Commentary By Ron Beasley
OTB's resident Libertarian/Sociopath Doug Mataconis has declared war on the Occupy Wall Street movement.
What comes across to me the most, though, is a sense of entitlement from some people and they idea that the situation they�re in clearly can�t be their fault so it must be the blame of someone else. There�s an attitude about the protests that there is something morally wrong about the fact that not everyone is suffering equally in the current economy as well. So when they look up and see that some people have managed to succeed during these rough economic times, that sense of entitlement becomes intermingled with a sense of envy and the belief that the only way these other people could have succeeded is by cheating. As a result these protester blame their situation on someone else, blare out largely incoherent slogans, and engage in a protest that has no discernible purpose.
This is so blatantly wrong on so many levels. Doug has the nerve to criticize them for blaming someone else. Let's get this straight - the economy crashed because a bunch of greedy sociopaths on Wall Street crashed the world economy. These same sociopaths were bailed out on the backs of taxpayers and are now making as much money as they did before. The way they are making that money contributes nothing to the economy - it's the same old casino - so no jobs are being created but it's class warfare to suggest their activities should be regulated and their taxes raised.
Doug thinks this will pass - it won't, it will only grow. The first demonstrations in the middle east were small but grew as people identified with what they were saying. There are those in power who know that and they are afraid. I think that those who are predicting another recession are overly optimistic. The entire world financial system is in danger fo collapsing. When that happens we are talking depression on recession. We haven't seen anything yet.
Update
When unemployment became subject to headline news in the Eighties I realized how deluded we have been led in believing that "only four or five percent" unemployment is good.
ReplyDeleteThink about that. We supposedly have an economy based on job creation, which means if there is not at least one unemployed candidate for every new job the system will not work. Stated otherwise, a base level of available (new/unemployed) workers is essential for economic growth. But no one seems to know how that idle but available resource is supposed to meet living expenses as they wait. It's a curious disconnect which no one pays attention to when times are "good" (when the unemployed population is too small to fight, complain or cause a stir).
Comes now a time when economic activity really tanks.
Not only does the number of unemployed people rise, so does the number who ARE working at second and/or third jobs, or who are underemployed, or have temporary work (typically with no vacation, PTO or other benefits) that will vanish in the foreseeable future. Add unemployed veterans and civilians as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to wind down and you see a bleak employment picture stretching into the distance.
I don't think we have begun to glimpse the dimensions of the economic disaster that lies ahead. When Obama said to the bankers "I'm standing between you and the pitchforks" I think he probably meant it and didn't realize they had him by the balls.
Sometime between then and now he and the bankers got on the same side and the pitchforks are in the streets.
John
ReplyDeleteI think that 4 or 5 percent unemployment is healthy and normal. People quit jobs, take a break, etc. The key is how long they remain unemployed. That is the number we should be looking at.
You're right, of course, Ron. I'm not that utopian. My point is that those who say that unemployment is the fault of the individual are either ignorant, cold-blooded or both. My entire career I hired countless numbers of people who had simply relocated from places where work was not available to places where prospects for work would be better. I have always been mystified by those who think that jobs should come to them and not the other way around.
ReplyDeleteBut the world is now witnessing another developmental phase in which there are too many overqualified people for too few jobs. An argument can be made that thanks to technology work as we know it is becoming obsolete. A large, strong social safety net is needed now more than ever before. If resources were not available it would be different. But that is not the case.