Livelihood | Unexpected Leisure

September 27, 2011

Can you Make It on 8 Bucks An Hour?

Next time one of your smarmy friends or family members tells you how lazy the poor have it, how they get by with doing nothing and don't need to get any help from government, challenge them to walk that talk--digitally. Read more [...]

September 3, 2011

A Thought on Government Spending

In other words, in order to win World War II, the United States essentially transformed itself into a socialist nation. And after the war, government spending on free college educations for GIs and excellent deals on home loans launched an unrivaled era of prosperity and economic growth. Read more [...]

August 22, 2011August 22, 2011

Refugees of Unemployment

He said that the edge that came off most of the candidates was unsettling to him and no matter how confident or outgoing or friendly an interviewee was many of them displayed the same subtle body language and speech ticks he had come to recognize in refugees fifteen years ago. Read more [...]

July 4, 2011

This Way Out

One of the most pernicious things we hear in the media every day is that the economy cannot survive without mega-sized financial and other corporate institutions, which is one reason they are allegedly "too big to fail." We have no other choice. Smile and know your place. Read more [...]

June 22, 2011

Need Health Care? Rob a Bank

In spite of Health Care reform, the number of uninsured Americans is growing at an alarming rate. This is what it's come to: James Richard Verone, of Georgia, attempted to steal one dollar from a bank Read more [...]

April 25, 2011

A Quick Economic Makeover

I just want to point out an excellent resource that a friend of mine brought to my attention last week. This is a post titled "24 Quick Actions That Can Change Your Financial Life Forever." Actually, it goes beyond finances, strictly speaking, which is why I called it an economic makeover, but even that doesn't quite cover it. Read more [...]

April 21, 2011

Unemployment is Hitting the Young Harder

A Briefing Paper released by the Economic Policy Institute today paints a very grim picture for young adults and youth who are looking for a job. The analysis confirms what many people suspect and a lot of younger job hunters know first-hand: the jobs just arenâ€™t there. Read more [...]

April 11, 2011

The Resume as Folk Magic

I've written and sent out countless resumes and CVs in my time as a job seeker. This extended experiment in job-seeking has proven to my satisfaction that resumes are, on the whole, pretty useless when it comes to actually finding a job. For just about every job I have had, it was a personal contact or someone inquiring on my behalf that led to employment. The resume was almost an afterthought. In fact, I would be very surprised if most of my employers actually read my resume. Read more [...]

March 18, 2011

What’s Behind the Current Unemployment?

Contrary to what one might think, capitalism is not about the creation of jobs. That is not its purpose. It's purpose is to make money for people who own businesses. If some of that money finds its way to workers and other forms of overhead, fine. But the mutant capitalism embraced by today's financial elite worships at the altar of efficiency and maximizing profits in a way that has not been seen since the Bad Old Days before workers began to secure their rights to a decent share for their labor. Read more [...]

March 10, 2011

Lessons From Wisconsin

It has also occurred to me that I at least need to re-think some of my conclusions regarding how to get along in these times. Much of what I have advocated here has been along the lines of evading the powers that have wrought so much havoc in the lives of so many by presenting a smaller target. Read more [...]