The military is our jobs program

[NNN0LHI]

I can't blame anyone for joining the military during these times. Its the only jobs left out there for this generation. Used to be plenty of jobs in heavy industry for this age group 25 or 30 years ago. Those days are over. Now most of these jobs are in other countries.

Only jobs left for the next generation is guarding oil pipelines.

I think we fucked up.

Don

[Systematic Chaos]

1. Fuck our crumbling infrastructure! Who needs one anyway?

We could have less than 2% unemployment in this country right fucking now if we so chose. And it would have nothing whatsoever with sending people off to these dipshit resource grabs disguised as a war on an abstract noun.

Goddamn I get so mad about this it makes me ill. How many more bridges are going to collapse, or buildings decay into deathtraps, or roads fall apart, before people figure this shit out?

"...fucked up" is right. :grr:

[lunatica]

2. Bush and Cheney were quite successful

When you read history you find out that ambitious leaders who crave empire and who love to amass power always make sure they have very large armies. They do this by creating a need for people to join their army. Bush and Cheney were roaringly successful.

[Junkdrawer]

3. Those in power are wealthier than ever - as for the rest? We have the best propaganda...

in the world. And the lousiest social contract.

[MagCynic]

4. I'm 28

and I just got a well paying management job. I know many people I went to high school with that our also well into a good career. Stop being so dramatic. This is America. People will still become a success or failure based on their own actions.

[NNN0LHI]

6. I am happy to hear that for you

When I was 18 and still in high school I was working at a union factory making top money and with great medical benefits. The company reimbursed me for the tuition for all the college classes I took.

By the time I was 28 I had ten years seniority where I worked and was one of the top paid workers in the plant. With overtime I could pull down close to a hundred grand a year. I retired at 48. 30 and out. You going to be able to retire at 48? Comfortably?

Don

[Hippo_Tron]

17. Why the hell would I want to retire at 48?

Maybe that made sense when average life expectancy was a lot lower but as far as I'm concerned some of my best working years will be during my 50's and 60's.

[NNN0LHI]

18. Actually it makes a lot of sense

When people retire earlier that opens up a job for some kid who is just starting out maybe with a family of his own to support who really needs that job. By the time I was 48 my kids were grown and I didn't need the extra income from continuing to work anymore. So why deny someone else the job who needed it?

Plus in my line of work of repairing heavy stamping presses due to the physical stress and strain on the body your best working years are long behind you at 48. It takes its toll on anyone. I had to have stainless steel plates and screws put around my spine but I still have all my fingers and toes so I am real happy about that.

All I know is I have never been happier since I retired.

Don

[Hippo_Tron]

20. Your kids are only grown by the time you're 48 if you have them before you're 30

Yes as someone who is about to enter the work force, sure I'd love it if everybody retired at 48 because it would be much easier for me to get a job. But not only will that not be realistic for me to do so financially, I can't fathom even wanting to do that.

Sure, you put your body through a lot of strain in your job and I'm not saying you didn't deserve to retire at 48 or that you didn't work hard for it. But as somebody who doesn't plan to enter a job that will put that much physical strain on my body (and I don't think most people will), I don't feel like I am being cheated out of fair compensation if I'm not able to retire at age 48.

[NNN0LHI]

23. Both my daughters were born before I was 20

Got an early start I guess?

I am really enjoying spending a lot of time with my grand kids while I am still young enough to get around pretty good. I take them fishing a lot. Its a real blast. Good to have this opportunity.

Don

[Old Troop]

21. Since I'm 56 that will be hard

[OneGrassRoot]

8. How very naive and judgmental of you...

"People will still become a success or failure based on their own actions."

I agree that how people RESPOND to events are within their control, but there are many things out of an individual's control these days, including decisions to outsource the vast majority of American jobs overseas. I suppose if a person decides to stay in the United States because he/she can't afford to move elsewhere and they can't find another job because hundreds of thousands of others are also seeking employment, that action -- that decision -- is within their own power and they deserve whatever fate befalls them.

I'm all for personal responsibility, but you "bootstrap" types amuse me. I do hope you never require help in any form from the society in which you live (beyond police, fire, etc., that you already have available), as I don't believe "bootstrap" people -- based on my own experience and observations -- have the character and fortitude required to survive hardship.

I do wish you well.

[MagCynic]

12. Not judgemental at all

Everybody has a unique situation. All I was commenting on is this ridiculous notion that nobody in my generation can succeed and make a comfortable living without joining the military. There are millions of rags to riches stories across the country. I'm so tired of this "Woe is me, whatever shall I do during this tough times" crap. Over 90% of us are employed and busting our butts trying to make something of ourselves. There's money to be made out there. You just have to go out and find it.

[Dappleganger]

14. "Over 90% of us are employed"

You must work for Blackwater.

[MagCynic]

19. Uh...

What's our unemployment rate? Take 100 minus that and I hope you'll find that over 90% of us have a job.

[HughBeaumont]

11. Smell the empathy . . .

Siiiiggghhhh . . .

[Dappleganger]

15. The only thing better than a 20-something yr. old who knows it all...

is a teenager who knows it all.

Lord knows I have a house full of them and am overflowing with know-it-all goodness!

[arcadian]

22. Wait are you telling me this guy just solved the internets.

Thanks goodness, somebody needed to.

[Forkboy]

13. 28 going on 10.

[KG]

5. time for poor kids to stop signing up to fight rich mens wars.

[Echo In Light]

7. I don't "blame" anyone for it, but disapprove 100% nonetheless

[KharmaTrain]

9. Gotta Love The Options...

My son is in his final semester of college and the job prospects out there are bleak. He's both scared and depressed about the difficult future he sees ahead. While we're looking at grad school, as many others are (if they are able to afford it) the options, even for someone with a Bachelors is fighting for a job at Home Depot or going into the military.

I don't blame those whose kids have chosen this route, either. I have a very good friend whose daughter had few options...didn't have the GPA and the money for college and saw going into the Navy as the safest option and one where she feels she'll get training that is more likely to get her a job upon her discharge. I can't argue with it.

Here's the irony...I do see some industries where younger is better...where they'd rather hire a 20-something (preferably single) who will work 6 jobs and not complain about money or benefits. My parents generation always believed that if you worked hard and were a loyal employee, you'd always have a job, in my generation, you worked hard and as long as you didn't complain or ask for more money, you had the job...now all bets are off...corporate American looks down on the domestic labor pool...only sees us as consumers, not worth any real investment.

Cheers...

[Mari333]

10. privatized prisons, cheap labour force, and the MIC....

kind of seems like a set up doesnt it.

[kgnu_fan]

16. Yes, they planned well