This is why our kids didn't go to school. We homeschooled, they did stuff - survival school, climbing Kilimanjaro, duck and deer hunting, sailing and scuba camps, working, paying for their own stuff, laundry, etc. We got them out of college with no debt by sticking to state schools. (One did an apprenticeship instead of college.) We went dollar for dollar with them on a car, paid cash, and they all had those cars for a good long time (7-10 years!). I told them, "We are NOT the Cosbys - you're not moving back in! You'll eat ramen and peanut butter like the rest of us did." They're wonderful (adult) kids!
YES, YES, YES!!! My bfs brother is in his early 30’s and has no job, living at home. I have only one thing to say: WHY? I already had lots of jobs under my belt at this age and started my career at 35 and retired a year ago at 58. I just do not get it! NOT working was NOT an option. I wasn’t ever unemployed in 40 years. I’m proud of that.
Your bfs brother is in his 30’s with no job, and you don’t understand WHY? It’s because he is not hungry, nor cold, nor bored, nor embarrassed and I suspect he even has a girlfriend of sorts as well. His parents most likely believe they failed him, or he’ll grow out of it in time—but the reality is that he more than likely will not, and more, that his parents are facilitating a very precipitous decline in his status and well being when they pass on. The time for you to “make a career” declines sharply after late 30’s and is pretty much gone in your 40’s if you’ve not started in the work force.
I was being facetious! I know why. I got kicked out of the house when I was 19-lol! I learned the hard way, but I always had a job, right out of hs. I made my own way, which I’m very proud of at 59. And YOU said it perfectly!!!
I had a job too. Heck even worked quite a lot when attending HS. What I don’t understand, and never happened to me, is not wanting to work. To me it was like being “grown up”. Everybody got a job and worked—right? What did I know. Perhaps I was a product of a different time, or a different SES, but if one wanted money for anything special, you worked. No one had to tell me that. What I got at home was a bed and food and some clothes. We had little else besides essentials.
And you are 100%!!!! I was the poorest girl in my school, but my mother taught me, “Just because you’re poor, doesn’t mean you have to look it!” I learned to shop right! It’s funny…I was usually the most beautifully dressed girl. And I was graced with looks, so that was a plus-lol! I worked all through hs, and took the bus. It toughened me up for sure! I’m a tenacious little thing.
You are ME. I usually worked more than one job, until I had my career I retired from. I would have shoveled shit if it paid. Everyone I grew up with was the same…I came from blue collar workers, so college was out for me (although I did put myself through college). My parents never went to college, but hey worked their asses off. And my father was well read, much smarter than college educated people.
You're describing my mother. She was brilliant and extremely well read, never got past high school. I spent ten years getting an MA because I had to work, also got tuition waivers and scholarships. I remember Mom at my hs graduation, "borrowing" a small scholarship I'd received so she could pay the electric bill. She was so desperate she couldn't wait until we got home. I was so glad to give it to her.
The longest stretch I've ever been without a job, in 47 years, is one day. Hi, Renee, how are you doing? Everything going well with you? Think I've mentioned, my middle name is Renee.
And I have ALWAYS been a very hard worker! My (divorced-a sin) parents taught me well along with the nuns and priests. I went through a rebellion which I’m still going through NOW-lol!
There are thousands, no millions of jobs, to be had that can never be offshored. Yep, they are often basic minimum wage, hard work, no benefits. You take those and begin to elevate yourself as you learn the ropes. Maybe you never get beyond, but you’ll never be a parasite upon society.
Anyone who takes from society, rather than produces is a parasite--this of course excludes the truly needy. If one would not work, one should not eat. It's as old a precept as the Bible, which also made exclusions for the needy.
It's all to easy to scold big business, but I won't give them a pass either. Too many solicit handouts and favorable laws to the exclusion of competitiveness in a free market place. They too are parasites. I however blame the government for them, the healthy individual is responsible for himself.
Labor Force Participation is the rate of people looking for a job. If you are not looking to work, or have given up on finding work (so not looking) you count as out of the labor market. So long as you are looking you count as in the labor market. Once in the labor market, the distinction is between employed and unemployed.
So offshoring and automation have little to do with labor force participation rates; if people are looking for a job, they are in the labor force. Only those who stop trying to work count as out of the labor force.
EDIT: I should have mentioned those working (not just looking) are also included in the labor force. That was unclear of me.
Labor Force Participation are the able bodied capable of work and are working. See https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/participationrate.asp. Before women in large numbers went into the labor force, numbers were in the 50-60% range. Women then provided more hands as two income households took over. Might have left some children behind, but so what - more workers for a wee bit more product. Aside from the fact that a household actually is work and important work, apparently it's better for society that we all work?
The labor force isn't just those capable and working, but those who are looking as well. The "unemployed" count as in the labor force in the technical sense, as you are only unemployed if you are looking for work but can't find it. Also, being non-institutionalized (not in prison of some sort) and not in the military is necessary to count. Able bodied isn't so much relevant as "working or looking for work, or not".
I agree that there is a lot to be said for household work, and single earner families have a lot of benefits that are missed. The most worrisome thing about a low LFP rate is when specific groups are just not working much, and almost certainly aren't raising kids, e.g. 16-35 year old single males. At some point one has to wonder what they are doing with their time...
"16-35 year old single males" - A 2016 book Men Without Work: America's Invisible Crisis (https://www.amazon.com/Men-Without-Work-Americas-Invisible/dp/1599474697). The current reviews are of interest as the politics arrive. But the loss of this talent along with family formations that are less stable remains a concern. Work of any kind often gives a sense of purpose. Whether the displacement of men as women entered the workforce makes us wonder if that is fulfilling for either or society at large.
We did much the same, - except for Kilimanjaro. Our sons went the trades route. Both own successful businesses. Employ trades people. Gave us grandchildren. Who were raised the same way. And are raising our great grandkids accordingly. Youngest daughter enlisted. Before the military went woke. Lived, and lives, and "interesting" life.
Lost our oldest daughter to covidism cult. Not longer wants anything to do with her family. Girl went to college. Taught school for many years. Married an altogether despicable specimen of 'beta male'. Teacher. Useless POS. Sadly, her kids are lost to us as well. Breaks her mother's heart.
worse, they are allowed to vote on matters of surpassing import and impact because the state has usurped so much power and they are being taught to not only prize this but to need it.
once you allow this much power into the state's remit, you've already lost.
no one is capable of voting on it honestly or sagaciously.
The Founders had in mind that only net contributors to the country (as they were then characterized) could vote. Being able to breathe was NOT the fundamental qualification to vote. (And in Chicago you don't even need that.)
Same can be said about the "pandemic"; the least productive members in society were protected at the cost of those who contribute the most, while at the same time stealing/borrowing from those with the most (children & young adults) potential for production/contribution, at an incalculable "interest rate", in the future.
After I sought refuge in FL, these MF'ers would come down here and act like all their totalitarian diktats didn't apply to them.
I actually saw AOC when she went to Miami btw. It was my friends 50th bday; so all the boys went down there for the clown show and to do some tarpon fishing.
We were joking about seeing her...and then we walked passed her a couple hours later and her (not so inconspicuous) "strapped" for war security guard(S)!
Absolutely! I struggled mightily with the distance learning crap, mostly because I was required to follow a set schedule and not do it my way, and I have an ideal home situation. It pushed me to breaking so I know it was harmful for all those who didn’t have the resources I enjoy. But when I agitated for change, the pushback was how I had it all, not the fact that I was worried about those who didn’t. This is not the oppression olympics and every group had unique challenges, but my entrepreneurial husband and I felt the burden was unfairly placed squarely on our shoulders to just handle all the ineffective bullshit the government dreamed up. And what was our thanks for keeping the kids on track, refraining from burdening the public health system despite a mental breakdown, contributing to the local economy, employing workers and donating half our income to the government through taxes? We were banned from public life for five months. 🖕🏼
You took the wrong turn here. It’s one thing to link voting to a level of intellect and education sufficient to exercise that responsibility. It’s quite another thing, an immoral thing, to believe that people should be helped or protected according to merit. Our governments screwed up almost everything about Covid, but the idea that more vulnerable should get more protection is correct.
Have you seen what's happened to children? Do you care?
You must not have ever had young children. My grandmother is 98 years old, she'd disagree with you.
I'll never understand thinking like this. I'm 51, when I'm 81, there is no way I would say something of that nature. I wouldn't even say it now. Indeed I have always been incapable of thinking that way.
My husband half-jokingly states we need to return to voters being property owners only. That's one measure of productivity and could be incentive. I'd rather raise the voting age. The populace should be able to vote what's best for themselves, but perhaps we should wait until the pre-frontal cortex is fully developed.
One vote per net dollar paid to the fedgov. If you work for them, no vote. If you collect gov benefits, no vote. If you work for a company over 51% of whose revenue comes from the fedgov, no vote.
The more recent facet of this is that they are *encouraged* to vote. They didn't used to be. No one could have missed the amount of screen space devoted towards pushing the ignorant masses to vote in the last major election. It used to be something you had to put in a modicum of effort to go do.
its on purpose. early voting, mail in ballots, its all to get more uninformed idiots voting by any means possible. Every measure they have taken in regards to voting has done nothing but make it more confusing, ripe for fraud and less meaningful. Voting should be 1 day only in person, the only exceptions if you are legit out of the country, or across country and cant get to the polling station. If they just went back to that, many people simply wouldnt vote, and youd gave more meaningful elections. The politicos have convinced people its the opposite, that higher turnouts are better, they arent, it just means theres more corruption and bought off votes.
IMHO, if you don't care enough to get off the sofa to vote, you shouldn't. I picture some kid marking the bubbles without a clue who the candidates are.
Mark Fairchild (a guy I once worked with), an adherent of Lyndon LaRouche, ran in the 1986 Illinois dem primary for Lt. Governor and defeated the 'preferred' candidate George Sangmeister, largely because people liked how his name sounded. (Same thing happened in the Sec of State campaign.)
This is the honest-to-God truth. People are uninformed idiots, for the most part.
One thing I've observed with the mail in ballots in CA is that they arrive a long time before the election. They are put down somewhere, then other "stuff" is put on top of them, and ultimately, a great many people never get around to voting because they forget all about it and the ballot envelopes are buried under a big pile of things. Another thing is that you have to 1) Fill out the ballots. 2). Put them in the envelope. 3). Either find a stamp somewhere and mail them or alternately, drive to a ballot box to deposit them. It's HAARRDDD to get it together to vote that way, too much trouble.
Until a nice democrat operative arrives at your door saying they’d be glad to help you fill out your ballot. I even brought a list along, never mind, I’ll just fill it out for you. No need to walk to the mailbox, I can handle that for you. Just sign on the x and give it to me, I’ll make sure it gets to the right place.
Nobody would care much about who votes or who they vote for, if the government stuck to its knitting as described in the Constitution, especially the 10th amendment. But when you give it as much power as it has today, capture is inevitable -- not just of agencies but the whole shebang. The temptation is just too great, the rewards too large.
So if it's corrupt elections that are needed to control all of that power, corrupt elections are what you will inevitably get. Sure as the sun comes up in the morning; it is only a matter of time until somebody (in our case the DNC) puts together 'the finest election fraud system ever built.'
Unfortunately it is not just the American people that pay the price. US power is so entrenched in so many places that it is pulling us inexorably toward WWIII. The DNC must be stopped before that happens, and the vast majority of what gov't does simply gotten rid of.
The government doesn't work for us, their policies benefit lobbyists and insider trading. Voting doesn't make a difference. Not enough people are demanding accountability from the Kleptocratic uniparty that pretends to be the Democrats and Republicans and not enough people know about the Deep States power mongering. Policies are written for lobbyists resulting in corporate profits and protecting bureaucratic jobs. Plus we have been hostage to the Fed since 1930 and inflation is in part from money printing.
"Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon, in the sense that it is and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output.”
~ Milton Friedman
Inflation, everywhere and always, is solely caused by government debasement of the currency.
The Fed came into being in 1913. But the Banking Act of 1935, was more momentous than the original Federal Reserve Act passed in 1913. In fact, the Act of 1935 might better have been labeled “The Central Banking Act of 1935,” because it virtually rewrote the earlier Act. It vested the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) with complete discretionary control to determine the stock of money in the United States. The Gold Reserve Act of 1934 was the final divorce decree between gold and the monetary system. After January 31, 1934, no private household, bank, or business was allowed to own or hold more than a trivial amount of gold. Gold coin was forbidden for monetary purposes.
John Titus, Best Evidence, does a very good job explaining the history and how these criminal central banking syndicates operate.
I am saying since many years, that there are only two solutions to this: a basic knowledge test before each vote, or sortition.
I am heavily leaning towards sortition now, in light of events and it being the only chance to kill lobbyism and the political parties and their now unreformable state.
That's true, but on the other hand, judging by the pathetically low voter turnout in many areas (like where I live in California), they don't bother to vote anyway so they're not impacting anything. Many of them barely know who is President.
It's so much worse than not teaching anything. My 10-year-old niece has to show a QR code to use the toilet at school. She's apparently the only kid there who doesn't have a smartphone, so she's being singled out by teachers because it's inconvenient for them to get a special paper pass every time she has to pee. Teacher doesn't actually believe the "I don't have a smartphone" thing anyway. Like: "Aw, c'mon, just go get it out of your bag, I know you have it."
Sure, my generation can resist digital vax passes for participation in public life. How's that gonna work out if you've been using a digital pass to access the toilet since you were 10?
It's apparently the school system's solution to bathroom vandalism. Because you can't kick kids out for criminal conduct anymore (that's discriminatory). So, since we can't treat criminals like criminals, we have to just treat *everybody* like criminals.
If I had a kid and he came home from school and told this story, I'd tell him next time just quietly walk to the back of the classroom and piss in the corner. Perhaps that will force them reconsider their policy.
I would have gone with inner cat. Only because we have three and the two males have been permanently moved outdoors (in an enclosed back yard) because of just this sort of behavior.
And we don't even require QR codes for the litterbox.
so true. the poop is the worst. I use a spray nozzle from the hose spicket to wash out the mouth of my youngest dog. He got the lesson. No more poop eating. But he did get in a fight with an armadillo yesterday. Ridiculous.
On my grade cards the teachers would say; "Ryan is not afraid to say anything, it might be best if he learns to govern his thoughts"
It's like they passed the same note to each successive teacher in grade school. I remember thinking; well this is a little hypocritical, because they told us that there were no wrong questions.
By 5th and 6th grade, I was just doing it to see if they added any nuance to their feedback.
One of the most important is the capture of the "4th" estate by the regime...and by manipulating language. Resulting in Total power over the Word giving the Master of the Word a magical power over all communications.
We even seem to have added a new feature. As opposed to Totalitarianism, the tail is now wagging the dog.
I'm not sure we've seen that combination in history. Makes me curious enough to research.
All here, please remember—your cell phone is a voluntary tracking device. Without cell phone tracking, the majority of the Jan 6 “terrorists” would sleep in their beds, instead of rot in jail. It has turned into an internal passport in China and will mostly likely do the same shortly in the US courtesy of a scared and ill informed public and health scams like Covid.
Best to add a comment/disclaimer here: I have a cell phone myself. I have learned how to use it and keep self abuse down. My cell phone is for emergency use only! It is turned off mostly and *always* kept in a Faraday bag (bag that prevents signals going in and going out). The same precautions our spooks use. As said, had out 1/6 protestors simply left their cell phone in their car, they’d have avoided much trouble.
You tell it like it is Bad Kitty! My kids geography class didn't teach them where one country was and during the lock down we home schooled and learned all the countries on Settera and Geography Now, as well as our Constitutional Rights. I pulled my son out of the charter school when he was told to write an 8 paragraph essay on his "white privileges".
My neighbor, a retired high school social studies and math teacher, told me that inflation is caused by corporations being greedy. I subscribe to Robert Reich's substack and read his column, and was not surprised that he pushes the same stupidity. It's possible he knows the truth and instead pushes that crap in an effort to mislead the minions who think he's some kind of god due to his professorship. I dunno. Some days I think, most people simply aren't bright, and the vast majority cannot noodle through a complex problem. I don't see a good ending to our story.
Corporations can only get away with that when the government protects them. It's called monopoly though these days it's covered with a veneer that makes it harder to see. But it is still there.
When markets are free, competition will allow greedy corporations a fair profit and no more. When you see someone making unbelievable amounts of money, look for the regulators or protectors behind them. They will be there, somewhere.
Chip. You are getting close. Most people are not bright. Most people can best be served by not being forced into higher education—and that’s including HS. Pathological equalitarianism and other Leftist ideology has just about destroyed the US educational system. The few pockets of hope left; rural areas, home schooling, charter/private schools keep us somewhat afloat, but we’re sinking nonetheless.
What is killing our educational system is the pressure to “leave no child behind”. Which of course tacitly assumes an equality of material for the public school system to work with not in evidence. It is not possible to elevate all students to an acceptable academic level (choose that level, the problem remains, the absolute numbers vary)—but it is possible to reduce students to “equal” levels of mediocrity, which answers Gato’s question of “where do these students come from”. The answer, “they come from schools with lowering standards levels which allow these students to survive four years of seat time and learn nothing.
Turn the standards back on/up. Realize that not all students will pass at those higher academic standards—but that there’s a place in this society for *all* to perform to the best of their ability and thrive even if they are not academically inclined. Don’t punish the rest of us by producing academic mediocrities with “pretend/faux” degrees.
The education system in most countries has been broken for decades and now it is destroyed and is brainwashing children into obedient little zombies - eliminating all creativity and suppressing independent thinking! Nothing new, just the next level
I MUST share this story, which has become family lore. When my younger daughter was in college, one of her roommates was in pre-med. In the fall they were watching a football game on tv; one of the teams was the Patriots. The pre-med roommate said, "What state is New England in, anyway"? Upon being questioned, she revealed she thought "New England" was a city.
A buddy of mine was in law school with Sleepy Joe. He recounts a story where he and Joe were kibitzing one night. Joe admits that he figures he won't make much of a lawyer, or be all that successful in private practice, or words to that effect. However, he *knows* he can get people to vote for him, so he decides to go into politics. The rest, as they say, is history!
This post makes me sad, Bad Cat. Upwards of 2 million people follow Reich and Turner. Yet, neither of them seems qualified to find their ass with both hands. Yep... (I can guarantee you, beyond any doubt, that I have friends my age--I am 63--who believe the bullshit Reich said!) #WeAreSoScrewed
Private Christian School and home schooled my children. I would continually tell them to focus on the core subjects (English, Math, Science, History and we did religious education) and they would be years a head of most of their peers. They did and they finished high school early, Finished their bachelor's degree early (debt free). Plus we didn't have the drama that often comes from high school age students. It was school, sports if they wanted to, and work during high school.
I did not let them take many electives - they did those at the community college where it actually counted towards their future careers. Both kids graduated high school with a skill, my son did IT, at 17 was hired making over 50k a year, he is now 21 and making 75k a year and finished his bachelor's degree while working full-time. They both thank me for not letting them do the "traditional" school experience - they did complain during those years that they were missing out. It is a challenge and it requires parents to sacrifice but it is sp worth it - we don't have to continue raising adult kids and we know they have the means and ability to take care of themselves and their future spouses.
Indeed. When I was a child, I learned to ride a bike without training wheels. Admittedly, this was the early 60s. Falling was part of the drill. I learned way faster than other kids who did have the training wheels. At the end of the day, they took off the training wheels and weren't that much closer to being able to ride than I was when I first started.
The problem with 'training wheels' is we teach children to think that falling isn't natural. They think its accidental and shouldn't happen. This expands the window of fear beyond the physical pain window to include shame at failing, or the fear of failing etc, and suddenly kids (and adults) freeze up.
At my company, the most difficult thing we teach to new hires (usually directly out of a master's degree program) is that the most powerful words they can utter outloud when working with us is "I don't know" followed by "I'll figure it out." Those who continually resist this profession of ignorance and the search for answers just don't make it. They usually self sort out of the company because they can't own that they haven't already mastered everything they need to know to work with us (despite the masters degree), and they are unwilling to be seen wobbling on the bike on the street and crashing into the curb.
Ultimately, the thing that hurts all of us is a blind certainty. What I find with the woo-woo types is they connect their certainty to ideology and not to experience. Their perception of the real world is continuously being warped to match their ideology. This problem lives on the entire political spectrum. I often find that those nearest the extremes on either side are most susceptible to it.
I am well along in my profession (health IT) and I've had a long time to learn the hard lessons about how to be productive in a sector dominated by federal $ and stupid bureaucrats. But I still cannot for the life of me get comfortable with how stupidly incurious and incapable most of my multiple MD/PhD clients are. The only thing that separates them from me is that if I don't know the answer to a question I'm willing to spend 30 minutes doing a dive through Databricks, Python, or R Githubs. 95% of the questions I answer could be answered by a third-year compsci student with a 5G connection and a smartphone browser app. Yet I'm an indispensable asset at a Very Large Defense Contractor with a six figure salary. Paid, I regret to admit, by all of you.
Over these past few years I've been bitterly, bitterly disappointed by so many reasonably intelligent people having an absolute lack of intellectual discernment. And don't respond that they're stupid, because they're not.
There's a writer I started following online because I'd read her essay on trying to get a diagnosis and help for her very disabled autistic son, and it was so beautifully and horrifyingly expressed, so moving, that I wanted to read more of her, regularly.
Recently she made an elemental mistake in reading comprehension resulting in a rather silly Twitter contretemps, and then the other day she recommended an online essay in such rapturous terms that I went and read it and returned absolutely baffled that anyone could have found that writing exceptional.
This is a woman with a successful fiction and nonfiction career and I say humbly as a nobody that you'd think she weren't none too bright.
Back in 2016 I thought Nina Turner was charming, refreshing and intelligent.
Is it me? Or are people turning themselves into morons for some unintelligible reason?
Oh. I joined that as well last late summer when my world of illusions blew sky high. No jab pushback from friends and family snd got led out of my library for not wearing a mask. And called a danger to everyone in there. A place I worked at for 14 years until 2019.
A few years ago I was foolish enough to volunteer at my local library and I specified I wanted to be in the children's section.
I liked the other volunteer I worked with but the actual full-time children's librarian was an extremely tiresome young woman whose mission in life was to treat other adults as morons.
One day I saw her culling books from the shelves, including some I'd call classics, and asked her why, and she said they were outdated and nobody read them anymore and she needed to make room for current children's literature that kids would be interested in borrowing.
I rescued one of those books because I remembered it from long, long ago and wanted to keep it for myself.
It was "The Wheel on the School" by Meindert DeJong, illustrated by Maurice Sendak, published in 1954 and a Newbery Award winner.
Staff is still fully masked with plexi windows. If masking ever comes back I will not mask and pick up requests outside. Or tell the scared ninnies to run away and I’ll check out my own books. I did for 14 freekin years. I will also hit her with a federal complaint of discrimination per the Americans disabilities Act. Masks being described in federal law as a grade 2 medical device. I kind of yearn to do that. At least the letter with the law quoted.
I've always enjoyed reading history but was not thereby giving implicit permission to participate in a late 1930s episode of You Are There. We were too naive to go out without toddler leashes in not realizing that the Good German lives in everyone and too many people are thrilled by the permission to let him out.
Substitute government agency, political power, or identity grievances for cool kids and suddenly charming, refreshing, and intelligent people will spout whatever drivel is necessary to be part of the in-group. It's just that this in-group is driving the bus over a totalitarian cliff as opposed to bullying nerds in the hallway and hosting keggers in the vacant lot.
This is why our kids didn't go to school. We homeschooled, they did stuff - survival school, climbing Kilimanjaro, duck and deer hunting, sailing and scuba camps, working, paying for their own stuff, laundry, etc. We got them out of college with no debt by sticking to state schools. (One did an apprenticeship instead of college.) We went dollar for dollar with them on a car, paid cash, and they all had those cars for a good long time (7-10 years!). I told them, "We are NOT the Cosbys - you're not moving back in! You'll eat ramen and peanut butter like the rest of us did." They're wonderful (adult) kids!
YES, YES, YES!!! My bfs brother is in his early 30’s and has no job, living at home. I have only one thing to say: WHY? I already had lots of jobs under my belt at this age and started my career at 35 and retired a year ago at 58. I just do not get it! NOT working was NOT an option. I wasn’t ever unemployed in 40 years. I’m proud of that.
Your bfs brother is in his 30’s with no job, and you don’t understand WHY? It’s because he is not hungry, nor cold, nor bored, nor embarrassed and I suspect he even has a girlfriend of sorts as well. His parents most likely believe they failed him, or he’ll grow out of it in time—but the reality is that he more than likely will not, and more, that his parents are facilitating a very precipitous decline in his status and well being when they pass on. The time for you to “make a career” declines sharply after late 30’s and is pretty much gone in your 40’s if you’ve not started in the work force.
I was being facetious! I know why. I got kicked out of the house when I was 19-lol! I learned the hard way, but I always had a job, right out of hs. I made my own way, which I’m very proud of at 59. And YOU said it perfectly!!!
I had a job too. Heck even worked quite a lot when attending HS. What I don’t understand, and never happened to me, is not wanting to work. To me it was like being “grown up”. Everybody got a job and worked—right? What did I know. Perhaps I was a product of a different time, or a different SES, but if one wanted money for anything special, you worked. No one had to tell me that. What I got at home was a bed and food and some clothes. We had little else besides essentials.
And you are 100%!!!! I was the poorest girl in my school, but my mother taught me, “Just because you’re poor, doesn’t mean you have to look it!” I learned to shop right! It’s funny…I was usually the most beautifully dressed girl. And I was graced with looks, so that was a plus-lol! I worked all through hs, and took the bus. It toughened me up for sure! I’m a tenacious little thing.
Yes!! We couldn't wait to go to work and earn our own money, and contribute to the family if it was needed.
You are ME. I usually worked more than one job, until I had my career I retired from. I would have shoveled shit if it paid. Everyone I grew up with was the same…I came from blue collar workers, so college was out for me (although I did put myself through college). My parents never went to college, but hey worked their asses off. And my father was well read, much smarter than college educated people.
You're describing my mother. She was brilliant and extremely well read, never got past high school. I spent ten years getting an MA because I had to work, also got tuition waivers and scholarships. I remember Mom at my hs graduation, "borrowing" a small scholarship I'd received so she could pay the electric bill. She was so desperate she couldn't wait until we got home. I was so glad to give it to her.
The longest stretch I've ever been without a job, in 47 years, is one day. Hi, Renee, how are you doing? Everything going well with you? Think I've mentioned, my middle name is Renee.
Hi Keahi! I’m healing up quite well from my surgery. Thank you for asking…you’re precious! God bless you.
Back at you!
And I have ALWAYS been a very hard worker! My (divorced-a sin) parents taught me well along with the nuns and priests. I went through a rebellion which I’m still going through NOW-lol!
So then you start working for yourself. Helpless is as helpless does.
There are thousands, no millions of jobs, to be had that can never be offshored. Yep, they are often basic minimum wage, hard work, no benefits. You take those and begin to elevate yourself as you learn the ropes. Maybe you never get beyond, but you’ll never be a parasite upon society.
Anyone who takes from society, rather than produces is a parasite--this of course excludes the truly needy. If one would not work, one should not eat. It's as old a precept as the Bible, which also made exclusions for the needy.
It's all to easy to scold big business, but I won't give them a pass either. Too many solicit handouts and favorable laws to the exclusion of competitiveness in a free market place. They too are parasites. I however blame the government for them, the healthy individual is responsible for himself.
Labor Force Participation is the rate of people looking for a job. If you are not looking to work, or have given up on finding work (so not looking) you count as out of the labor market. So long as you are looking you count as in the labor market. Once in the labor market, the distinction is between employed and unemployed.
So offshoring and automation have little to do with labor force participation rates; if people are looking for a job, they are in the labor force. Only those who stop trying to work count as out of the labor force.
EDIT: I should have mentioned those working (not just looking) are also included in the labor force. That was unclear of me.
Labor Force Participation are the able bodied capable of work and are working. See https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/participationrate.asp. Before women in large numbers went into the labor force, numbers were in the 50-60% range. Women then provided more hands as two income households took over. Might have left some children behind, but so what - more workers for a wee bit more product. Aside from the fact that a household actually is work and important work, apparently it's better for society that we all work?
The labor force isn't just those capable and working, but those who are looking as well. The "unemployed" count as in the labor force in the technical sense, as you are only unemployed if you are looking for work but can't find it. Also, being non-institutionalized (not in prison of some sort) and not in the military is necessary to count. Able bodied isn't so much relevant as "working or looking for work, or not".
I agree that there is a lot to be said for household work, and single earner families have a lot of benefits that are missed. The most worrisome thing about a low LFP rate is when specific groups are just not working much, and almost certainly aren't raising kids, e.g. 16-35 year old single males. At some point one has to wonder what they are doing with their time...
"16-35 year old single males" - A 2016 book Men Without Work: America's Invisible Crisis (https://www.amazon.com/Men-Without-Work-Americas-Invisible/dp/1599474697). The current reviews are of interest as the politics arrive. But the loss of this talent along with family formations that are less stable remains a concern. Work of any kind often gives a sense of purpose. Whether the displacement of men as women entered the workforce makes us wonder if that is fulfilling for either or society at large.
Definitely not! There’s always a job to be had.
That’s not due to jobs not being available, it’s due to the government competing with potential employers with generous handouts.
I told my kid when she began high school she had 3 choices:
University,
Trade School, or
Entrepreneur
Not working Not An Option
She just turned 30 and is fully employed highly paid and well adjusted (took years off my life to get her to this point ;-)
I like that. Gonna use that with my kids.
Thanks!
Military an option too. Easy hire for many companies, government has done the basic training already.
We did much the same, - except for Kilimanjaro. Our sons went the trades route. Both own successful businesses. Employ trades people. Gave us grandchildren. Who were raised the same way. And are raising our great grandkids accordingly. Youngest daughter enlisted. Before the military went woke. Lived, and lives, and "interesting" life.
Lost our oldest daughter to covidism cult. Not longer wants anything to do with her family. Girl went to college. Taught school for many years. Married an altogether despicable specimen of 'beta male'. Teacher. Useless POS. Sadly, her kids are lost to us as well. Breaks her mother's heart.
I hope her kids discover the red pill independently and become based conservatives that make your son-in-law choke on his soy latte.
Our heartfelt hope! Thanks.
Way too many people in this country are allowed to vote.
worse, they are allowed to vote on matters of surpassing import and impact because the state has usurped so much power and they are being taught to not only prize this but to need it.
once you allow this much power into the state's remit, you've already lost.
no one is capable of voting on it honestly or sagaciously.
Something about when you can vote yourself the treasury, the system breaks down. Some French guy, I think said that.
US Ambassador to France Benjamin Franklin said: “When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.”
That might be the quote you're thinking of.
ref: https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/voting-ourselves-money/
Yeah; useless eaters :P... The WEF got that covered :P!
The Founders had in mind that only net contributors to the country (as they were then characterized) could vote. Being able to breathe was NOT the fundamental qualification to vote. (And in Chicago you don't even need that.)
Same can be said about the "pandemic"; the least productive members in society were protected at the cost of those who contribute the most, while at the same time stealing/borrowing from those with the most (children & young adults) potential for production/contribution, at an incalculable "interest rate", in the future.
Just astounding that politicians, who are the polar opposite of essential, were deciding who and who was not essential.
And destroying the lives, businesses and employment of millions while never missing a paycheck or a meal.
Just beyond.
I have never been triggered by anything in my life; except the phrase, "we are all in it together".
As a business owner it was like they were stuffing it in my face.
Especially when the same mountebanks were violating their own rules and blatantly protecting their own.
Like when the creature calling itself "Rachel Levine" moved its own mother out of a nursing home to protect her against its own policies.
https://www.theburningplatform.com/2020/05/13/rachel-levine-moves-mother-out-of-nursing-home/
I don't know what is more nauseating, the gall of these people or the vast herds of sheeple that supported it, and still support it now.
Exactly.
After I sought refuge in FL, these MF'ers would come down here and act like all their totalitarian diktats didn't apply to them.
I actually saw AOC when she went to Miami btw. It was my friends 50th bday; so all the boys went down there for the clown show and to do some tarpon fishing.
We were joking about seeing her...and then we walked passed her a couple hours later and her (not so inconspicuous) "strapped" for war security guard(S)!
We may have been in the same storm, but we were not in the same boat.
Some cruised easily in ocean liners, others clung to driftwood.
Wow. I like that quite a bit.
And the landlords who failed because they couldn't pay the mortgage.
exactly; I'm a landlord too.
Wait until you see the avalanche of bk's that are about ready to be filed.
It ain't pretty HardeeHo.
Absolutely! I struggled mightily with the distance learning crap, mostly because I was required to follow a set schedule and not do it my way, and I have an ideal home situation. It pushed me to breaking so I know it was harmful for all those who didn’t have the resources I enjoy. But when I agitated for change, the pushback was how I had it all, not the fact that I was worried about those who didn’t. This is not the oppression olympics and every group had unique challenges, but my entrepreneurial husband and I felt the burden was unfairly placed squarely on our shoulders to just handle all the ineffective bullshit the government dreamed up. And what was our thanks for keeping the kids on track, refraining from burdening the public health system despite a mental breakdown, contributing to the local economy, employing workers and donating half our income to the government through taxes? We were banned from public life for five months. 🖕🏼
You took the wrong turn here. It’s one thing to link voting to a level of intellect and education sufficient to exercise that responsibility. It’s quite another thing, an immoral thing, to believe that people should be helped or protected according to merit. Our governments screwed up almost everything about Covid, but the idea that more vulnerable should get more protection is correct.
Have you seen what's happened to children? Do you care?
You must not have ever had young children. My grandmother is 98 years old, she'd disagree with you.
I'll never understand thinking like this. I'm 51, when I'm 81, there is no way I would say something of that nature. I wouldn't even say it now. Indeed I have always been incapable of thinking that way.
Frightening actually.
In 2nd Corinthians 12:14 the apostle writes that “… children ought not to lay up for their parents, but parents for their children.”
What? Im going to gently pushback . Re-read my post
My husband half-jokingly states we need to return to voters being property owners only. That's one measure of productivity and could be incentive. I'd rather raise the voting age. The populace should be able to vote what's best for themselves, but perhaps we should wait until the pre-frontal cortex is fully developed.
Pay Federal taxes also.
One vote per net dollar paid to the fedgov. If you work for them, no vote. If you collect gov benefits, no vote. If you work for a company over 51% of whose revenue comes from the fedgov, no vote.
The more recent facet of this is that they are *encouraged* to vote. They didn't used to be. No one could have missed the amount of screen space devoted towards pushing the ignorant masses to vote in the last major election. It used to be something you had to put in a modicum of effort to go do.
Even loading them up on busses then handing out and discussing "sample" ballots on the way to the polls!
Exactly. Urban plantations by design....that we pay for.
Essentially, transferring wealth to uninformed citizens to vote nonsensically against their own interest.
And we get to eat the shit sandwich. Repeat. RINO's are complicit!
The old truth is still evident: when considering a shit sandwich, remember that the more bread you have, the less shit you have to eat.
I think they're putting boogers on top now.
Lol Wild Bill
And then reloaded for the trip to the next polling location
its on purpose. early voting, mail in ballots, its all to get more uninformed idiots voting by any means possible. Every measure they have taken in regards to voting has done nothing but make it more confusing, ripe for fraud and less meaningful. Voting should be 1 day only in person, the only exceptions if you are legit out of the country, or across country and cant get to the polling station. If they just went back to that, many people simply wouldnt vote, and youd gave more meaningful elections. The politicos have convinced people its the opposite, that higher turnouts are better, they arent, it just means theres more corruption and bought off votes.
IMHO, if you don't care enough to get off the sofa to vote, you shouldn't. I picture some kid marking the bubbles without a clue who the candidates are.
"His name sounded nice."
Mark Fairchild (a guy I once worked with), an adherent of Lyndon LaRouche, ran in the 1986 Illinois dem primary for Lt. Governor and defeated the 'preferred' candidate George Sangmeister, largely because people liked how his name sounded. (Same thing happened in the Sec of State campaign.)
This is the honest-to-God truth. People are uninformed idiots, for the most part.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_Illinois_gubernatorial_election
One thing I've observed with the mail in ballots in CA is that they arrive a long time before the election. They are put down somewhere, then other "stuff" is put on top of them, and ultimately, a great many people never get around to voting because they forget all about it and the ballot envelopes are buried under a big pile of things. Another thing is that you have to 1) Fill out the ballots. 2). Put them in the envelope. 3). Either find a stamp somewhere and mail them or alternately, drive to a ballot box to deposit them. It's HAARRDDD to get it together to vote that way, too much trouble.
Until a nice democrat operative arrives at your door saying they’d be glad to help you fill out your ballot. I even brought a list along, never mind, I’ll just fill it out for you. No need to walk to the mailbox, I can handle that for you. Just sign on the x and give it to me, I’ll make sure it gets to the right place.
Oh yes, I'm sure exactly that happens is certain areas. Yes, it most certainly does happen.
harvested.
So true.
Nobody would care much about who votes or who they vote for, if the government stuck to its knitting as described in the Constitution, especially the 10th amendment. But when you give it as much power as it has today, capture is inevitable -- not just of agencies but the whole shebang. The temptation is just too great, the rewards too large.
So if it's corrupt elections that are needed to control all of that power, corrupt elections are what you will inevitably get. Sure as the sun comes up in the morning; it is only a matter of time until somebody (in our case the DNC) puts together 'the finest election fraud system ever built.'
Unfortunately it is not just the American people that pay the price. US power is so entrenched in so many places that it is pulling us inexorably toward WWIII. The DNC must be stopped before that happens, and the vast majority of what gov't does simply gotten rid of.
https://bioclandestine.substack.com/p/russia-gaining-international-support
Bingo. I’ve been saying it everywhere for years, “the government should never have so much power that it profits people to control it”.
Agree. Well Said.
Way too many people believe that voting can solve this.
";-0
That's probably the conclusion our founders would've come to.
Dominion and ES&S would like a word with you about those voots.
The government doesn't work for us, their policies benefit lobbyists and insider trading. Voting doesn't make a difference. Not enough people are demanding accountability from the Kleptocratic uniparty that pretends to be the Democrats and Republicans and not enough people know about the Deep States power mongering. Policies are written for lobbyists resulting in corporate profits and protecting bureaucratic jobs. Plus we have been hostage to the Fed since 1930 and inflation is in part from money printing.
"Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon, in the sense that it is and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output.”
~ Milton Friedman
Inflation, everywhere and always, is solely caused by government debasement of the currency.
https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CUUR0000SA0R
It won't be long now until the USD reaches its intrinsic value.
Zero.
The Fed came into being in 1913. But the Banking Act of 1935, was more momentous than the original Federal Reserve Act passed in 1913. In fact, the Act of 1935 might better have been labeled “The Central Banking Act of 1935,” because it virtually rewrote the earlier Act. It vested the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) with complete discretionary control to determine the stock of money in the United States. The Gold Reserve Act of 1934 was the final divorce decree between gold and the monetary system. After January 31, 1934, no private household, bank, or business was allowed to own or hold more than a trivial amount of gold. Gold coin was forbidden for monetary purposes.
John Titus, Best Evidence, does a very good job explaining the history and how these criminal central banking syndicates operate.
I am saying since many years, that there are only two solutions to this: a basic knowledge test before each vote, or sortition.
I am heavily leaning towards sortition now, in light of events and it being the only chance to kill lobbyism and the political parties and their now unreformable state.
There are other solutions, but the basic problem is that the government has too much power.
Take it away and this whole discussion becomes academic.
That's true, but on the other hand, judging by the pathetically low voter turnout in many areas (like where I live in California), they don't bother to vote anyway so they're not impacting anything. Many of them barely know who is President.
There's a lot of truth to that. Especially as it pertains to national selections. I mean, "elections"
You were right the first time Rob.
selections*
fantastic!
The french (not capitalized on purpose, they don't deserve the respect) aren't known for their brilliance.
It's so much worse than not teaching anything. My 10-year-old niece has to show a QR code to use the toilet at school. She's apparently the only kid there who doesn't have a smartphone, so she's being singled out by teachers because it's inconvenient for them to get a special paper pass every time she has to pee. Teacher doesn't actually believe the "I don't have a smartphone" thing anyway. Like: "Aw, c'mon, just go get it out of your bag, I know you have it."
Sure, my generation can resist digital vax passes for participation in public life. How's that gonna work out if you've been using a digital pass to access the toilet since you were 10?
I'm not even gonna ask why someone needs a QR code to use the bathroom.
It's apparently the school system's solution to bathroom vandalism. Because you can't kick kids out for criminal conduct anymore (that's discriminatory). So, since we can't treat criminals like criminals, we have to just treat *everybody* like criminals.
If I had a kid and he came home from school and told this story, I'd tell him next time just quietly walk to the back of the classroom and piss in the corner. Perhaps that will force them reconsider their policy.
That was pretty much what I said!
A bit trickier for a girl though.
Yeah! Gotta keep in touch with your inner dog!...;)
I would have gone with inner cat. Only because we have three and the two males have been permanently moved outdoors (in an enclosed back yard) because of just this sort of behavior.
And we don't even require QR codes for the litterbox.
You always give a chuckle
Don't eat your own barf, poop or rocks.
so true. the poop is the worst. I use a spray nozzle from the hose spicket to wash out the mouth of my youngest dog. He got the lesson. No more poop eating. But he did get in a fight with an armadillo yesterday. Ridiculous.
Isn't socialism wonderful?
Interesting that the Irish girls did better on the little quiz questions than the Americans.
I dated a Frenchman when in college. His schooling was vastly superior to my own. It was eye-opening.
Yes. Like having an awful sunburn on an ill advised first date with an emotional tampon.
You do have a way with words, Ryan!
Sorry, couldn't help myself.
I really didn't need that imagery!
whoops....neither did I.
On my grade cards the teachers would say; "Ryan is not afraid to say anything, it might be best if he learns to govern his thoughts"
It's like they passed the same note to each successive teacher in grade school. I remember thinking; well this is a little hypocritical, because they told us that there were no wrong questions.
By 5th and 6th grade, I was just doing it to see if they added any nuance to their feedback.
Yeah, thanks for the visual.
I have a retort in mind, but I wouldn't want to drag this metaphor any further down into the gutter.
> That's not socialism. It's totalitarianism.
...and what, exactly, is the practical difference between the two?
Lots.
One of the most important is the capture of the "4th" estate by the regime...and by manipulating language. Resulting in Total power over the Word giving the Master of the Word a magical power over all communications.
We even seem to have added a new feature. As opposed to Totalitarianism, the tail is now wagging the dog.
I'm not sure we've seen that combination in history. Makes me curious enough to research.
Socialism can only be implemented by totalitarians.
Ooops. You beat me to it.
Hey! Sounds like TSA! And if you don’t want to participate, you can stay home in your pod with bugs for food and they win anyway.
😩😮😮😮
All here, please remember—your cell phone is a voluntary tracking device. Without cell phone tracking, the majority of the Jan 6 “terrorists” would sleep in their beds, instead of rot in jail. It has turned into an internal passport in China and will mostly likely do the same shortly in the US courtesy of a scared and ill informed public and health scams like Covid.
Oh dear. Alas, here's me with no cell phone.
For numerous reasons.
Guess I'd better slope off back into my cave.
Best to add a comment/disclaimer here: I have a cell phone myself. I have learned how to use it and keep self abuse down. My cell phone is for emergency use only! It is turned off mostly and *always* kept in a Faraday bag (bag that prevents signals going in and going out). The same precautions our spooks use. As said, had out 1/6 protestors simply left their cell phone in their car, they’d have avoided much trouble.
Come get me. Is what I say.
It's like you say about other stuff all the time:
Education isn't 'too important to be left to the market', Education is too important to be left to government.
Education is too important to be left to the Left.
!!!!!
SC, FTW
You tell it like it is Bad Kitty! My kids geography class didn't teach them where one country was and during the lock down we home schooled and learned all the countries on Settera and Geography Now, as well as our Constitutional Rights. I pulled my son out of the charter school when he was told to write an 8 paragraph essay on his "white privileges".
My neighbor, a retired high school social studies and math teacher, told me that inflation is caused by corporations being greedy. I subscribe to Robert Reich's substack and read his column, and was not surprised that he pushes the same stupidity. It's possible he knows the truth and instead pushes that crap in an effort to mislead the minions who think he's some kind of god due to his professorship. I dunno. Some days I think, most people simply aren't bright, and the vast majority cannot noodle through a complex problem. I don't see a good ending to our story.
Corporations can only get away with that when the government protects them. It's called monopoly though these days it's covered with a veneer that makes it harder to see. But it is still there.
When markets are free, competition will allow greedy corporations a fair profit and no more. When you see someone making unbelievable amounts of money, look for the regulators or protectors behind them. They will be there, somewhere.
Chip. You are getting close. Most people are not bright. Most people can best be served by not being forced into higher education—and that’s including HS. Pathological equalitarianism and other Leftist ideology has just about destroyed the US educational system. The few pockets of hope left; rural areas, home schooling, charter/private schools keep us somewhat afloat, but we’re sinking nonetheless.
What is killing our educational system is the pressure to “leave no child behind”. Which of course tacitly assumes an equality of material for the public school system to work with not in evidence. It is not possible to elevate all students to an acceptable academic level (choose that level, the problem remains, the absolute numbers vary)—but it is possible to reduce students to “equal” levels of mediocrity, which answers Gato’s question of “where do these students come from”. The answer, “they come from schools with lowering standards levels which allow these students to survive four years of seat time and learn nothing.
Turn the standards back on/up. Realize that not all students will pass at those higher academic standards—but that there’s a place in this society for *all* to perform to the best of their ability and thrive even if they are not academically inclined. Don’t punish the rest of us by producing academic mediocrities with “pretend/faux” degrees.
Ha
I used to live in Berkeley, saw him in Peets once on Solano Avenue. He is a tiny man , maybe a Napoleon complex?
Haha..
Yup. Another self-inflated garden gnome. Pity, I used to love Berkeley, and Solano was one of my haunts. I will never set foot in that godforsaken town again. https://babylonbee.com/video/i-wish-we-all-could-leave-california-beach-boys-parody
Here's your inflation.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M2SL
The education system in most countries has been broken for decades and now it is destroyed and is brainwashing children into obedient little zombies - eliminating all creativity and suppressing independent thinking! Nothing new, just the next level
I MUST share this story, which has become family lore. When my younger daughter was in college, one of her roommates was in pre-med. In the fall they were watching a football game on tv; one of the teams was the Patriots. The pre-med roommate said, "What state is New England in, anyway"? Upon being questioned, she revealed she thought "New England" was a city.
Yeah. Q: What do you call the guy who graduated last in his med school class?
A: Doctor.
Q: What do you call the guy who graduated last in his law school class?
A: Mr. President.
A buddy of mine was in law school with Sleepy Joe. He recounts a story where he and Joe were kibitzing one night. Joe admits that he figures he won't make much of a lawyer, or be all that successful in private practice, or words to that effect. However, he *knows* he can get people to vote for him, so he decides to go into politics. The rest, as they say, is history!
😶
Err, and some of us don’t know the difference between “capitol” and “capital.” Sorry, couldn’t help myself.
our kitty doesn't believe in capitals.
True :)
Great post.
Could we just summarize the decline of our country as; The decline of PLAY?
Seriously?
no society that loses its sense of fun is worth saving.
So true - we must have play and humor
Yes! If not we hamstring creativity. Which in my mind is the single most important attribute for growth and success.
The fact this goes unexplored as an explanation, is prima facia confirmation imo
Hear, hear.
This post makes me sad, Bad Cat. Upwards of 2 million people follow Reich and Turner. Yet, neither of them seems qualified to find their ass with both hands. Yep... (I can guarantee you, beyond any doubt, that I have friends my age--I am 63--who believe the bullshit Reich said!) #WeAreSoScrewed
Private Christian School and home schooled my children. I would continually tell them to focus on the core subjects (English, Math, Science, History and we did religious education) and they would be years a head of most of their peers. They did and they finished high school early, Finished their bachelor's degree early (debt free). Plus we didn't have the drama that often comes from high school age students. It was school, sports if they wanted to, and work during high school.
I did not let them take many electives - they did those at the community college where it actually counted towards their future careers. Both kids graduated high school with a skill, my son did IT, at 17 was hired making over 50k a year, he is now 21 and making 75k a year and finished his bachelor's degree while working full-time. They both thank me for not letting them do the "traditional" school experience - they did complain during those years that they were missing out. It is a challenge and it requires parents to sacrifice but it is sp worth it - we don't have to continue raising adult kids and we know they have the means and ability to take care of themselves and their future spouses.
Way to go!
"without falls, no one learns to climb unaided."
Indeed. When I was a child, I learned to ride a bike without training wheels. Admittedly, this was the early 60s. Falling was part of the drill. I learned way faster than other kids who did have the training wheels. At the end of the day, they took off the training wheels and weren't that much closer to being able to ride than I was when I first started.
The problem with 'training wheels' is we teach children to think that falling isn't natural. They think its accidental and shouldn't happen. This expands the window of fear beyond the physical pain window to include shame at failing, or the fear of failing etc, and suddenly kids (and adults) freeze up.
At my company, the most difficult thing we teach to new hires (usually directly out of a master's degree program) is that the most powerful words they can utter outloud when working with us is "I don't know" followed by "I'll figure it out." Those who continually resist this profession of ignorance and the search for answers just don't make it. They usually self sort out of the company because they can't own that they haven't already mastered everything they need to know to work with us (despite the masters degree), and they are unwilling to be seen wobbling on the bike on the street and crashing into the curb.
Ultimately, the thing that hurts all of us is a blind certainty. What I find with the woo-woo types is they connect their certainty to ideology and not to experience. Their perception of the real world is continuously being warped to match their ideology. This problem lives on the entire political spectrum. I often find that those nearest the extremes on either side are most susceptible to it.
I am well along in my profession (health IT) and I've had a long time to learn the hard lessons about how to be productive in a sector dominated by federal $ and stupid bureaucrats. But I still cannot for the life of me get comfortable with how stupidly incurious and incapable most of my multiple MD/PhD clients are. The only thing that separates them from me is that if I don't know the answer to a question I'm willing to spend 30 minutes doing a dive through Databricks, Python, or R Githubs. 95% of the questions I answer could be answered by a third-year compsci student with a 5G connection and a smartphone browser app. Yet I'm an indispensable asset at a Very Large Defense Contractor with a six figure salary. Paid, I regret to admit, by all of you.
Good analogy!
1) The "experts" are a product of our education system, and 2) oof.
The Federal Reserve is the LENDER. The gubmint is BORROWER. The taxpaying sheeple are the DEBT SLAVES.
Over these past few years I've been bitterly, bitterly disappointed by so many reasonably intelligent people having an absolute lack of intellectual discernment. And don't respond that they're stupid, because they're not.
There's a writer I started following online because I'd read her essay on trying to get a diagnosis and help for her very disabled autistic son, and it was so beautifully and horrifyingly expressed, so moving, that I wanted to read more of her, regularly.
Recently she made an elemental mistake in reading comprehension resulting in a rather silly Twitter contretemps, and then the other day she recommended an online essay in such rapturous terms that I went and read it and returned absolutely baffled that anyone could have found that writing exceptional.
This is a woman with a successful fiction and nonfiction career and I say humbly as a nobody that you'd think she weren't none too bright.
Back in 2016 I thought Nina Turner was charming, refreshing and intelligent.
Is it me? Or are people turning themselves into morons for some unintelligible reason?
You've summarized in a nutshell my reasons for leaving my local Book Club, which I had helped found 29 years ago.
You are not alone. Welcome to the “Rolling Eyes Upward Society”.
I'm in the "Punctured My Illusions with a Crossbow Society."
Oh. I joined that as well last late summer when my world of illusions blew sky high. No jab pushback from friends and family snd got led out of my library for not wearing a mask. And called a danger to everyone in there. A place I worked at for 14 years until 2019.
Today's libraries are bastions of fascism. At least it seems so to me.
A few years ago I was foolish enough to volunteer at my local library and I specified I wanted to be in the children's section.
I liked the other volunteer I worked with but the actual full-time children's librarian was an extremely tiresome young woman whose mission in life was to treat other adults as morons.
One day I saw her culling books from the shelves, including some I'd call classics, and asked her why, and she said they were outdated and nobody read them anymore and she needed to make room for current children's literature that kids would be interested in borrowing.
I rescued one of those books because I remembered it from long, long ago and wanted to keep it for myself.
It was "The Wheel on the School" by Meindert DeJong, illustrated by Maurice Sendak, published in 1954 and a Newbery Award winner.
Good lord. Yes lots of book culling goes on. Good for rescuing the past books.
Gonna check it out!
Staff is still fully masked with plexi windows. If masking ever comes back I will not mask and pick up requests outside. Or tell the scared ninnies to run away and I’ll check out my own books. I did for 14 freekin years. I will also hit her with a federal complaint of discrimination per the Americans disabilities Act. Masks being described in federal law as a grade 2 medical device. I kind of yearn to do that. At least the letter with the law quoted.
Considering this is a taxpayer supported building.
I've always enjoyed reading history but was not thereby giving implicit permission to participate in a late 1930s episode of You Are There. We were too naive to go out without toddler leashes in not realizing that the Good German lives in everyone and too many people are thrilled by the permission to let him out.
Don't we all know the smart kid that played dumb just to hang out with the cool kids?
Except I'd bet the fortune I don't have that this is not that.
Substitute government agency, political power, or identity grievances for cool kids and suddenly charming, refreshing, and intelligent people will spout whatever drivel is necessary to be part of the in-group. It's just that this in-group is driving the bus over a totalitarian cliff as opposed to bullying nerds in the hallway and hosting keggers in the vacant lot.
Well said. But I was half nerd and still liked keggers...:)
Yeah, that power thingy. Almost always wins in the end.