I pretty-much agree with your other comments, but you lost me here.

Do you not know ANYBODY who is out of work, looking for a good job that is challenging, productive, and well-suited to their special training (whether it is a college degree or techincal skill)?
I find that almost impossible to believe.

People like that are walking the streets here in North Carolina everywhere.
We've lost furniture plants, textile mills, tobacco plants, and general manufacturing plants around here like crazy in the last 12 months, and only landed ONE new plant from Dell to replace them. These people don't want to start flipping burgers for $6/hr after having skilled jobs making $12-$18/hr, and frankly they can't afford to work for $6/hr and support a family anyways.

Please, give your comment some serious consideration and come back to me if you still see it the same way.

 

I agree 100%.

 

There’s a difference between guaranteeing opportunity versus guaranteeing results.

The day you start guaranteeing people results is the day you are no longer free and usually when people want to use the government to ‘force’ everyone to be equal it usually means that everyone will be forced to be ‘equally’ poor and ‘equally’ dependent on the nation/state. Inequality is unfortunately a part of “freedom’ and as a side note when the Iron curtain fell one former citizen of the USSR sarcastically stated ” For the last 20 years I pretended to work and for 20 years they pretended to pay me.”

To really understand how the market economy works please check out this Flash-Animated cartoon - http://jonathangullible.com/mmedia/P...lish_music.swf

 

I agree there is most certainly a difference in equality of opportunity versus equality of wealth or whatever you wish to call it. However, it was implied if not outright stated that all unemployed were "lazy" or more softly put not motivated to further educate themselves or move or do whatever it took to find employment. In our reality that is certainly not the case. There are a number of reasons that could prevent them from doing so, and alternatively in this market system there is not room for everyone to be employed at the same time.

I had to turn off the flash animation because the music made me want to kill.

 

Yes I do know some that are out of work…in one case, a very capable guy I worked with at Singer (I helped Singer close down Singer Furniture a few years ago) and we now go to the same church. He’s working temp jobs to get by for now…he could do better elsewhere but he doesn’t want to move because he is recently divorced and in the middle of a custody battle and it would not be wise for his case were he to move so, because of those reasons, his options are more limited than if he were willing/able to move.

In my own case, I was looking for a job a few years ago when I was “right-sized” out of work so I moved two states away and started over at age 41.

I’m not saying it’s easy for anybody to move or go back to school or take less pay than we were accustomed at our last job but we all have to do what’s best for “us” and our particular circumstances.

I well understand the needs of family, roots in a community, etc and I understand why people don’t want to take jobs they don’t like or for less money than they think they are worth or to “go backwards” in terms of salary but the lack of choices we like isn’t the same thing as a lack of choices.

We don’t all have equal abilities but I do very firmly believe that we all equal opportunity to be successful. However, we have to make choices to enjoy that success or be willing to accept the consequences.

 

I do believe that around 2% of the population at any given time can't or won't work regardless of the economy because of physical or mental disabilities, drug or alchohol addiction, or they just don't have the motivation and/or desire to get out and work. With that being said there are good people who are unemployed and they can't be classified as lazy, just that they are in the wrong industry at the wrong time and got dealed a bad hand.


That whats the volume-control on your computer if for, or if needed, just drown out the sound with Metallica's "Master of Puppets"

 

Nice rant, but you're answering questions that I wasn't asking

Please provide facts to back-up your 11% figure and/or provide a graph over the last decade(s) to show how this 'supposed' TRUE measurement of unemployment is calculated and please show how 2005 compares with 1995 (or 1975 or 1985 for that matter) as an example.

Please stick to the subject this time