the vast majority of young people REALLY need is something STABLE. It doesn't have to be the most exciting or artistic or glamorous thing in the world...but it does have to put food on the table. People need practical skills that will enable them to get jobs that allow themselves to EAT, SLEEEP UNDER A ROOF, and BUY CLOTHES, for a starter. Then they can worry about paying debt and health insurance...maybe. Then, maybe, just maybe, they will be in the posistion to "follow their dreams..." if they have any dreams at all besides sleeping all day on a tropical beach with a straw hat over their face, that is.

This whole "click your heels, think good thoughts, and by golly you'll be a zillionare in no time" way of thinking is a big part of what got us in the mess we're in to begin with. You think the people in China who are making, say, plastic electrical cord coverings are "passionate" about their work? No, but at least they know where their next meal is coming from.

First, lets get together some kind of stystem that allows a modicum of stability. Then you can talk all you want about "following dreams."

[edit on 9/4/09 by silent thunder]

'A third cannot pay their bills and seven in 10 do not have enough saved to cover two months of living expenses.'

This one says it all...

And the way they are going about this "fix" for all our problems is indicative of the way we treat our problems in this modern society, got a problem paying attention take this pill, don't feel good, pill, economy failing, stimulus packages.

We can't afford to take a pill right now and take the chance of future complications because of it. Look at the root of the problem and fix it. I believe their are two fundamental diseases we arn't treating at the moment, first one being the tremendous amount of outsourcing that has been going on for the past 20 years. Their needs to be restrictions set and imposed that keep a company operating on domestic soil from hiring foreign employees.

Secondly no sane govt allows 10 million people to illegally enter their country and begin to integrate into that society, vying for the same jobs as their "young workers" normally tend to fill, it most certainly will add up and erode our society. I know there are the ones that work certain undesirable jobs but those are few and have had programs for a long time to allow this. But, pardon 'your' ignorance as they are filling positions all over, in all kinds of places.

An estimated 1,880,000 American workers are displaced from their jobs every year by immigration. 10,000 illegals crossing a day, half remaining permanent. $94 Billion in deportation costs every year. $10 Billion sent back to Mexico. The Billions spent on education, welfare, healthcare needs, omg the list goes on and on.......and on. www.cairco.org...

Between outsourcing and illegal immigrants were talking losses of tens of millions of jobs, and trillions of dahla bills yall.



[edit on 4-9-2009 by Sheeper]

We have lost far too many jobs to illegals. My husband and I have been unemployed for a year now, no longer have our 401k funds, and are 51 yrs old. Not good!!

Good topic. S & F for you.

My in-laws are boomers. They got their "American Dream". My father in law sold off his motorcycle in 1972 and took that money to put a down payment on a spankin new home in the burbs in California. My mother in law was a stay at home mother, while my father in law took a job at a warehouse that paid good money for Safeway. He became a fork lift operator, and spent many years back and forth between Safeway and Dryers Ice Cream. During that time, not only did they live somewhat comfortably, they were able to save up money for their retirement. In the 80's, my mom in law decided to go back to work by choice.

In 2001 they sold off their house in the burbs and bought a nice plot of land in the north country and had enough money after the purchase of their home to buy two new vehicles. Their timing of all of this has been impecable.

They now spend their days quite secure and happy. Mom in law works a little piddly part time job...for the fun of it and to "keep her figure".

But here's the deal..... they are SO out of the loop as to how it is now days for their son.... my husband.

Every apartment we moved to, we were forced out by corps that were buying them out and turning them into condos. This happened 4 times to us. He had a decent job, but it didn't help that we continually kept losing our home.

The last time we were finally truly homeless, his mother told me.... she just didn't understand why her son didn't find a good job with a warehouse and save up like they did. I had to explain to her that times have changed! There are barely any jobs like that anymore. I'm a child of factory workers myself, and have lived this life of strikes, union, lay offs, losing jobs, companies being bought up, getting demoted, etc etc.

When I told her that we'd have to go to Mexico for some of the jobs she wants her son to have, she laughed. I wonder how many boomers out there..just don't get it?

It is really hard to watch my husband bust his butt to get through school knowing that when he graduates, he will be lucky to get a job. His school offers help with this, and they have told him he will have to continue on past the degree he is working on now, if he wants the hope of finding work. he won't be out of school until 2013. And we wonder what the times will be like then.

We are a lower middle class family, just struggling to get by. I worry for the future for our only child. We will not have anymore children that we may not be able to support, and we are sad about that because we always wanted at least 2 or 3 children together. It's just not going to happen.

I sit up late at night and worry. There's a good chance my husband could go to work tommorow and not have a job. I feel as if I have always lived in uncertain times, but now, even more so.

I can look around and see where many young people do not want to work, and will not try. there are plenty out there like that. But there are many who do want to, and my brother in law is one of them. he's only 25 and joined the military because he lost his job and after a year there's no hope for him.

Guess where they have sent him? Afghanistan. And for what.

Work is slavery...Forget it...
Some of my threads, where I wrote a lot about this stuff. Don't want to repeat here...

"Work for all", page 1
For those who say "get a job, or you are useless", page 1
Gift based economy, page 1
"Advanced civilization" - the hunter gatherers, page 1
The Lakota way of life, page 1

[edit on 4-9-2009 by pai mei]

Originally posted by GroundZero
reply to post by Distractions4Nothing

 

I'm sorry, but young Americans are NOT discriminated against in my experience. I live in the MidWest, just so you know. Different regions may have different experiences.

What I have seen(I'm 38) is a severe decline in attitude, conscientiousness, and pride in workmanship in the younger generation. I'm obviously not crazy or have ill-conceived perceptions, because businesses will always "thin the herd" according to their best financial interests. The point is... The better your work ethic and attitude, the better chance you have of retaining employment, advancing in pay and position, and warranting the respect of your employer.

You can preach all you want about what's "right and wrong" about business ethics, but the fact is; You have to play the game according to their rules if want any chance of winning. You can be an "Idealist" forever, and live a life of strife and poverty, or you can compromise a little and actually attain a decent quality of life. Unfortunately, the younger generation expects to have everything handed to them without effort, and as they grow older they are becoming (predictably) disappointed and frustrated with NORMAL LIFE.

In summary, I blame the parents for not preparing their kids for the REAL WORLD. Idealism will only get you so far...

THE QUOTE:
You have to play the game according to their rules if want any chance of winning.

US:
We'll we don't WANT to play by your rules and we have the PERFECT
SOLUTION for the problem....let's BURN DOWN the whole she-bang
and start anew. Then we can start over without the baggage and
detritus of the past. Sometimes the BEST way is to rise out of the
ashes of the old which means those greedy bastard Gen-X'ers and
Baby Boomer business and political elites need to be swept from
their offices in a rather forceful manner much like what happened
in 1789 to 1799 in France! .... Think Lamposts and Guillotines!

I can TELL YOU what happens when the oppressed have had enough!
If you don't give a little...we'll start TAKING A LOT and that usually
means many ANGRY men with noosed ropes or single bullets in their guns!

There are solutions, but it envolves a paradigm shift for the people in the problems.

We got here essentially because of the erosion, sponsored by elitist corporate culture, of our essential value systems. Not that long ago we valued family, we had family business, we worked the land, we had connection to nature, we were more independent. The boomer's greatest sin was the whole "kick the kids out of the basement" atitude, which is quite simply wrong. The family unit is for life, and this media sponsored culture of independence is now coming to roost. People are turning into slaves, because they're cut off from land ownership and the barter and agricultural economy that was their birthright, and for what? Wars and #ty jobs and drugs and the idea of loose sex. Well, it's no utopia folks, time to see the mess you're in. We did this to ourselves, because we followed the promisses of psychopathic elite.

And what did they offer us? A hive living and a slavery to wage. A wage paid in money that is garanteed by nothing and is created as debt. We, as a generation owe equity we never really owned, so a few people can rule the world.

The solutions are simple, they are a reversal of the above. People need to get back to the earth, to the sort of rural and village life we had at the turn of the 20th century. Yes, it will take a village, but not with Hillary as mayor. In fact it might be time to take the mayors out of town and give them a good whipping. And this will be a struggle, because the planet is being turned into a private plantation and our cities, our hives, are infested with a death culture that unchecked will degrade mankind into a bunch of poor blabbering morons. We're the start of that process.

Just as some elitist psychopaths planned. See what they want, do the opposite. All will be well, we just have to remember who we really are and what we really need. With the advances in technology we can turn this all around quickly, because at the end of the day it's the under 40's that have the real power: the ability to work and work hard. Our problem is we've been conned into working for the wrong things.

And don't fear, fear is the destroyer.

I'm 27, I am or should I say was a enigineer, I was "downsized" amonth ago.

What bothers me is even though I had health insurance when my cystic duct was blockd by a gall stone my insurance only coverd 2/3rd of the cost and all of the anti biotics where out of pocket. Besides the fact that doctors seem to prescribe the most expensive medicines. I now have maxed out credit cards from my horrible infection and my insurance requiers a 75 dollar copay for "specialist" I'm now a out of work uninsured engineer who is not only being called by creditors but by my ex insurance company. I do not know how I'm ever going to be able to afford a house and a living in my state let alone the US I owe 37 thousand dollars from this brush with fate and the infections that followed. as far as i know my life is over because my credit is shot.

In my county the average house 10 years ago was 130,000 the average house is now over 300,000 even after the s hit the fan.

"run rabbit run, dig that hole catch the sun. when at last your work is done, don't sit down its time to dig another one"

-Pink floyd

reply to post by dolphinfan


hmmm another early January joiner..... Not saying....Just sayin.

I Definitely agree with the OP. When our corporate Govt. is obviously getting rid of a middle class.... this is what is expected IMO. Life is getting harder. It definitely helps when damn near every household owns a talking picture box telling a WHOLE different story and telling us how to live to boot. All it takes, is to step back, and look, don't think, and you will know what's right. that's all.

Does anyone else have that overwhelming feeling that something that is going to change mankind forever is on the way soon?

It can't keep going this way can it? Something has to change.

I have been reading through every single post in this thread the past hour. My heart is so heavy for everyone.

I'm so tired of that old saying "May you live in interesting times". I don't want to live in interesting times, just more hopeful ones.

THE DECLINE IS ABSOLUTELY THE RESULT OF CORPORATE PRACTICES NOT THE FAULT OF SOME LAZY GENERATION"

I started my first business at 13 years of age and am now 39, I am more Industrious than any of the corporate slaves of the generation prior.

And I began suffering this month too finally and i'm pissed about it.

There is no reason for the people my age and younger to EVER give a damn about their jobs, I have a Buddy who works for a local chain... Every night his register takes in 3000 - 4000 dollars with 3 registers running

His take for terrible meaningless labor? 64.00

IT'S OBSCENE

and even when you get your 40 G or 50 G it's only because you earned the company a cold Million by your efforts.

I'm now drying up, because my ex wife can't find work and because others can't afford to escape these horrible jobs and that's basically the service I supply

I can only thank GOD that IF I can work an extra job i'll be able to take my business up again via adaptation and ridiculously hard work....

Most don't even have that option...

People in here talk about revolution, the govt is corrupt, but the lobbyists come from The Corporate world mostly

IF people choose to get really pissed, don't attack America, Attack corporate offices because they are the real enemy

When a company like Mc Donalds creates policies where they give out or at least tell employees to give one less packet of ketchup so nation wide 20 million dollars is saved and when you got to a Walmart and there are 2 cashiers with 20 possible lines you can begin to see, plainly with your eyes how these companies operate and offer nothing to the public in terms of jobs, quality or anything else...

It's all about gross profits and the trend has become disgusting...

NO ONE will ever work hard for 8.00 an hr and if they do they are a MORON

Being one who falls into almost every category you have discussed, I have come to realize how right you are, and how true this is. I can't help but feel emotional after reading that. I have so much to say, but it's difficult to let it out. I'm not sure if I'm just emerassed to admit it, or if I'm guilty of doing something wrong. I graduated in the top of my class, and I've finished my associates (all I could afford, unfortunately), but I'm still sitting at $12 an hour with no benefits. I can't find a job in my field, and the company I work for now is struggling just as much as I am (so they say). I'm really not sure what to do, as the job market isn't going to get better anytime soon, and the company I work for is heading in the same direction. Credentials are flying out the window and I have a feeling my oppurtunities are going with them.

S&F for a great post. Thumbs down for the situation. Cheers to anybody with the ability to help us.


Strype

Not for nothing but if your an engineer, USAJOBS has 2717 job openings open right now. Granted, not every job is going to fit your profile, but there are jobs out there. You may have to move though. In Germany, we are dying for engineers of all types. There just are not enough qualified germans here to do the work. If you make the effort to learn some german, your chances of being hired are pretty good...and that means full insurance and 30 days paid vacation and and and.

Not saying there isn´t pain out in the employment world, that is obvious to almost all, and Germany has high unemployment as well because of the economic downturn, increased automation in the factories, and a massive glut of under educated people. But if your packing an academic backround, your chances of finding a job on the global market is much better than for those without. There are positions out there.

I guess I'm pretty lucky compared to you guys. I don't have to live with my parents, I can afford my very own one bedroom apartment, and most of the time I have electricity too!

It only takes me 60 hours per week in my main job, then a few hours in part time work at the weekend to be able to afford it!

Having been on ATS for about a year and a half, I've got to say this thread is probably the one that has struck the biggest chord in me.

I delve into a lot of topics and see some heated discussions on various things from one side or another. What I (unfortunately) see here is a concensus, tired, frustrated and perhaps resigned.

I'm 32, live in a shared house, in Manchester UK, sort of have a job and am constantly worried about money and my job, we're never making targets at work, my boss is under pressure, so he puts me under pressure and quite honestly, I flatly refuse to put my staff under pressure - I have worked hard for minimum wage in the past, very hard - with the hope of a raise or a promotion and eventually you might get it - I did, sometimes it was worth it. In my current job (large corporate) it wasn't worth it, I wish I never took the promotion, the amount of work I'm expected to do and the results to achieve with the amount of staff are ludicrous, especially in the current economic climate. For my staff there's the motiation of pride in their job and themselves to work harder - some do some don't, until I leave there's no chance for promotion and no pay rises, just the knowledge if they leave there's another 50 people willing to take their place.

Most of my friends have degrees and can't use them, like many of you that have spoken, they're all in a similar position. As for myself I didn't do a degree and it's tough for me to say if that would have helped, I used to be a floor-layer, until the work dried up, then I worked as a chef for a bit, then got my dream-job working for an independant record chain (Fopp if anyone knows it), which then went under, which was essentially a very hostile takeover by a corporate chain - so now, I'm working for the corporate and screw it - I've had enough. I'm going to college to do an access course to get me into university, where I'm hoping to do a degree in social work - maybe, just maybe help to make my community a better place and have a chance at a decent stable future, maybe have my own place and just live comfortably with my girlfriend - I just want a peaceful secure life now, not sure if I'll get it though.

Thing is, I already hear rumblings that the Social Services in the UK may well end up "privatised" over the coming decade, which wouldn't surprise me, which essentially will put me back in the position I'm in.

Outsourcing is a problem, immigration is a problem, even though the UK is a much more vibrant, interesting, cultured place for it, we can't sustain the amount of people on our "system" taking already stretched resources. Government won't change that, nor will it change the job market - we all know they're in the pockets of the corporations.

So what is our answer? Where do "we" the workers forge our future? Someone earlier mentioned bricks through windows - I see a need to unseat corporations and power-giants, times can get worse, but we could change things...

Yet with that, the tenuous link I have to "security" can I afford to risk that by getting arrested or imprisoned?

Originally posted by silent thunder


No offence, sir,
[edit on 9/4/09 by silent thunder]

Well, first off, it's not sir. It's Miss. But that's ok.

But I think you misunderstood me. Never did I say to not get the basic education and skills of learning how to balance a checkbook. Never did I say not to learn the basics of how to manage money, and other things, such as rudimentary job skills, BEFORE you go off and start your own company.

I suppose I'm lucky. I went to a good public school in the midwest of the USA, where they taught us all how to balance our bank accounts and checkbooks in 7th grade. And my parents taught me basic money managing skills. And then I took jobs in high school, to get basic job skills. (I even got fired twice in high school, but I kept working, and getting new jobs. When one thing didn't work out, I tried another.)

Look at Bill Gates. Did he graduate college? No, and look how rich he is. Why? He had a basic skill FIRST (computers) and then he had a passion. Passion is important, but yes...basic skills are just as important.

Even Robin Williams Dad told him, "Son, if you want to be an actor, fine....be an actor. But you should learn a skill so you can have something to fall back on if it doesn't work out....like welding." His dad was right. I don't know if Robin Williams ever learned how to weld, but it would have been a good idea.

Basic skills are important. I learned how to manage money in junior high, got my first job in high school, waited tables in college, and then got my degree in pharmacy.

But when things get tough, it also requires a person to work a job much lower than what they got their degree in. There was one poster on here who said he's been out of a job for over 6 months because he couldn't find a degree in his degree field in film or something. Well, my suggestion is to go get a job flipping burgers for a while until you can get a job in film. This is what I did when I ran into really hard times for a while.

I'm a pharmacist, but after 9/11, I could not work at my career. I got diagnosed with bipolar disorder after a psychotic break after 9/11...and I had to take another job making much, much less until I got myself better. (Being a pharmacist is very boring, but it does require you to be sane.)

My pay went down over $40 bucks an hour. Literally...I went from making $47 bucks an hour in 2002 to $7 bucks an hour in a department store. I had to move in with my parents for a while at the age of 32. Life was NOT good...it really sucked. I lost my mind and my ability to work a well-paying job. I lost my ability to live on my own. But I....persevered. I decided come hell or high water, I would get myself better. And I did. But that's another story.

But I was willing to work a menial job making not much more than minimum wage for a while, when things got tough. I was also lucky, and I had parents I could move in with for a few months when things got really bad, too. I thought I'd never get back on my own two feet again, but I did.

If you didn't learn basic money management skills and basic job skills in high school and junior high like I did, I'm sorry. Yes, you're right....before you follow your dreams, you need to learn the basics. But that's what high school is for...not college. College is for advanced learning....high school is for the basics. Once you learn the basics, then you can follow your passion.

There are small business centers where you can go to learn the basics of how to write a business plan, etc... I did that. I tried to start my own business for a while (it's not easy, I'll grant you!!), and I did have my own part-time business a few years ago. I haven't had the guts to try to start my own business full time yet....but one of these days, I want to.

Many chambers of commerce also offer basic business skill classes, too. And community colleges, too. The basic skill classes are there...you just have to go find them.




[edit on 4-9-2009 by nikiano]

I think society at large is beginning to wake up to this and realize we are in big trouble.

www.nytimes.com...

For those concerned with the economic viability of the American family going forward, the plight of young workers, especially young men, is particularly frightening. The percentage of young American men who are actually working is the lowest it has been in the 61 years of record-keeping, according to the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston.

Only 65 of every 100 men aged 20 through 24 years old were working on any given day in the first six months of this year. In the age group 25 through 34 years old, traditionally a prime age range for getting married and starting a family, just 81 of 100 men were employed.

For male teenagers, the numbers were disastrous: only 28 of every 100 males were employed in the 16- through 19-year-old age group. For minority teenagers, forget about it. The numbers are beyond scary; they’re catastrophic.

This should be the biggest story in the United States. When joblessness reaches these kinds of extremes, it doesn’t just damage individual families; it corrodes entire communities, fosters a sense of hopelessness and leads to disorder.

The unemployment that has wrought such devastation in black communities for decades is now being experienced by a much wider swath of the population. We’ve been in deep denial about this. Way back in March 2007, when the official unemployment rate was a wildly deceptive 4.5 percent and the Bush crowd was crowing about the alleged strength of the economy, I wrote:

“People can howl all they want about how well the economy is doing. The simple truth is that millions of ordinary American workers are in an employment bind. Steady jobs with good benefits are going the way of Ozzie and Harriet. Young workers, especially, are hurting, which diminishes the prospects for the American family.

I think an additional component to this is Health Care. It's a benefit offered less and less and effects job prospects and decision making for young workers.

My sister, for example. She's in great shape and very healthy. The problem is she has had Type I Diabetes since she was five. She hates her job and realizes that she could do so much more but she is afraid to let it go and look for other opportunities because it is one of the precious few jobs available to her that offers a health care plan that will cover her pre-existing condition.

People should not have to worry about that in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world.