I get unemployment benefits I really do. I also get that in this global economy jobs that many had aren’t coming back. Which means that while people are on benefits they need to utilize that time and money to “retool” so to speak. Sure, WAY easier said than done. Laughably I can’t even believe I wrote that. I have been on u/e and it sucked. I was lucky my spouse worked and with the u/e and her income we scraped by and our credit card debt increased. We are now in the process of paying it down, but of course the obvious car repairs came into play as well as a broken skylight and other household repairs not on the radar. I didn’t retool at all. I took care of my newborn son and read a lot. I massaged my resume and learned how to interview and tell an employer I can learn and do anything you throw at me. That won’t work for the several millions of u/e people in this country. It barely worked for me.
But, my question/thought is I get when people say there shouldn’t be unemployment benefits. Yes, the Malkins of the world are horrible human beings that view out of work people like they do a pimple. their xenophobia is horrible for our country and does nothing to force the adult discussions we need to have in this country.
So I have multiple questions. I have so much time to drive to work now that my head thinks of this stuff. Not good, I know.
If unemployment benefits were extended for a specific dollar amount and specific number of weeks wouldn’t our economy recover faster from a recession?
If unemployment benefits were extended for a specific dollar amount and specific number of weeks wouldn’t more people take those jobs that supposedly only illegals will do? People will eventually suck up their pride and find ways to provide for their family and themselves when they have too. (maslow’s hierarchy of need comes to mind here)
If unemployment benefits were extended for a specific dollar amount and specific number of weeks wouldn’t our economy fall back to a normal healthy balance?
Also, by penalizing people so much for not paying their bills haven’t we made it impossible for people to start over? Usery is a real problem in this country and the people that fall from one social status to the other have a real challenge climbing back up with the predators allowed to exploit them.
It seems to me that part of the problem is the safety net we have created has extended to corporate welfare and now the banks can’t let the economy settle back to a normal sustainable level. The mess created by personal credit has inflated housing and car prices, income levels and the cost of everything to the point it takes 2 incomes to support a barely middle class lifestyle. the banks and who ever else need tax credits to get us to spend money. they need tax breaks to give to charity. they need subsidies to grow food we want to eat.
I don’t have all the answers and this is just some out loud thinking. but I would like to see some discussion today regarding this line of thinking.
We need a hard crash and a lot of people have to lose a lot of money (by that I mean uber rich and corporations) If you think about what the average costs are of owning a home and car and then use the avg income for american citizens the numbers are hardly in line. It isn’t sustainable.
What we are doing right now, Obama included, is just fucking ourselves in the future. We can’t press the reset button, but we can’t sustain our country this way. Nothing has changed in the past 2 years. No price changes anywhere and job losses are still growing.
I know I’m all over the place but humor me 🙂