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Unemployment - the new normal ?

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posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 06:30 PM
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Hi this is my first thread and I would like to talk about the pain, humiliation and feeling of powerlessness that unemployment brings.

Dear Mods if this is in the wrong section I am sorry. I believe that unemployment is part of the global melt down, it is part of the process. Disenfranchising the middle class and the hard working people is a ploy by govt, which disempowers the many whilst increasing the power of the 'elite' [in apostrophes because there is nothing elite about most of these scumbags we call our leaders].

In England - we need to look towards India and their power structure to see where we as a country are heading ie two classes, the rich and the poor. OK India have a growing middle class now - but I think you get my meaning, they also have 30% of the worlds poor.

I am 46, I have worked all my life, since I was 15 actually because even when I was at school [ as in high school ] and university I worked. I have done everything from teaching riding, working in a factory, gardening, waitressing and then graduated to a professional career for many years, I have had loads of jobs- that has all changed now.

I have a BSc Hons – a high 2:1, a post graduate certificate at masters level in business and numerous other professional qualifications etc etc. BUT for the first time in my life I am unemployed.

I am a British and an Australian citizen and I am also eligible for Irish citizenship so technically I could find work in any of these countries, and I suppose any countries in the EU. BUT right now I am in England. Having decided to move away from London, where most of the jobs are, my prospects have been heading steadily south [so to speak]. I cannot find a job, I have spent all my savings and I am a bit fed up to say the least.

My life- style even when working was much poorer than my parents, who had a really nice life. Poorer than my grandparents and dare I say even my great grandparents. I reckon I am on a par lifestyle wise with my great great grandparents who were born in the mid-1800s.
What has happened to this country?? Well that is sort of a rhetorical question, I know most ATS’ers know exactly what is wrong with the current situation in the Western world.

I don’t want to ‘ go on’ about my woes, but I have a really empathy and understanding of those who are cast out or marginalised by society in a way I did not have before. That is because in a way that is what has happened to me.

I just opened this thread to have a chat really with anyone else who is having a hard time like me, in this way, how did you cope? Did it improve? Any advice welcome?

Thanks for listening Helen.



posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 06:34 PM
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It is sort of the new normal. And it was sort of the plan all along, in my opinion.

Example: Microsoft outsources all tech support phone jobs to India. Indian rates go up, customer satisfaction goes down. Microsoft decides to take advantage of this for some good PR (eyeroll) and offers Americans they were key in helping unemploy their jobs back again...at one third their past rate. True story.



posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 06:37 PM
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reply to post by ~Lucidity
 


Absolutely spot on Lucidity IMO - they have done that in pretty much every industry in the Western World - but I reckon they have cranked this whole ' out sourcing' up a notch and it is only going to get worse.

What I want to know is why we the people allow out leaders to treat us with such contempt.



posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 06:41 PM
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Originally posted by HelenConway
What I want to know is why we the people allow out leaders to treat us with such contempt.


cos dey giv us benefits n lerrus wotch jordy shaw on telly innit



posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 06:46 PM
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reply to post by Dispo
 


I get £71 a week - that is it !!!! I do not get help with bills, mortgage etc. That is it.
I do not even get free prescriptions because I get what is termed contributary JSA which means I am getting a pay out of the £300 quid plus a month I have paid into the system for years.

Those on so called benefits are not on the scam JSA they are classed as the economically inactive and they amount to about 8 million - the govt does not want them included in the 'unemployed' figures.

It is such a scam.

If you do not have small children - you get sweet F A in this country...

We seriously need to wake up in this country and stop listening to the lies of politicians.
edit on 9-1-2013 by HelenConway because: (no reason given)

edit on 9-1-2013 by HelenConway because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 06:46 PM
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I just try not to let it get to me myself.

Most of my friends in their 20's have just finished their degrees/apprenticeships and now cant find work.
Up to the heads in debt, most depressed and some are borderline suicidal.

Good times.



posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 06:51 PM
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reply to post by HelenConway
 


Go to a local independent benefits advice centre, if you can find one that hasn't had its funding cut.

You should get more than £71 a week, that's basic JSA, you're entitled to other support as well such as housing benefit. Or you used to be, Cameron changed all the benefit laws around to make it easier to introduce Universal Credit (oh god) so I'm not fully up to speed any more.

One piece of advice: don't go to a CAB unless there's absolutely nothing else around, they're useless.



posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 06:54 PM
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Originally posted by hoonsince89


Most of my friends in their 20's have just finished their degrees/apprenticeships and now cant find work.
Up to the heads in debt, most depressed and some are borderline suicidal.



hoonsince89 - that is one of the saddest things I have read for ages - and I know it is true, it is awful that we as a society have allowed people to be thrown on the scrapeheap like this, new grads or people that are older. It is a disgrace and people need to do something... anything ..

Starting IMO by not voting for the pillocks who are out sociopathic leaders.

You know I know I am maybe a bit slow coming to the table - but it is only fairly recently that I have twigged that our ' leaders' and their schemes - are all about them .. and what it means profit wise for them ..

There is a business culture that values the CEO over the actual people who make the business worthwhile and profitable ie the employees. The CEO cuts jobs / outsources etc and then makes a sort of ponzi profit [ as you would - not rocket science] and walks away with millions and millions after 12 months.

This is happening in practically every industry now - they are being run for the benefit of the CEO and his cronies pay packets - not for the core reasons - such as the customers !

PS The university / degree business is also a big con these days IMO.
edit on 9-1-2013 by HelenConway because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 07:02 PM
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reply to post by Dispo
 


Thanks Dispo - unfortunately I am not entitled to housing allowance because I have a house with a mortgage - when that is repossessed then maybe they will give me some hole in a house full of drug addicts


Luckily the mortgage company has actually been really good - they have let me just pay the interest for a few months and let me have a mortgage break.

On contributary JSA you are not even entitled to free prescriptions.

It is hard and I cry for myself and for others who are in this situation - I have been offered a job actually on £10000 less then I earnt last year - and I am waiting to start. But I am so upset and angry by the whole experience and no one in my family, none of my friends are interested. I never discuss it with them,

They are all ok Jack .. so I have ended up isolating myself. Actually my mum has helped me alot with bills but I feel like such a loser I really do.

It is like if you are unemployed you become like a leper - to those untouched by the ' affliction'. It makes me angry and sad,
edit on 9-1-2013 by HelenConway because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 07:08 PM
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reply to post by HelenConway
 


Nah, people just don't know what to say or do. I mean, what would you do if one of your friends lost their job? Go round and eat their biscuits? What if they can't afford it? Go round and bring them biscuits? What if it offends them?

People are strange, you're not a loser for being unemployed.



posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 07:11 PM
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reply to post by Dispo
 


thanks dispo - as I said I am the new norm


soon many of us will be warming our fingerless gloves, by a barrel of fire on the roadside... downing meth [ as in methylated spirits - not drugs, a cheap alcohol substitute ]wrapped in a brown paper bag !
edit on 9-1-2013 by HelenConway because: (no reason given)

edit on 9-1-2013 by HelenConway because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 07:23 PM
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And then when you find employment it is rammed down your throat how luck you are to be in receipt of a salary. I am not sure what is worse: out of work looking or some jumped-up middle manager dangling veiled threats over you whilst toiling through the hours between nine to five. Then there is that trite management speak of doing more with less which usually means you being milked for all they can get.
edit on 9-1-2013 by LarryLove because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 07:27 PM
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i,ll say it.......unless ur a junkie or alcoholic u get nothing.

i was unemployed and got new job but woudln,t get paid for a month......asked for help to get me through that month and was told that they could do nothing for me cause i was now in employment?makes no sense

now that job i got i was in for 7-8 years and left to go to another job....was only in this new job 3 months before i was diagnosed with cancer,obviously was off sick for a while so by that time the credit crunch hit and had no job to go back too

i,ve now been unemployed for a few years and basicly have had no help what so ever,i still have to attend hospital for check ups every few months so telling that to an employer doesn,t help my cause

to me i feel lost in the system and cause of my illness its like well hes got an excuse so its like they leave me to do as i please which really isn,t helping me.



posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 07:29 PM
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reply to post by ~Lucidity
 


Bang on. It actually happened to me in 2004/5.



posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 07:32 PM
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Originally posted by ~Lucidity
It is sort of the new normal. And it was sort of the plan all along, in my opinion.

Example: Microsoft outsources all tech support phone jobs to India. Indian rates go up, customer satisfaction goes down. Microsoft decides to take advantage of this for some good PR (eyeroll) and offers Americans they were key in helping unemploy their jobs back again...at one third their past rate. True story.


It should work as MS has American tech support, and writes off the costs of it on their taxes.

But they already cheat the tax system so bad, there is no benefit to this, so the bottom line is save dollars, because tax write offs are trivial.

You can blame it all on government, that's the cause of our countries problems.



posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 07:35 PM
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reply to post by LarryLove
 


Larry Love - I could not agree more !!! They have us scrapping over, lets face it s*** jobs, like they are manna from heaven, when really they are drudgery on a stick, designed to kill your brain and life force quicker then a ... well quickly ..

That is the other thing I have noticed the poor quality of the jobs on offer - I am old enough to have experienced and lived through a few economic turbulant times.

However none such as it is today, where the minimum wages on offer - are lauded as some wonderful thing because they are attached to a ' job ' hallelujah


In England there is a scraping of the oldways - even for those in work... I wonder if it is the same in the US.

The old ways [ pre 2008] you had bonuses, company cars sometimes, lunch allowance decent pay , 5 - 6 weeks paid leave, 6 months sick pay ...

Now many jobs are minimum wage no benefits - it is essentially crap.


Where India has been we are following ...
edit on 9-1-2013 by HelenConway because: spelling



posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 07:42 PM
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Originally posted by sparky31
to me i feel lost in the system and cause of my illness its like well hes got an excuse so its like they leave me to do as i please which really isn,t helping me.


Sparky - I hope you get better soon and that things improve for you, that is a terrible way to be treated. Bloody crap politicians, the welfare of people like you should be at the top of their agenda, not the rubbish they bang on about to further their own agendas.

The system does envelope us doesn't it - it is time we changed the system...

You know people do not realise how close they are to being unemployed and ' lost in the system' until it happens to them most do not understand. I wish that was different, I wish we had more compassion and empathy as a society.



posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 07:49 PM
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reply to post by HelenConway
 


I work in publishing, but only for the last two years. Before then marketing and seven years with the same company before redundancy. You are right and although some might say it was just the 'good times' I believe benefits a decent salary, bonuses etc. create better workers. Yes, you will always get those out to cheat the system, but invariably they are removed and those capable and willing were properly renumerated; as it should be.

The publishing industry has always offered low wages as people put the job before the salary, but with the digital evolution a whole new skill set is required and guess what: expected to do more (new skills) with less (salary). I am an editor and have to produce three books a month. There is no time for slacking and you need to be pretty switched on to proofread, copy-edit, typeset etc. every day and yet I only pull in far less than the national average. You would probably make more stacking shelves at a supermarket.

To end: everything comes down to personal responsibility, I know. This thread was a good vent for what is grinding my gears.
edit on 9-1-2013 by LarryLove because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 08:09 PM
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Originally posted by LarryLove
reply to post by HelenConway
 


I work in publishing, but only for the last two years. Before then marketing and seven years with the same company before redundancy. You are right and although some might say it was just the 'good times' I believe benefits a decent salary, bonuses etc. create better workers. Yes, you will always get those out to cheat the system, but invariably they are removed and those capable and willing were properly renumerated; as it should be.

The publishing industry has always offered low wages as people put the job before the salary, but with the digital evolution a whole new skill set is required and guess what: expected to do more (new skills) with less.... (salaryn)


Yep ... well the downshifting of the renumeration that jobs offer, may be noticed by me and by you obviously, but the new generations, that is all they will know. They will think that is the way it is... poverty will become the norm.

You know, slightly off subject, I hear people on here and across the internet talk about CME [ coronal mass ejections] and some sort of pulsar weapons that will take out the grid. How this will be the apocalypse and oh gosh we will all start killing each other becuase we do not have access to electricity and computers and I think ... Why ?

The 1800s were probably the most productive years, alive with discovery and new invention and they did not have electricity - my point is we have become so passive as a society, we are being drip fed indolence and dependency IMO. They who ever they are are helping us via the system to become like puppies crying for milk, weak.

We used to farm, build, invent, explore, THINK - now we sit in call centres and spend our lives being dictated to by managers who get to that position precisely because they have mastered the art of managing upwards and looking after number one...

Every despotic society has disposed of the people who see the prison bars as they wrap around them, the teachers, the educated, writers, they all go first - Hitler, Mao, Stalin, anyone who questions the ' new norm' , anyone who thinks .. questions..

Our devolution is assured unless we display some of the resiliance of our ancestors and some gumption, I dont have an answer.

I do know that the job system is just a symptom of something even more sinister... that is being inflicted on us, however morally responsible we are.


edit on 9-1-2013 by HelenConway because: spelling



posted on Jan, 9 2013 @ 08:10 PM
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Originally posted by HelenConway

Originally posted by sparky31
to me i feel lost in the system and cause of my illness its like well hes got an excuse so its like they leave me to do as i please which really isn,t helping me.


Sparky - I hope you get better soon and that things improve for you, that is a terrible way to be treated. Bloody crap politicians, the welfare of people like you should be at the top of their agenda, not the rubbish they bang on about to further their own agendas.

The system does envelope us doesn't it - it is time we changed the system...

You know people do not realise how close they are to being unemployed and ' lost in the system' until it happens to them most do not understand. I wish that was different, I wish we had more compassion and empathy as a society.
thank you....at moment i have all clear but as i say it seems to be harder to get employment cause i have to disclose to employers i would need time off to attened hospital appointments.

and dss to me don,t seem to want to help....infact at times its like they want to keep me as unemployed.



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