Layoff veterans vs. chronic unemployment…A big difference
This economic recession and its layoffs have been going strong for several months now. This means that there are a lot of us that are beginning to reach the later stages of the unemploymentality: Rejected or unanswered job applications are hitting triple digits, we’re nearing the halfway point in our unemployment insurance and our confidence that this is a temporary setback is beginning to waiver. Layoff veterans like these often spend a lot of time pondering higher, more philosophical questions around the meaning of life, the value of material possessions, and if you were polygamous, how many celestial wives would be too many?
The scariest aspect of these later stages of the unemploymentality is questioning what will happen next. Will you end begging for change, turning tricks for rock or even become homeless? This, my friend, is an irrational fear. At least right now it is. And when I start to think about such things, it comforts me to identify the differences between my unemploymentality and chronic unemployment. Perhaps these differences can lend some comfort to you as well:
The unemploymentality is a necessary state of mind shared by those tossed aside in the wake of corporate downsizing and financial necessity. Laid off workers did not choose a life of frugality, it was chosen for them. They still want to work so that they can consume. Unfortunately, they’re broke as hell and the future is too unpredictable to buy the new iPhone. Laid off people keep up appearances as well. In fact, much of the unemploymentality is concerned with finding creative ways to socialize and ‘act normal’ around friends that are still employed and spending like it’s 1999. For some, this means defaulting to credit cards or hiding out in their parents’ basement until the recession is over (I don’t recommend this – it will totally kill your baller status). For others, like myself, it means crashing parties, standing next to nice cars while pretending to ‘talk business’ on my cell phone and continuing to shower everyday, even if the water is cold.
Conversely, the chronically unemployed are no longer concerned with getting back in the game. Job applications, schmoozing and keeping up appearances are a thing of the past, and they’ve achieved a Zen-like detachment to the material world. Consciously or unconsciously, they have set sail on a new course of dependency, low-cost economic alternatives and federal scholarship (welfare).
True, a small number of the laid off will evolve into the chronically unemployed, but most of us simply do not have the mental fortitude to hoe this row. When the recession is over most of us will simply ignore all that we have learned about being hapless and downtrodden and we’ll flippantly carry on with the pursuit of the American dream, aka buying lots of shit we don’t need and mumbling to ourselves “God, just get a job!” while stepping over homeless people.
I don’t mean to rain on your “Poor me, I lost my job” parade, but if you really want to work, you can. The U. S. Army is hiring. There has never been a better time to serve and the benefits are numerous. Many jobs even have an enlistment bonus.
I’m not a recruiter or affiliated with the U. S. Army in any way; I’m just tired of hearing people complain about being unemployed without really thinking about ways to fix the problem.
Theobald,
Simplistic answer to a complex problem. Many of the unemployed would not meet the age restrictions. Or did you not get that far in your reading? Many of the umemployed have families. What? Should they just up and leave the kids and wife? Same answer from you for the millions of unemployed women? How about the unemployed who have health issues that would prevent them from passing the rigorous physical training? You might consider working on your critical problem solving skills before you post another unexamined thought online.
Sincerely,
An over 40 unemployed female with health issues
Ahhhhh snap! Jeremy got served!
…And yo’ momma so fat, she can’t wear a Malcom ‘X’ jacket ’cause air traffic control is afraid helicopters will land on her back!
Seriously, Jeremy, that’s up there with “let them eat cake.”
May I recommend “Falling From Grace: Downward mobility in an age of affluence.” by Katherine Newman.
Or just do a Google search, general upward mobility is a thing of the past. We have every right to be furious. The American worker has become vastly more productive since the 1960s, and also much poorer.
Jeez, Mr. Theobald. What if someone already served? If that person were to serve again, would he or she really be helping to solve the economic problem in this country by shipping off to Iraq? Also, the way you present the option of joining the military – just as achievable to the average person, as would be a greeting position at the entrance of Wal-Mart – just does not seem in sync with the reality of the situation…
Pretty bold statement coming from someone who obviously never served their country. I spent 8 years in the US Army and during the start of the Iraq war almost died due to pneumonia and was later medically discharged with a small severance pay.. got out to find out that for me to attain va benefits i would have to pay back all of my severance pay before i could collect a va monthly disability check if and when my appeal was approved.. I do feel fine today, after attempting to fight the medical board decision of deaming me unfit for duty, i learned that fighting it could mean another 1 to 4 years before i got an answer.. so i chose to move on.. i got out got a job fairly quick.. 5 months ago after 15 years of solid work i was laid off.. no warning whatsoever.. just “your position has been terminated please turn in your company items”… you will be eligible for unemployment you are not being fired.
So i guess 8 years inst enough? i should rejoin or appeal just to get back into an organization that told me i couldn’t serve because i developed asthma from pneumonia, just to add a point to the employment rate..
I think not. At this point i could give a shit less.. let them come and take everything i own.. i refuse to work for minimum wage i and every other veteran out there has worked to damn hard to be serving people who never had the balls to serve this country in the first place hamburgers at McDonalds.. frankly i see it the other way around.
employers need to get their act straight.. I myself had spent more time serving this country than the average person spends in college for a bs degree or even a PHD… the day i wake up and search monster.com and see the average job posting requiring 4 years active duty military experience rather than a BS degree that some kids parents paid for.. will be the day this country is going somewhere.
I am sure i better clarify the GI bill is a crock of shit. The ONLY way the GI bill could be successful for a veteran is if and only if he or she did not spend a dime while serving their country.. no car.. just a bicycle.. get out and move back in with their parents assuming that is an option.. the GI bill in most cases pays just enough for your classes.. i personally inquired the week i got out and was excited about attended college and possibly getting a degree.. only to find that i couldnt afford to go to college… yes imagine that.. cant afford to go to college for free….? believe it.. Who is going to pay for food? who is going to pay the electric bill? who is going to pay for the car and car insurance? and for books? 1100- 1400 a month to pay for school and all of the above… The govt is not stupid.. they know very very few people can ever afford to use the GI bill to its fullest extent.. but it gets better.. the govt. idea of full time college and your local college’s idea of full time college is two different things.. so in order to receive the max GI bill payment monthly you must in most cases exceed your local colleges full time semester credit hours.. So how can i pay for all of the above attend college full time while working night shift at walmart (because it seems walmart may be one of the few places that will employ combat veterans with no BS degree, pretty damn humiliating considering all the training all the life risking to come home and stock shelves next to a off school for the summer, teenager paying for his new mustangs car insrance that his father told him he has to pay in order for his father to make his car payments for him) and maintain the grade point average the govt wants me to maintain in order to give me my free college..
fuckin A’ that GI bill is just plain kick ass.