What occurs to me is that the old adage that idle hands are the devil's workshop is probably true. Certainly there are numerous current examples of how that might be so. There are also many examples of different effects of the devil's work.
Employment is the source of life for most people throughout the world. Simply stated, it provides 2 significant factors with a positive influence on society. First, the obvious one is money, which provides food, shelter and clothing, and hopefully a little more. Second, having gainful employment provides a means to achieve a sense that each day has had some accomplishment.
The opposite is also true. Here's where the devil comes to play. When people are without the ability to obtain the basics for existence, they are forced to find a means for survival. They also are unable to see a positive outcome each day.
What are the social consequences of employment? Probably too many for a non-academic to list, but include the ability to meet personal obligations-paying bills which most people want to do, the ability to "provide" for a family, the increase in choices of how and where to live, the reduction in reliance on government.
In my opinion, most people are more interested in taking care of themselves and their loved ones than they are in taking handouts. I'm sure there are plenty of studies of poverty and unemployment that bear this out. Having a job which pays enough to be socially mobile imbues a sense of freedom, from want, from criticism, from government. I certainly would prefer doing what I want on my time than being forced to make choices between worse and worst.
Not everyone will become rich by working, at least not rich by today's measures. But most people aren't interested in being rich. They want to be comfortable, have a few bucks to go out for dinner and a movie, to buy a car, or a house. By and large, they want to be left alone to do what they want.
And most people are willing to do what they need to do to get there if they can.
If there is any doubt about what happens when there is a permanent poverty stricken populace decides it has had enough, even with no goal or specific vision of how life could be better, look at the youth of Egypt. 80% of Egypt is young and poor. They can be influenced by opportunists with an agenda, telling them someone else is responsible for their condition. Today, where once there was a great advanced culture, there is little advancement. In spite of the century, they are still in the Dark Ages. The devil keeps them there.
Full employment in America is still considered only having 5% unemployed. What needs to be created in full employment, good wages and fulfilling work. Don't be fooled by "fulfilling". People find satisfaction in many ways, which is why so many people don't like their jobs. They are fulfilled by the fruits of their labor-a paycheck.
To keep the devil out, we rely on ourselves first, and then if that fails, we hope that there are other helping hands to get us back on our feet. That is why in my opinion we need a strong, focused government with leaders more intent on helping this country, which is made up of millions of people, not voting blocs, and less interested in themselves than in the people who put them there.
A strong society requires its members (the people's country club) to be active participants in its success. To be successful and to remain strong, a society has to work collectively to make all of its members successful. No one does it alone. To be strong, we must be a community.
Thanks for stopping by.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
What Makes a Society Strong? Part One-Education
What occurs to me is that we have forgotten what creates muscles. Exercise is the answer. Constant exercise. How then do we create intellectual muscle? Exercise? We call it education. In a recent article, I don't remember who wrote it, I read that 80 million members of our workforce have a high school education, out of 130 million workers. The bulk of new jobs that will be available will require exercise. Our current workforce is undertrained for the current market. There are today more than three million jobs nationwide which are available, but there are not enough people with the needed skills to fill the jobs.
There is a need at the corporate level to recognize that internal growth will require upgrading their own workforces. With continuing education. Not just rewarding people for taking classes, but coordinating the corporate need with educators. And educators need to upgrade their own skills. Here's a problem that is easily solved. Kids today know more about computers than their teachers, and the schools don't teach the skills that the market will need. This speaks to the state education departments who fail in properly designing curriculum. Why do colleges have so many "english majors"? Maybe the entire education infrastructure needs a new look.
Education is important in and of itself. An educated populace is engaged in the activities of life-family, community, the world. Education is also important when applied to employment. America has moved beyond the basic manufacturing economy of the past. Manufacturing no longer is the business of the past. Today it is complex, and more often than not it is sophisticated. Learning to function in that environment requires education capable of matching that sophistication.
How we reach that level is another conversation. It is clear, however, if we remain at the current levels of science and technology in comparison to the rest of the world, America will become a fallen empire. We will go the way of Rome, the British Empire. Yet, we as a country have continually said we are not a second rate nation, we can do better.
To do better, we need a longer time horizon, and a plan to reach a lofty goal-returning to the top. This is not about teachers' unions, or charter schools, or Federal laws or state programs. What it is about is demanding of all the participants-students, teachers, parents, government-that excellence is not a hope, but an expectation. And knowing and understanding why it is important needs to be a part of curriculum design, political discussion, social programs, and community involvement. Otherwise, we doom our children to second class citizenship, and our country to a status which our foreparents would not have found acceptable.
Thanks for stopping by.
There is a need at the corporate level to recognize that internal growth will require upgrading their own workforces. With continuing education. Not just rewarding people for taking classes, but coordinating the corporate need with educators. And educators need to upgrade their own skills. Here's a problem that is easily solved. Kids today know more about computers than their teachers, and the schools don't teach the skills that the market will need. This speaks to the state education departments who fail in properly designing curriculum. Why do colleges have so many "english majors"? Maybe the entire education infrastructure needs a new look.
Education is important in and of itself. An educated populace is engaged in the activities of life-family, community, the world. Education is also important when applied to employment. America has moved beyond the basic manufacturing economy of the past. Manufacturing no longer is the business of the past. Today it is complex, and more often than not it is sophisticated. Learning to function in that environment requires education capable of matching that sophistication.
How we reach that level is another conversation. It is clear, however, if we remain at the current levels of science and technology in comparison to the rest of the world, America will become a fallen empire. We will go the way of Rome, the British Empire. Yet, we as a country have continually said we are not a second rate nation, we can do better.
To do better, we need a longer time horizon, and a plan to reach a lofty goal-returning to the top. This is not about teachers' unions, or charter schools, or Federal laws or state programs. What it is about is demanding of all the participants-students, teachers, parents, government-that excellence is not a hope, but an expectation. And knowing and understanding why it is important needs to be a part of curriculum design, political discussion, social programs, and community involvement. Otherwise, we doom our children to second class citizenship, and our country to a status which our foreparents would not have found acceptable.
Thanks for stopping by.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Guns and Tears, Part 5
What occurs to me is that it is very soon, too soon, since Guns and Tears, part 4 discussed the continuing epidemic of gun violence which goes on unrelenting. On Friday night, in Aurora, Colorado, a movie crowd was attacked by a man with a semi-automatic rifle, shotgun and Glock pistol. 12 more dead, 58 wounded, and a weekend of horror including disarming an apartment full of explosives.
The apartment contained 6000 rounds of ammunition. The gunman had obtained bullet proof gear similar to what SWAT teams use. This attack had been planned.
Today, there are more families and friends mourning. Another lone gunman, perhaps mentally imbalanced, says the NRA. All weaponry obtained legally. And the kicker, political blab is "nothing would have been different" if we had better control of guns. Excuse me, but that doesn't make any sense. Guns do kill people, dead. They wound and they will permanently affect those who survived, and the families of those who were killed. "Our prayers and condolences are with the families of the victims." Talk about meaningless, empty words.
Unlimited magazines, unlimited ammunition purchase, and unlimited deregulation of firearms equal unlimited killings. When will we, law-abiding citizens, who as part of our 2nd Amendment rights, to not bear arms, yell loud enough to say this is indeed the time, the best time, to discuss rational ways to control access to these killers.
I have postulated that our political class should be made up entirely of females. That would at least give us a rational explanation for politicians not having balls.
Guns DO kill people.
Thanks for stopping by.
The apartment contained 6000 rounds of ammunition. The gunman had obtained bullet proof gear similar to what SWAT teams use. This attack had been planned.
Today, there are more families and friends mourning. Another lone gunman, perhaps mentally imbalanced, says the NRA. All weaponry obtained legally. And the kicker, political blab is "nothing would have been different" if we had better control of guns. Excuse me, but that doesn't make any sense. Guns do kill people, dead. They wound and they will permanently affect those who survived, and the families of those who were killed. "Our prayers and condolences are with the families of the victims." Talk about meaningless, empty words.
Unlimited magazines, unlimited ammunition purchase, and unlimited deregulation of firearms equal unlimited killings. When will we, law-abiding citizens, who as part of our 2nd Amendment rights, to not bear arms, yell loud enough to say this is indeed the time, the best time, to discuss rational ways to control access to these killers.
I have postulated that our political class should be made up entirely of females. That would at least give us a rational explanation for politicians not having balls.
Guns DO kill people.
Thanks for stopping by.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Understanding Unemployment
What occurs to me is that people aren't going back to work any time soon. Not because they don't want to. Not because they are "lazy", "spoiled", "animals" or other nice things that have been said about the jobless by Republican "leaders". Rather, they are not going back to work because even low wage jobs are not readily available, and in particular, the long term unemployed are lacking the specific skills needed in the current economy.
We are living with the worst long term unemployment since the Great Depression. Then, the unemployment rate was higher, and went from the early 1930s until the middle of World War II. In between, while the private sector was recovering, the government moved decisively to provide a source of income to millions, who in turn, spent what they made. When the New Deal programs were cut back, the economy worsened, until the war activated employment in the "war effort".
Today, the statistics are appallling, but can be and have been analyzed by economists everywhere. The first line of defense was Unemployment Insurance, not available in the 1930s. The individual States are responsible for the first 26 weeks of benefits. After that, the Federal Government picks up the tab. And what is that tab? Well, there's a good question. I have searched for 2 years to find out how much has been spent on unemployment benefits by both the States and the Feds. I know the data is around, because I called Mark Zandi, got an assistant, who told me it was proprietary to his company, Moody's. I tried the Bureau of Labor Statistics, not available. I tried columnists, no answer. I asked a friend who runs a State Unemployment program. No response.
So I did some arithmetic. Learned it in grade school. I assumed $250.00 per week and 12.7 million people unemployed and still looking for work, as of June 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That totals $165.1 Billion Dollars, per year. Understand that this is my estimate. But if you add that since 2009, that's a lot of money. And I would bet every penny was spent back into the economy.
What does that mean? It means that there are a lot of people who could have been put back to work, earning a living, even a meager one, for the dollars spent after week 26. It means that state coffers would not be empty, and no longer available for continued unemployment. The 99ers, so called because the maximum number of weeks the benefits will be paid is 99 weeks, would have a chance to get up each morning, go to a job, and not slowly be forgotten. They would have a chance to maintain or rebuild a skill set necessary to participate gainfully in this economy.
The failure of Congress to implement a modern day version of the New Deal is criminal neglect. There is and has been structural unemployment in this country for years. Structural unemployment is simply defined as the lack of skilled workers in a place where the skills are needed. People are structurally unemployed because they do not have the skills required to fill jobs in their location. Matching skills and mobility is necessary to resolve this condition. That means today you have to have a knowledge of computers, hardware and software, to be qualified for virtually any job. You need an education. Reading and writing are nowhere near enough. There are no factories, where granddad and dad worked anymore. There is a racial component to structural unemployment, which is a book by itself.
Okay, so what do we do? Lots of people much smarter than I am have proposed a variety of answers. To me, the most effective way to move things forward is a commitment by the Federal government, I mean Congress, to do what has not been done. The Society of Civil Engineers has said that the infrastructure of America, built by a generation deserving to be called "Greatest", has lived its useful life and needs to be rebuilt. The commitment I have in mind is this. The Engineers said to repair what needs fixing will costs $2.2 Trillion. For the next 10 years, commit $220 Billion to rebuilding America. That's about the same amount as unemployment costs us now, and a little more taken from the Defense Department since we are not spending it in Iraq. So far, no new tax money.
I did a little more arithmetic. 220 Billion divided by an average wage of $40,000 would put 5.4 million people back to work. For 10 years. The money they will spend, plus the new business that will be created around the new construction areas, will further expand the growth. It's not a "high paying job", but it's work. And it matters. It will take 2 million newly employed people to reduce the unemployment rate by 1%. This approach still won't bring us to full employment, and doesn't take into consideration the 12-15 million others who are working part-time or who have given up. But positive movement has always created its own inertia. It will this time too.
There is another part of the plan that must be included and integrated to make the whole work. Training and education. We must increase and improve the focus on education for future employment needs now. Industrial skills, information technology skills, financial skills are all going to be needed in the future and will bring structural unemployment to an end. Without this kind of commitment, we will watch politicians allow this country to go dissolve into ruin, on many levels. The shame of it is that it doesn't have to happen.
We are all in this mess together. The proverbial rising tide raises all boats. But we need to have the boats first.
Thanks for stopping by.
We are living with the worst long term unemployment since the Great Depression. Then, the unemployment rate was higher, and went from the early 1930s until the middle of World War II. In between, while the private sector was recovering, the government moved decisively to provide a source of income to millions, who in turn, spent what they made. When the New Deal programs were cut back, the economy worsened, until the war activated employment in the "war effort".
Today, the statistics are appallling, but can be and have been analyzed by economists everywhere. The first line of defense was Unemployment Insurance, not available in the 1930s. The individual States are responsible for the first 26 weeks of benefits. After that, the Federal Government picks up the tab. And what is that tab? Well, there's a good question. I have searched for 2 years to find out how much has been spent on unemployment benefits by both the States and the Feds. I know the data is around, because I called Mark Zandi, got an assistant, who told me it was proprietary to his company, Moody's. I tried the Bureau of Labor Statistics, not available. I tried columnists, no answer. I asked a friend who runs a State Unemployment program. No response.
So I did some arithmetic. Learned it in grade school. I assumed $250.00 per week and 12.7 million people unemployed and still looking for work, as of June 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That totals $165.1 Billion Dollars, per year. Understand that this is my estimate. But if you add that since 2009, that's a lot of money. And I would bet every penny was spent back into the economy.
What does that mean? It means that there are a lot of people who could have been put back to work, earning a living, even a meager one, for the dollars spent after week 26. It means that state coffers would not be empty, and no longer available for continued unemployment. The 99ers, so called because the maximum number of weeks the benefits will be paid is 99 weeks, would have a chance to get up each morning, go to a job, and not slowly be forgotten. They would have a chance to maintain or rebuild a skill set necessary to participate gainfully in this economy.
The failure of Congress to implement a modern day version of the New Deal is criminal neglect. There is and has been structural unemployment in this country for years. Structural unemployment is simply defined as the lack of skilled workers in a place where the skills are needed. People are structurally unemployed because they do not have the skills required to fill jobs in their location. Matching skills and mobility is necessary to resolve this condition. That means today you have to have a knowledge of computers, hardware and software, to be qualified for virtually any job. You need an education. Reading and writing are nowhere near enough. There are no factories, where granddad and dad worked anymore. There is a racial component to structural unemployment, which is a book by itself.
Okay, so what do we do? Lots of people much smarter than I am have proposed a variety of answers. To me, the most effective way to move things forward is a commitment by the Federal government, I mean Congress, to do what has not been done. The Society of Civil Engineers has said that the infrastructure of America, built by a generation deserving to be called "Greatest", has lived its useful life and needs to be rebuilt. The commitment I have in mind is this. The Engineers said to repair what needs fixing will costs $2.2 Trillion. For the next 10 years, commit $220 Billion to rebuilding America. That's about the same amount as unemployment costs us now, and a little more taken from the Defense Department since we are not spending it in Iraq. So far, no new tax money.
I did a little more arithmetic. 220 Billion divided by an average wage of $40,000 would put 5.4 million people back to work. For 10 years. The money they will spend, plus the new business that will be created around the new construction areas, will further expand the growth. It's not a "high paying job", but it's work. And it matters. It will take 2 million newly employed people to reduce the unemployment rate by 1%. This approach still won't bring us to full employment, and doesn't take into consideration the 12-15 million others who are working part-time or who have given up. But positive movement has always created its own inertia. It will this time too.
There is another part of the plan that must be included and integrated to make the whole work. Training and education. We must increase and improve the focus on education for future employment needs now. Industrial skills, information technology skills, financial skills are all going to be needed in the future and will bring structural unemployment to an end. Without this kind of commitment, we will watch politicians allow this country to go dissolve into ruin, on many levels. The shame of it is that it doesn't have to happen.
We are all in this mess together. The proverbial rising tide raises all boats. But we need to have the boats first.
Thanks for stopping by.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Writing A Book
What occurs to me is that I have been remiss in continuing to be present in the blogosphere. Not a good excuse, but I have finished the final preparation for publishing my first book. Hopefully not my last. I have to say that the more I write with a product in mind, the more fun it has become. My first book is a retrospective on the 20th Century and early 2000s, following the people and events through the life of a remarkable man, my Dad. Born before World War I, he lived through the Depression, was an Army officer during World War II, and was part of a generation of people who went on to build new lives and a new world, creating the most successful nation in the history of the world. His part was unique as those who knew him realized. But his part was not his alone. He was among a generation who saw the future and molded their lives to reach that future, to the benefit of those who would follow. I have told his story. You may have a story to tell also. Tell it. We no longer have the written personal histories which historians will be able to discover in old boxes. We have emails, delete.
Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for stopping by.
Job Creators
What occurs to me is that there is a lot of discussion about job creators which makes very little sense to me. In a former lifetime, I owned and ran a business, and at its peak, there were over 80 people who worked for me. I wasn't a job creator. The people I did business with, my customers, were the job creators. When I started, I had four employees. As business increased, I hired more people, and we became more diversified. We had established a reputation for both service and quality, and word spread, and as our volume increased, in order to maintain that reputation, we brought on more people. It isn't wealthy people making investments that create jobs, it's people spending money on goods and services which they want and need. If helping the job creators is a reasonable goal of the government, then putting policies in place to put Americans back to work is the only real way to support job creators. The more people who have more to spend, the more jobs will be created. According to an association of engineers, civil engineers I think, America has 2.2 trillion dollars worth of infrastructure creation, repair and maintenance that needs to be done. Even if its spread over 10 years, $220 billion dollars will put a lot of people back to work doing things which need to be done. It will also help bring back the support services for the businesses, reduce the government outlay for unemployment (the amount of which is never discussed and financial statistics are not readily available), open doors for the youth who will be the source of future development, and will help reduce our national debt. The rich aren't job creators, and its time we all get that message.
I have listened to "job creators" for a decade, and wonder where are the jobs? The wealthy have had the vast benefit of all the tax reductions and the rhetoric. Mr. Boehner, where are the jobs?
Thanks for stopping by.
I have listened to "job creators" for a decade, and wonder where are the jobs? The wealthy have had the vast benefit of all the tax reductions and the rhetoric. Mr. Boehner, where are the jobs?
Thanks for stopping by.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Paying taxes
What occurs to me is that like most people, I hate paying taxes. Yet, I can't help but wonder how we would all have any services provided if we didn't pay taxes. So let's talk about it. I pay property taxes which pays for schools, garbage pickup, street repair, lighted streets, police patrolling, street cleaning, recycling, tree maintenance and public park maintenance. None of these things could I do for myself. I pay an assessment for local sewer, which I certainly can't and wouldn't want to take care of myself. There are probably other things my local taxes are used for, but I can't think of them right now.
I pay taxes to the state, which goes for many things, similar in content to what the Federal government uses my taxes for. I also pay a sales tax, a separate cigarette tax (yeah, I still smoke), a liquor tax (occasionally), car registration fees, and other fees which don't come to mind right now.
I pay income tax to the Federal government, as well as all the other add-ons which show up in products and services I purchase, like the Federal gas tax, Social Security, Medicare, unemployment, disability and again, other fees and taxes some of which none of us really knows or even thinks about.
I am no different from most people when it comes to taxes. But what may be different is that I don't think taxes are such a bad thing. Don't get me wrong. I'd rather have the money, but I also look at how the money is being used, and by and large, my money pays for things which I think benefit all of us. Now, there's an argument to be made here, I know. So let's have it.
Right now, the Federal government brings in less than it spends. In the past decade or so, the Federal government gave two major tax cuts, financed two wars, and created a new Medicare program to pay for drugs for the elderly. The Federal government bailed out our financial system and the automobile industry. No wonder we have a budget deficit and national debt. Prior to this massive outpouring of generosity, the budget was balanced and the national debt was being reduced. That's important to remember.
Yet, the Republican Congress and recalcitrant Senate Republicans have stepped aside from their responsibility to govern, and have made regaining the White House their singular agenda. The problem of having financially solvent governments at all levels is having enough money to operate on, and enough restraint to remember its not their money being spent. The solution is not more taxes or less spending, its both.
If you don't think you're paying for this depression, you're wrong. There are 30 million people who would like to be working more than they are. That's a lot of tax revenue. Many of those people have collected unemployment, which came from state revenue, then Federal revenue, for those who went past 26 weeks. The governments may have helped with medical bills, food, child care for them also, as well as others. While the unemployment rate remains up, no improvement in our housing values is likely to happen. My house is way down. How about yours?
What needs to happen is a tax increase, not just on the rich. Folks, we're in this together. We also need to get rid of the free ride corporations have, and other tax breaks for special interests. I mean all of them. Look at it this way--when you're bleeding to death, bandaids don't work, and a transfusion is a waste. What we need is to stop the bleeding, first. We need to restructure what we are paying for, then ease into cuts if they are necessary. We need to use all resources, including tax money, to put people back to work. That includes training of chronically un- and underemployed. When the programs have been set up and offered, then we can say if you don't want to work, it's on you.
There will always be those who miss the bus, who will never get on it. There are those who for reasons beyond their control will always need help. And that's when the governments must step in. I don't have a problem with the government getting tougher, but not on an ideological basis. This is a society supposedly based on Judeo-Christian ethics. To me, that's do unto others, love thy neighbor. Maybe it's time to remember that. It's not a sound bite, but a way of life. And the way we need to live. We're in this boat together, and either a rising tide lifts us all, or we're all sunk.
If you don't agree, take a shot. I can take it.
Thanks for stopping by.
I pay taxes to the state, which goes for many things, similar in content to what the Federal government uses my taxes for. I also pay a sales tax, a separate cigarette tax (yeah, I still smoke), a liquor tax (occasionally), car registration fees, and other fees which don't come to mind right now.
I pay income tax to the Federal government, as well as all the other add-ons which show up in products and services I purchase, like the Federal gas tax, Social Security, Medicare, unemployment, disability and again, other fees and taxes some of which none of us really knows or even thinks about.
I am no different from most people when it comes to taxes. But what may be different is that I don't think taxes are such a bad thing. Don't get me wrong. I'd rather have the money, but I also look at how the money is being used, and by and large, my money pays for things which I think benefit all of us. Now, there's an argument to be made here, I know. So let's have it.
Right now, the Federal government brings in less than it spends. In the past decade or so, the Federal government gave two major tax cuts, financed two wars, and created a new Medicare program to pay for drugs for the elderly. The Federal government bailed out our financial system and the automobile industry. No wonder we have a budget deficit and national debt. Prior to this massive outpouring of generosity, the budget was balanced and the national debt was being reduced. That's important to remember.
Yet, the Republican Congress and recalcitrant Senate Republicans have stepped aside from their responsibility to govern, and have made regaining the White House their singular agenda. The problem of having financially solvent governments at all levels is having enough money to operate on, and enough restraint to remember its not their money being spent. The solution is not more taxes or less spending, its both.
If you don't think you're paying for this depression, you're wrong. There are 30 million people who would like to be working more than they are. That's a lot of tax revenue. Many of those people have collected unemployment, which came from state revenue, then Federal revenue, for those who went past 26 weeks. The governments may have helped with medical bills, food, child care for them also, as well as others. While the unemployment rate remains up, no improvement in our housing values is likely to happen. My house is way down. How about yours?
What needs to happen is a tax increase, not just on the rich. Folks, we're in this together. We also need to get rid of the free ride corporations have, and other tax breaks for special interests. I mean all of them. Look at it this way--when you're bleeding to death, bandaids don't work, and a transfusion is a waste. What we need is to stop the bleeding, first. We need to restructure what we are paying for, then ease into cuts if they are necessary. We need to use all resources, including tax money, to put people back to work. That includes training of chronically un- and underemployed. When the programs have been set up and offered, then we can say if you don't want to work, it's on you.
There will always be those who miss the bus, who will never get on it. There are those who for reasons beyond their control will always need help. And that's when the governments must step in. I don't have a problem with the government getting tougher, but not on an ideological basis. This is a society supposedly based on Judeo-Christian ethics. To me, that's do unto others, love thy neighbor. Maybe it's time to remember that. It's not a sound bite, but a way of life. And the way we need to live. We're in this boat together, and either a rising tide lifts us all, or we're all sunk.
If you don't agree, take a shot. I can take it.
Thanks for stopping by.
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