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A Disillusioned 99'er Shares His Disappointment With The American Dream, Welcomes Death
"Mark", a member of the ever growing cadre of disillusioned, disenchanted and disgruntled millions of American unemployed, has written a letter shared by A Company of One, in which he explains the plight of 99'ers (those whose extended unemployment benefits are set to expire) in which he chronicles his plight and his terminal disappointment with the American system. One can only imagine how all the "99'ers" would feel if they did not have the benefit of living at least partially subsidized for 2 years in the socialist state of America. If Bahrain is any indication, where the government's attempt to purchase the love of its people just failed today, pretty soon not even the 99 weeks of EUCs will do much to suppress what is an unmistakably rising anger among the broad US population.
From Mark's letter:
To the unemployed, sick, disabled and poor:
Hello,
I'm unemployed over two years now, a 99er without any benefits for
three months. I followed Unemployed Friends almost from its start, never
posted until now, but am grateful for my time with you all. I did as
asked with calls and e-mails, etc. I've a confession to make to you all.
I'm a criminal.
I've obeyed the 10 commandments and all laws except: I'm unemployed
and that's now a crime, I'm poor and that's a crime, I'm worthless
surplus population and that's a crime, I'm a main street American
Citizen born and raised in the USA and that's now a crime, and I'm
euthanizing myself as I write this note -- so arrest my corpse. This
isn't a call for help, the deed is done, it's not what I wanted. Death
is my best available option. It's not just that my bank account is $4,
that I've not eaten in a week, not because hunger pangs are agonizing
(I'm a wimp), not because I live in physical and mental anguish, not
because the landlady is banging on the door non-stop and I face
eviction, not that Congress and President have sent a strong message
they no longer help the unemployed. It's because I'm a law abiding
though worthless, long-term unemployed older man who is surplus
population. Had I used my college education to rip people off and steal
from the elderly, poor, disabled and main street Americans I would be
wearing different shoes now -- a petty king. Hard work, honesty, loving
kindness, charity and mercy, and becoming unemployed and destitute
unable to pay your bills are all considered foolishness and high crimes
in America now. Whereas stealing and lying and cheating and being greedy
to excess and destroying the fabric of America is rewarded and
protected -- even making such people petty king and petty queens among
us.
Since the end of 2008, when corporate America began enjoying the
resumption of growth, profits have swelled from an annualized pace of
$995 billion to the current $1.66 trillion as of the end of September
2010. Over the same period, the number of non-farm jobs counted by the
Labor Department has slipped from 13.4 million to 13 million -- there is
no recovery for the unemployed and main street. We taxpayers have
handed trillions of dollars to the same bank and insurance industry that
started our economic disaster with its reckless gambling. We bailed out
General Motors. We distributed tax cuts to businesses that were
supposed to use this lubrication to expand and hire. For our dollars, we
have been rewarded with starvation, homelessness and a plague of fear
-- a testament to post-national capitalism.
Twelve years ago, I lost the last of my family. Ten years ago, I lost
the love of my life, couldn't even visit him in the hospital because
gays have no rights. I fought through and grieved and went on as best I
could. Seven years ago, I was diagnosed with Diabetes and Stage 2 high
blood pressure with various complications including kidney problems,
mild heart failure, Diabetic Retinopathy. These conditions are
debilitating and painful. I am on over eight prescribed medications,
which is very difficult without insurance and income. But I struggled on
and my primary caregiver was very pleased with my effort overtime with
my A1C at seven. Still these physical disabilities have progressively
worsened, and I have had a harder and harder time functioning in basic
ways. All the while, I give thanks to God because I know there are many
more worse off than me -- and I tried to help by giving money to
charities and smiling at people who looked down and sharing what little I
had.
I am college educated and worked 35 years in management, receiving
written references and praise from every boss for whom I worked. Yet,
after thousands of resumes, applications, e-mails, phone calls, and drop
ins, I've failed to get a job even at McDonalds. I've discovered there
are three strikes against me -- most 99ers will understand. Strike one
-- businesses are not hiring long-term unemployed -- in fact many job
ads now underline "the unemployed need not apply." Strike two -- I am
almost 60 years old. Employers prefer hiring younger workers who demand
less and are better pack mules. Strike three -- for every job opening
I've applied, there are over 300 applicants according to each business
who allow a follow up call. With the U3 unemployment holding steady at
9.6percent and U6 at 17 percent for the past 18 months, the chances of
me or any 99er landing a job is less than winning the Mega Million
Jackpot. On top of that, even the most conservative economists admit
unemployment will not start to fall before 2012 and most predict up to
seven years of this crap.
I believe the Congress and President have no intention of really
aiding the unemployed -- due to various political reasons and their
total removal from the suffering of most Americans, their cold-hearted,
self-serving natures. Had they really wanted to help us, they could have
used unspent stimulus monies or cut foolish costs like the failed wars
or foreign aid, and farm subsidies. The unspent stimulus money alone
cold have taken care of ALL unemployed persons for five years or until
the unemployment rate reached 7 percent if Congress and the President
really wanted to help us -- and not string us all along with a meager
safety net that fails every few months. In any case, if I were to
survive homelessness (would be like winning the mega-millions) and with
those three strikes against me, in seven more years, I'll be near 70
with the new retirement age at 70 -- now who will hire an old homeless
guy out of work for nine years with just a few years until retirement?
So, here I am. Long term unemployed, older man, with chronic health
problems, now totally broke, hungry, facing eviction. My landlady should
really be an advocate for the unemployed -- she bangs on my door
demanding I take action. A phone call and a "please" are not enough for
her -- she is angry. She is right to be angry with me, I am unemployed
-- as apparently everyone is now angry with us unemployed.
Two hundred and eleven and social services cannot help single men.
Food banks and other charities are unable to help any more folks -- they
are overwhelmed with the poor in this nation. So I have the "freedom"
to be homeless and destitute and "pursue happiness" in garbage cans and
then die -- yay for America huh? It's the end of November and cold. A
diabetic homeless older person will experience amputations in the winter
months. So I will be raiding garbage cans for food, as my body
literally falls apart, a foot here, a finger there. I have experienced
and even worked with pain from my diseases -- hardship I can face. I
just cannot muster the courage to slowly die in agony and humiliation in
the gutter.
I have no family, I have no friends. For the past two years, I've had
nobody to talk with as people who knew me react to the "unemployed"
label as if it were leprosy and contagious. I am not a bad person, in
fact people really like me. But everyone seems to be on a tight budget
these days and living in incredible fear. It is hopeless since we all
are hearing more and more that we unemployed are to blame for
unemployment, that we are just lazy, that we are no good, that we are
sinners, that we are druggies, yet we are the victims who suffer and are
punished while the robber baron banksters and tycoons become senators,
congress, presidents and petty kings. So the only option left for me is
merciful self euthanasia.
It is with a heavy heart that I have set my death in motion, but what
I am facing is not living. So off I go, I have made peace with God and
placed my burden on Jesus and He forgives me. This nation has become
evil to the core, with cold-hearted politicians and tycoons squeezing
what little Main Street Americans have left. It is not the America into
which I was born -- the land of the free and the home of the brave with
kind folks who help neighbors -- it is now land of the Tycoon-haves and
the rest of us have-nots who march into hopelessness and despair.
Every unemployed person I have met over these past two years have
been saintly. Sharing what little they have, and being charitable --
being kind and patient and supportive. Isn't it amazing that we
Americans who suffer so much, have not taken to the streets in violence,
riots or gotten out the guillotines and marched on tycoons and
Washington in revolt as would happen in most other nations? But rather
we plead with deaf politicians to please help us. We don't demand huge
sums -- just 300 bucks a week, barely enough to cover housing for most.
Most of all we say, please help us get a job, please allow us dignity.
I can't help but juxtapose our plight to the tycoons and politicians.
They are never satisfied with their enormous wealth, and always want
more millions no matter whom it hurts. They STEAL from pension funds,
banks, the people and government, and little Wall Street investors. Then
rather than face punishment, they become petty kings in this world.
They are disloyal to America, unpatriotic, and serve their own foreign
UN-American greedy causes and demand more and more and more. I feel that
this is not the nation into which I was born. I was born in America,
the land of the free and the home of the brave. America, where people
give as much as they receive. America, where all people work for the
common good, and try to leave a better and more prosperous nation for
the next generation. America, where people help their neighbors and show
charity and mercy. This new America is alien to me -- it is an America
of greed and corruption and avarice and mean spirited selfishness and
hatred of the common good -- it is an America of savage beasts roaring
and tearing at the weak, and bullying the humble and peacemakers and
poor and those without means to defend themselves. I am not welcome here
anymore. I don't belong here anymore. It's as if some evil beast
controls government, the economy, and our lives now.
I must go now, my home is someplace else. Goodbye and God bless you
all. God bless the unemployed and poor and elderly and disabled. God
bless America and the American people except the tycoons and politicians
-- may God retain the sins of tycoons and politicians and phony
preachers and send them to the Devil.
Mark
h/t Mike
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Nah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR3EZq1TKU8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbIFmPBsN7Q&feature=related
What happens in some other country is not something that needs to be used against someone.
fascinating list/point rusty
perhaps it is this sort of list that has kept the 'new world order' from happening (at least as quickly as they'd like).
"the more things change, the more they stay the same."
and i wondered why they don't teach history worth a damn in lower schools (or most any for that matter). 'tis no accident.
While I don't endorse socialism, this version of the song is pretty "dang" good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMaCg4fpJKg&feature=related
I think Soylent Green is very appropriate here.
Basically, when it gets so bad and you are unable to deal with the cascading effects of terrible political and fiscal policy, the government should just do us all a favor and offer the "final exit" subsidy. A good movie, a glass of fine Petit Syrah, a steak and an injection.
You can't yourself, but the government won't help either it seems. Chnage you can't believe in
'final exit' is take as many as you can with you. Islam needs YOU!
All those weergins waiting....
ironic that it's the Xtian nation(s) doing so much of the wars worldwide, isn't it. . .
they don't even get "weergins" in their eternity, what d'ya suppose is their incentive?
Goodbye, cruel world! LMAO!!
Homosexuals have already been compromised by the propaganda, and the fact he couldn't make it work in an upside down system created by traitors to this nation tells all we need to know about "Marc".
You need help and you need it now.
Go get help.
Fuck off
It will no doubt disappoint you to learn that as of yesterday, the poster was still publishing his blog. I might be able to understand your rabid anti-Zionist stance, but referring to gays as traitors is batshit crazy.
And the winner is...
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/disillusioned-99er-shares-his-disappointment-american-dream#comment-960512
42 (currently) flags.
I'd like to thank the many knuckle dragging republicons who flagged me.
I'd also like to thank my parents for giving me the courage to bite the lion on the tail.
Also, although I'm an atheist I'd like to thank God (just in case).
I couldn't have accomplished this without the support of my friends and family.
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! You have made my dreams come true!
This truly is "The greatest country in the world!"
I don't know how I can top this great accomplishment. But by golly, I sure am gonna try!
Glad you liked it! I had to check if I had caught you: Yup. I hear the voice of somebody who is probably an actual liberal. Too bad you don't get the social mores here--partisan political bullshit is beneath the community and will bring massive reproach. If you're wondering why the satirical "Devout Republican" doesn't play well, think about it. You end up making liberals look bad.
And don't slam the hosts, of course. Yours seemed good-humored, actually, but you've clearly dug yourself into a deep hole. 43 junks should tell you more than some crazy shit about republicans.
I've always wondered how 'actual liberals' learned how to breath. Weren't they all supposed to be aborted by their 'Right to Choice' parents?
Just when I'm trying to straighten out the kids! Had to junk ya, man.
BTW, liberals don't all support abortion. If you're looking for dependable Pro-Choicers, you should be able to count on the "sovereign individual" crowd.
But Liberals are all failed abortions, I don't get yer point.
.
It's not a record. When the odometer hits 50, the post disappears and everybody late to the party ends up confused about what the fuss was about anyway.
I was not aware of that. That's horrible news. Its at 45 flags now. It would be a crime to allow this gem to dissolve in the ether.
Seems to soon to have a rerun but here it is!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"it is an America of savage beasts roaring and tearing at the weak, and bullying the humble and peacemakers and poor and those without means to defend themselves."
lol!. Sounds like he's been hanging out in the comments section at ZH!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
g'nite!
Ohhh, the post disappears. Paraphrasing Kinnison: I was on MW for two effing years!
43 now.
"I'd also like to thank my parents for giving me the courage to bite the lion on the tail."
Where do you "Devout Republicans" get this shit from.
Do you even know what a Republic is?
A 'Republic' is where Libs get to junk anonymously, cuz we can't shoot them.
Well junking is better than killing someone over a difference of opinion.
Bye the bye.
I did not junk you.
It would seem that it's also a place where if you are not a Republican you don't have the same rights as Republicans. That being said if they brought back duels, I would be a gun nut.
I'll be 59 this year. I was self-employed as a product development consultant from 2003 until last month. From January 2009 until last month, I had no clients and no income --two years. I also received no unemployment benefits. I lived totally on my savings, which is now shriveled. I was lucky enough to have exactly one interview during this time, which ended after less than an hour. I finally got a part-time job at the library last month, taking a 91% pay cut from what I made. It doesn't cover my monthly expenses, and of course has no benefits or health insurance. But it's better than no income. I'm glad to have a job.
It is really bad out there.
My nephew is getting foreclosed on, and it is bad out there. Makes me wonder how I managed to ignore the bullshit for the last 30 years, and not have to give a shit now.
Better edication?
Just read a few comments here. Then realized that there will never be a revolution. Just more crime and more suicide.
Be nice if Algore committed suicide. We are banned from possessing Stingers, legally.
And if one had some, it would be a waste to exhibit such, until a serious attempt to restore the Constitution was evidenced.
"until a serious attempt to restore the Constitution was evidenced"
What Constitution?
What Republic?
The one where you get to kill everybody you don't like with "Stingers"?
What is a Republic?
Ok, good points. How about delf-defense?
Yes self-defense.
I entirely agree.
The public should be armed.
If not the armed tyrant will crush you.
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
This does not offer the right to kill at will simply because you don't "like" someone.
It is "well regulated" and State not Federal based.
The States are Republics.
The Federation is a Federation of Republican States.
The letter seems to be genuine, even if it dates to last Thanksgiving, and the poster appears to still be with us. Please do not surrender to the children hereabouts. Mark's message of living and dying with dignity is not lost on all of us. I'm not a gun-toting gold bug, and yet I've been under-employed for years. The apocalypse which is now upon us needs decent people like Mark desperately to remind us that we are yet human and not savage animals.
Never surrender hope.
You do realize Mark said he was offing himself, right?
Suicide is very common in all walks of life. Money is often at the root of it.
His name isn't really Mark, and whatever he said, it got a lot of attention and many offers for help. So, to the many juveniles here who complained he should've done something more drastic, I reply that this seems a well-reasoned response to his predicament.
So true. Wollow in self pity or lash out indescriminately. If we ever get to marshall law I'm going to mop up!!!
Can this be renamed the 'Fukking Moron Thread'?
Many will read, few will heed the words...there is an anger in the hinterlands of our nation.
IT'S NOTHING A FEW EXTRA MILLIGRAMS OF SODIUM FLORIDE CAN'T CURE !
So the labor market is weak for self-indulgent, old, worn out drama queens? Go figure.
Why would I hire this whiner to cut onions in the kitchen when I can pay an illegal five bucks an hour cash?
Close the borders, or STFU.
Shame on you.
Liberalism + socialism brings you this.
We've offshored the good jobs and given the shitty ones to illegals. It is no wonder the rich are squeezing the last blood from the turnip in preparation to bail on the country. The population is insane.
You're pissing out this "liberalism + socialism" excuse for your own depravity?
You should pray, RF.
I don't even try to save people from themselves anymore. It is futile.
Nothing is futile. Your creator, whether it be the Jehovah of the Bible or a despicable alien, put you here for a purpose. Read the classics and get some perspective. We are not the first people to struggle, nor will we be the last.
Nor are we the first to preside over a failing welfare state. But we are so much smarter than all those who came before. Bullshit.
Bankrupting the middle class so you can pat yourself on the back for your compassion is a bad idea.
we are so much smarter than all those who came before.
Pure hubris and compassion is never a bad idea. When the neoliberals have taken everything, it will be all that remains.
Compassion mis-applied is the most corrosive poison of all.
In this case, neither of us "bankrupted the middle class," so compassion for our kind is essential.
Back on topic:
Would you really hire this walking lawsuit when you have so many other options?
I'm not hiring anybody, but I see your point.
I'm a lone kitty in the vast void of darkness, am I covered under the 'lone wolf' shit in the "You're Screwed Act"?
That letter is BS - it's clearly fiction. The clue is that he says he's starving. What, no food stamps? He's got 90 days of unemployment left - what's he spend his money on? He has no friends? He can't share a rentals? It's all BS. Things are tough out there, but fake BS like this is just wrong.
Geez, get technical. Just rejoice on another Lib biting the dust.
Great point. I'd almost started thinking that the various political stripes were just people trying to get along.
But this reminds me that the "Libs" are indeed Satan spawn whose avowed purpose is to destroy all that is good and righteous. Death to them all, of course. And thanks for the wakeup call. Now that we know who the enemy is, we can kill them all when the system falls apart.
Rushing a mob might not be such a good idea!
The guy got a lot of press for the letter, has a blog and is still among us, no thanks to neanderthals like you.
So it was all bullshit, right? His starting his death was being a Fag, I guess.
AIDS will kill you, this is my fault, how? Fukker didn't know that? Thinks Chris Matthews is a God? Moron.
Some people are in a lot of pain and take a long time dying. The compassion we show them says everything about us.
The success of the oligarchy depends on us tearing each other apart. We must cling to our humanity, above all else.
Horseshit, I have no time for morons.
Why do you hate gays? Do they threaten you?
This is clearly one of the best trolls ever perpetrated upon the ZH community. I'm wondering how many government thugs are trolling here, making stupid comments and suggestions that indirectly incite violence.
Yes, the agents provocateur are out in force this evening. Beware, ZeroHedge.
Wow, agents provocateur infiltrating a circle jerk. How does that work anyway?
How does what work? A circle jerk?
I think it involves several men who stand around in a circle while facing each other, and the first man to ejaculate wins the contest.
It sounds really gay and I've never been inclined to see another man's junk or to have his semen sprayed all over me, so I would have to decline such an invitation.
The dump truck protests too much, methinks.
LOL!
Did it ever occur to you that this is a morality test - one that the majority of commenters are failing miserably, btw?
if by "this" you mean "life" then yes, I have often thought this on ZH thread trolling. . . particularly of late.
The taxpayer funded bailouts for banks lead to lower standard of living for all the citizens of a country except for the beneficiaries of the bail outs. The poor people in any country live hand to mouth and do not contribute to tax revenues. The others who earn their living by small businesses or salaries pay taxes at a much higher rate than the rich individuals or big businesses. This is due to the loopholes in the taxation system which enable them to declare maximum profits in countries which have the least tax rates. So effectively in the long run the governments route the money collected as taxes from the middle class of people to the banks so that the bankers can enjoy enormous bonuses. We are in times of privatizing the profits and socializing losses for those who are well connected to the governments and the law makers.
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article24581.html
The too big to fail bunch of banksters and the rich corporations can get away with murder, fraud, coercian, harrassement of the general public and any other illegal activity under the sun because they have a lot of influence on the political class, the rule makers and the rule enforcers due to their enormous purchasing power. So irrespective of the position in the government, everyone works for their benefit.
The politicians around the world are nothing more than auction items which can be sold to the highest bidder. They will do whatever they can for the lobbyist paying them the maximum amount of money or votes, be it the unions, the banksters, the richest corporations or individuals. They are in the power seat to extract maximum advantage for themselves in the small time frame they occupy the seat of power.
The rest of the population is least of their concerns. The only activity they do is pacify the majority of the population using false statistics and promises of a better future so that they do not lynch them and their masters while they are robbing the taxpayers.
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article24581.html
Obvious troll is obvious.
Bo gus
Bo gus story.
Bo Gas? An old sourdough in CA during the Gold Rush. Dead now.
Beau gas; ex-husband.
Revolution time,
Revolution #9.
Hang them, hang them, hang them high,
Greedy McMansioned bastards/bitches...your time is nigh...
I roll my eyes and delete the ZeroHedge bookmark. The shark has been jumped, and it is time to move on.
I'm not going to read all these posts. But I have ideas.
If he has been 35 years in management, then he likely has a social security check in his future at age 62. So there is some money. If he has nowhere to go now to eat, he could find a way to get jailed and the system will feed him and treat him. All he has to do is last two years until he can collect the social security. At least then he will have some money. In the meantime, he could try to barter his skills for room and board, if jail is unappealing. He can apply with the YMCA and workout to get fit. That exercise will get his A1C down. The Y will consider some people for membership with hardships.
He's got some choices. He's just wasting time looking for a corporate solution to his problem. Screw them! Think outside your box, 99er.
Trust me, diet and exercise are not sufficient to combat Type II Diabetes. And two years is a very long time to a person who's grown used to eating thrice per day. Through this letter he found some options, got some assistance and is still with us.
Trust me. I have type 2 diabetes, and I have lowered my A1C to 6.2 from 7.0, his score. Vigorous exercise at the Y and adding water before my meals helped me to lose 35 pounds, and I have a lot more to go. He's got the time. I got mine by being laid off too.
Glad to hear it. Not everyone is so fortunate. Grief resulting from the loss of a partner can be incredibly debilitating.
With a good attitude, one eventually gets over it. With a bad attitude, one uses it to stay miserable. The 99er needs to get much more positive and think outside the box. Many managers end up to be brown nosers. You have to buck the system with some attitude. PS I never sent out a resume after my layoff. I didn't believe in this stupid corporate and government system. Bunch of pocket lining crooks.
Didn't this guy save anything in a 401K? He's managed other people and he can't even manage his own life? That is incompetence. And that is why his life has been a mess. And mine is not. Thank God they never made me a manager.
If he really wants to fix his attitude, buy him the book "The Nature of Personal Reality" by Jane Roberts. I hope he can still read. But can he learn?
PS I never sent out a resume after my layoff. I didn't believe in this stupid corporate and government system. Bunch of pocket lining crooks.
Just as well. With such biased thinking, you would probably have failed any hiring process.
I smell a very low IQ. Perhaps you are mentally retarded.
Since I'm nowhere near you, it must be your own smell.
This story is so bogaso. Mark wouldn't be able to tell it, cuz he'd be dead. Had a tenant 12 years ago go despondent. Shot himself in his apt while I was on my honeymoon. Never even got to see the note, addressed to me (but a responding officer was a drinking bud). Guy never did shit for alternatives, or talk to anybody. Was a cartoonist, in the X-rated variety. Never considered doing caricatures outside his front door. Moron.
Anybody want some Harvey Bosch original artwork? (Not the artist, the Cartoonist. Got a shitpot full. Fergot my Ebay adult pissword.)
It seems everybody's a moron with you. I bet that marriage lasted. Was she a moron, too?
I remember an episode of Star Trek the Next Generation where Picard was captured by the Cardassians in a top secret mission. He was tortured all through it and essentially it was the G rated version of 1984 where the guy is torturing the man in the end. But during one break in the torture the Cardassian torturers very young daughter comes in to speak to her father and looks at Picard like it's an everyday thing that happens and then leaves with the father proud that she wasn't concerened about the torture or indifferent. Picard tells his torturer that having a child show indifference to acts of torture or whatever is a dangerous thing, because they can show the same indifference to the plight of the parents or other loved ones when they grow up.
In America we have been pushed into disliking what is different and those people. We are told that you and you alone is whats important and that intolerance and hatred is okay. What happens when you have a population that for decades or generations have been brought up or been essentially encouraged to behave in this manner, is a population that will look at anyone that shows "difference" (poor, unemployed, etc. etc. etc.) as being undesirable and in so doing will act accordingly to how they have been trained. It's truly amazing, our system has bee set up for us to enslave ourselves with our own trained contempt for one another that we can't see the slaughter pen that we are heading too because we are telling the sheep behind us that the one in front is not worthy of our respect or decency.
Not realizing that we are in the SAME LINE.
How can anyone junk this? IMHO, this is precisely what is happening. We have been programmed to turn on each other. For God's sake, stop being sheep.
great observations Buck - intentionally bred for sociopathy, de-humanised, predators. . . in the end, it is hoped that people will turn on each other, makes it that much easier for the "elites". . .
This "letter" has several major inconsistencies and contradictions. For this letter to be real, this guy would have to be a poor friend to others, though perhaps likeable - you know the type. He would also have to have little initiative, be too picky, and have too much of an attitude to pursue and accept the help and work available to him, again - you know the type.
For a rational look at unemployment benefits see: http://www.endofinnocence.com/2010/12/unemployment-benefits-myths-and-reality.html
For example, the Danish proved that unemployment benefits increase unemployment.
not buying the whole, "he just needs some more initiative and to be less picky" argument... unless you are unemployed and almost 60, and in poor health, I don't think you are in a position to say he's just not trying hard enough.
There are no jobs. That's the thing. There are what, 6 applicants for every job opening? With new masses of college grads coming on board every year, looking for the same crumbs as the old-timers. I'm sure you'd be fine, thanks to your amazing gumption and persistence and personal magnetism, but for some of those who are inferior to you, the mathematics of the job market are not open to debate.
We have sold out our country to the financial robber barons. There needs to be an Egypt-style revolution. Just as the Egyptians want the money stolen from them by a corrupt government, the American people should be in the streets demanding the same.
This is one of the saddest posts I have ever read online.
American capitalism is inhumane.
The only option this guy has is to rob a bank and go to jail so he can be fed 3 squares a day and maybe, if he's lucky, get the healthcare he needs.
His post is prescient. There will be many more people taking this path because they have nothing to lose and nowhere to go. Prison appears to be the last social service program available to people near or in the gutter.
I hope it never comes to this.
It is mostly fake. The zerohead investigation team figured it out. Thanks guys!
Anyone who works in social services knows that basic minimal food support is out there if you know where to look and how to apply. No one starves to death in socialist america.
The ‘moral’ of this fable: “Don’t leave your buddy’s behind.”
(Same as the Greek Army’s motto.)
Why do they always include the disabled? I'm disabled and I'm rich.
The US is doomed if nothing else for its ideology. We claim to be a Christian nation and yet go against exactly what "our savior" preached. You don't have to be a brain surgeon to know that Jesus taught socialism, pure and simple and even communism. Do I need to give some quotes? I'm not advocating any -ism here but clearly our economy operates through vampire capitalism. That is our real god, at least 6 days a week, if not 7. So regardless of whether you believe in karma or god or the fairy-god mother, fundamentally we are split in two. People like this man are a symptom of our illness.
There is a conflict in our basic software and this system will soon be marked for deletion.
+1 agree one hundred percent
What He taught was VOLUNTARY, individually directed compassion and caring for others. Communism and socialism are governments putting a gun to our heads and forcing us to do whatever TPTB think is best. Not even close to the same thing. Total FAIL on that attempt to link two totally unrelated things.
You cannot teach compassion and caring for others. If you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell to you. If you do something because it's said to be a virtue, you're a liar and a cheat. That is the whole point. Regardless, the message of Jesus, as it is taken by our society, is in conflict with our practice. That is my point. Besides that, YOU are the government. The world is in you just as much as you are in the world.
So you have a double whammy anyway since the real message of Jesus is misunderstood (see first sentence above).
Really?...................
99'ed but not there yet! sniff. Glad to be 62 and not 42 with kids. C. Wright Mills had 3 wives! 8=]
Man's religions are an affront to God.
Bitchez!
It is about choices. Nothing else.
Succeeding at finding what does not work defines me. Stand proud even if pride is all you have as you losing is their game.
Are you in a compartment especially fitted due to your lack of ability to make a different choice? Victims are just victims.
Step up or step aside as I am sick of whiners in 2011 (with what about me!) attitudes. These people who use views that come from pits of hell will make things worse.
What is different than this guy or a banker whining? We get lousy results if we listen to either. Focus on solutions.
http://www.luminous-views.com/gallery/
Capitalism uncontrolled is a system that preys on society, since the bulk of easily gained proceeds are not gleaned from the upper-class, but from the everyman who works and has false ideas of becoming rich (or comfortably retired) through a system that is set up to game his desires to strip him of his gains - which are typically from working. That is why I have never invested, I learned at an early age, before investing a dime, that the system was a means to soak wealth from people who thought it was set up to allow them to gain wealth from long-term investing. I am more-or-less rich now, but not from investing, but from working and saving. Yes, hyperinflation would probably cause me some problems, but it would not kill my wealth, since I don't buy anything to speak of, and don't really need anything other than what I have now. But, I have been lucky. There are people out there who have had no luck, and maybe are not "smart" masters-of-the-universe like a lot of people here fancy themselves.....for good or ill. You can make fun of these people all you want, but at some point, they will be the ones who put the noose around your pencil necks and laugh when they hear the vertebra snap, clap when they hear you choke as your throat collapses, and cheer when you shit your pants and die with a nice, Wall Street shiver.
You speak nonsense. You've never invested? Then you have always been paralysed by fear and paranoia. Capitalism uncontrolled has kept you from this minor step? Today's environment is not capitalism in any sense of the word. But you look upon it as justification for your self righteous paralysm. Yet, you surf an investment sight giving your sermons. You are a voyeur. One can inferr you are not rich, despite your boasting.
You misunderstand me...I am not paralyzed, I simply do not choose to take a risk where the parameters of that risk is managed by others. I can tell from your statements that you consider investing normal...I consider it abnormal. I am rich in that I have all I need....I am not saying I am Warren Buffet here. And, you can infer all you want, good luck with that.
Aristarchan I am sure you were smart enough to figure out how to get that 3000 per month tax free from the government. You have a lot of gall to complain about people like me and others who pay the taxes to support you and your ilk in idleness. I bet you claim 100 percent service connected disability, but you really have nothing to prevent you from working if you wanted.
I have never got anything from the Gov except a small military paycheck. I have never used welfare, I have no disability check, I have paid tons of taxes, and worked my ass off my whole life. Since you seem to assume the right to assume, let me do the same: you are a fucking idiot.
Am I the only one who noticed he had worked for 35 years in management and managed to be penny-less? I have no sympathy for someone who was blessed with 35 years of solid employment and did not managed to secure his financial independence.
While people spent money on every gadget that the TV told them to buy and $40K+ vehicles, I drove each of my cars until they literally would no longer move on their own. I put away well over 50% of my net earnings while they went out to buy the biggest tv available at best buy. I should feel sorry for those people when they are broke later on? I should feel sorry for the fact that they got to collect 99 weeks of unemployment off my money?
It seems like most people always, always want to place the blame on others. The government, their family, the jews, aliens. No one ever says, "I spent my whole life working as a slave and I have absolutely nothing to show for it and it is 100% my fault".
You are supposed to bail him out with the money you saved by being frugal and putting a bit aside for tough times. Of course, while he was busy blowing his paycheck every week, he did not give a passing glance to someone like you or I.
Plus one million.
Well said.
Note: acompanyofone.org - suspended.
I suffered through most of the comments on this thread.
Revolution? We can't even unify on blog where the subject is another suffering human being. If the comments here reflect the attitudes of even a small percentage of people in the USA, our chances of rising up in unity like those in Egypt are zilch. At least I felt a few days of hope after Friday's events. But the reality of what we've become is all to clear.
God help us.
You would be surprised how quickly a group can form solidarity once they all suffer equally. As long as the food stamps continue to flow, there will be more of the same.
We do not suffer here like they do abroad. At least, not yet.
food stamps will be printed long after the food has run out.
we're almost there.
my thoughts exactly...we are SO screwed.
If it's revolution you long for, don't despair. What I think this morality exercise has demonstrated is simply that those for whom the corrupt system has worked will not be participating. Makes sense, doesn't it? I doubt that the Egyptian elite and their hangers-on were in the streets, either.
duplicate post
Check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rirMIpU308&feature=related
and check out, loser.
Fuk em:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzVM6Q4YwAA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L367Qs53xE&feature=related
Really, there are idiots out there who have yet to figure out their need for a god is their childhood desire for their father who was never there...
PRAISE JESUS!
ALLAH IS GREAT!
J"AI GANESH!
These are the people you hurt when you decide to avoid hiring. You aren't hurting the bureaucrats, but you sure are attracting them to act against you.
His bad attitude and entitlement shows when he.bothers to interview for a job. I see these people all the time and know better than to hire them until they are through their adjustment period and become comfortable with their new place in the pecking order. While they are still angry and blaming others they dont make good low level employees.
Another business owner type pointed out correctly this guy fits the profile of the litigation prone. Successful business owners know how to read people. You cant really hide who you are. Of course no one is willing to hire this guy, not yet anyway.
It seems fair to observe that the guy is seriously depressed. Who knows, he may also suffer from PTSD and additional ills. Get him on some meds and he might dramatically clear up in a matter of a few weeks. You really can't fairly read who or what somebody is when functional by how they present when they're completely regressed and dysfunctional. I would expect this to be particularly true for a guy with his history.
One of my Doctors had bone cancer. He knew damn well what to expect. But he kept right on doctoring. One day after a certain point of progression he made the decision to go down to the ER, pin a DNR note to his chest and eat a Muzzle of his .45 He was 66.
The week prior he treated me for a bad sinus infection. Before I left, I knew instantly that death is in the room. I did not know then if it was for me or for him. I should have stayed a few minutes longer right then and asked him if HE was having trouble.
I only get that in life with very specific situations where death is near and not very often.
In my own life I almost was killed a number of times in the craziest of situations but I am still here.
All I can say is if you are truly looking to get out of this life, then choose your method and follow through with it.
However so many cowards fear death so much that they amass great mountains of gold and silver and expend it all in a futile quest to stave off death which must come for us all someday.
It is better to go out saving someone else than simply being a burden on society.
NOT!
Sorry if you even claim to be a capitalist - extend your productive power to the nth degree. Life is worth living.
guy should just sell
one of those
good delivery bars
liquidity injection ..
all is good...
Damn...what a junkfest! And to think I came here to increase my knowledge of things going on in the world. All I learned from reading over most of the comments here is that the same retards that talk shit on youtube posts come here too. Can anybody give me a link to where the smart people discuss things in a rational manner without the kiddie sandbox banter?
And just so I too can be junked. I thought it was a well written piece. Probably not all factual, but well written and created a stirring of emotions. Unlike the babble of 9/10's of the posts that followed the article. Oh wait...they caused an emotion too...nausea.
The pot calling the kettle black.
Successor to Axel Weber will be Jens Weidman
http://dawnwires.com/investment-news/german-advisor-to-chancellor-angela-merkel-jens-weidmann-will-be-next-bundesbank-chief/
"land of the freak, and home of the knave..."
If you read through all the posts i believe the evidence is there that this guy is still alive and still blogging and that a similar rant surfaced in thanksgiving. Listen closely. He is on a soapbox and this is what is called a suicidal gesture or parasuicidal behavior. It is all fake as i expected and this is an angry guy who doesnt want to meet work expectations. You can hear his lack of desire to conform to expectations quite clearly.
Clearly being alone.distorts his thinking and worsens anger and depression, but he clearly feels entitled to a high paying job with minimal demands and lots of independent discretion.
Also I reiterate that college guys are often whiners. I get paid too much money to work with guys like this. Probably my class is the second biggest welfare whores after bankers but I learned a lot working with the bottom rung. You rarely see the lower classes complain. They will take up the squeegee, steal some sewer caps, trade out of their van, take that low paying job at the carniceria. Those are the people I respect and want to help. They dont have the narcissistic entitlement of this college educated whiner. The biggest barrier to guys like him moving forward is his entitlement, projection of blame, and failure to learn from his mistakes. He wastes his time blogging lies when he could take a cue.from the non college educated who happen to display more flexibility and resilience. Blogging lies and half truths on the internet doesnt.help him solve his problem.
I stopped reading when he claimed homosexuals cannot visit other homosexuals in the hospital when they are dying. I have attended several family members' deaths in the hospital, and have yet to be challenged as to my family status. This person is a homosexual who is a drama queen to say the least. There is enough real suffering and pain in America, enough real injustice with the Banksters; there is no need to make up a fiction about the conditions here. Just the hunger bit alone is bullshit; please tell me what city, town or church doesn't have a food bank or soup kitchen. When you get done telling me that, then tell me what city or town is not hiring a stock boy, a busboy, a gas station clerk. There are jobs. Just not many good ones for drama queens. By the way, in the Jimmy Carter era, I was unemployed, when my rent money ran out I lived in my junk car, in February, in Chicago, while I started a job I found in Buffalo Grove in a steel plant just above minimum wage. I had to hitch hike to work as I had to keep my money for gas for heat at night. After a few paychecks, I was able to get shelter and move up in life. Suicide is for drama queens and cowards. Tough times make you stronger, help you to know your limits and what you are capable of.
+1
Thank you zerohedge volunteer investigative team for uncovering the truth. I would have made some.good money if someone had taken me up on my 100 to 1 odds that the guy.did not.commit.suicide.
Bottom line this gentlemans situation is sad and tragic and there are countless others suffering in the same way. The Bible tells us that the poor will always be among us (that's why my wife volunteers full time working with women just coming out of prision), all that said I still don't believe it is the governments responsibility to function as a saftey net, smaller government means lower taxes which means people have the option to be more generous to those that are suffering.
You are everything I dislike about people all in one. Sad, you will also end up like this person alone.
I've learned early in life that no one owes me anything and that no one has my best interest in mind except myself. We are responsible to look after ourselves and prepare for the future. Why are so many on ZH stocking up on food gold, silver and lead?...because you want to take care of yourself and your loved ones.
There comes a time when we have to accept responsibility for our own actions.
Is the deck stacked against us? Yes! do we live in a fair world? no!
many ancient scriptures whether it be the Torah, The Bible, Tao, The Koran etc.. talk about storing up your harvest for bad times. It is wise to do so and regardless if one is spiritual or religious one can gather many truths and wisdom from such ancient writings.
Should we have compassion on our fellow man? Yes...it would be helpful if we can get back to community based living where we know our neighbors and help each other out, but we all have to ultimately be responsible for our own well being.
I think this piece was written to prove a political point as it has many little side paths bringing up known talking points.
In closing I find the piece hard to believe and if true I do feel for the guy, but his biggest mistake was believing everyone else would take care of him and he failed to prepare and was seeking too many answers without instead of within.
The fact that we (as a society) have the audacity to blame the unemployed for being unemployed is horrific. Most of these comments don't even show kindness towards another human being who is in need. Our society is supposed to support hard work and ethical behavior. However, I believe the "information age" is finally starting to show our "true colors". Gangsters have been running our society for years. We have "gangsters" in the White House, Gangsters in the courthouse and gangsters running our largest financial institutions.
While I am not sure what to do about our current situation, I do know that we have no right to blame our current circumstances on the "downtrodden".
Stay strong Mark and I wish you and yours the best. While I don't have material resources to give to you, I will include you in my prayers. NYQYUIL762
Exactly the kind of lost, desperate, sheep the elite want in society. He drank the koolaid and then bemoans his wretched fate. It's all the same with these delusionals; always the employee, never the employer. It would never cross his mind to endeavor beyond begging for work from his slave-masters. It seems that learned helplessness is all he's known in his life. Not much sympathy here, just pity.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/49529/2-B-R-O-2-B-by-Kurt-Vonnegut
there is (auditably) a natural world, and there is the world that folks think should be.
this thread certainly highlights the two sides of that coin.
(notice that those with no self-esteem on either side of that coin will be insulted by my decidedly neutral statement)
"we're friggin' doomed" - mogambu
.
Ways to be:
1. Be a man. Work as much as you need to work, doing whatever you need to do, to support yourself and your family. If you are doing this and still need assistance, I have no quarrel with you. And by "doing this", I mean working up to 12 hours a day if need be. If you are unwilling to work at least that much, you're really not trying hard enough to get yourself out of your situation. If you are currently jobless, you should be spending 12 hours a day actively trying to find work. I've been right there with you guys, I lost a pretty lucrative sales job in the aftermath of the construction slowdown (cliffdive?), and for a long while I was bagging groceries for 12 hours a day. If you have physical ailments that prevent you from doing this, find a typing job, telephone sales, whatever. Work. Just do it. Any work. Fuck your fucking personal pride. Your pride is your downfall.
2. Be a woman. (this is about to get real un-PC). If you have kids and a husband, raise those kids yourself, clean the house yourself, garden the backyard yourself, do the family laundry, cook from scratch, sew new clothing and repair old clothing, basically, work, at home, doing what you were designed to do. It is absolutely the man's job to make you feel appreciated and loved for this, but seriously, enough with this bullshit. You were intentionally made to feel inadequate for doing what you were born ready and willing to do, so that you could enter a workplace and get your productivity squeezed out of you for corporate profit, while becoming another debt burden via engineered hyperconsumerist behavior. Fuck that.
Women working at home, and men working at jobs = the bedrock of a functional society. This is being torn down for short-term profit taking, at the expense of long term stability. To the extent that you are able to counter this engineering, you are fighting, in a way that actually hurts them.
It is difficult for those women who've been coddled through their imposed paradigm shift (as have men in their feminized roles), to truly understand what you are saying unfortunately. Don't forget the public education system's role in the disintegration of the nuclear family. Universal androgyny seems to be the goal for the elitists. A society of sexually ambiguous people, both psychologically and physically, is a powerful standardizing and dehumanizing force. Estrogen-mimics and other hormone disruptors in our food and water supply have been part of the physical assault, while pop-culture and mass media are the psychological weapons used.
Just a thought.
This letter is evidence of capitalism at its most cynical. When I click on the link given in the Durden article "the company of one," it says that the account is suspended. When I go to unemployed-friends.com, I can't find a copy of the letter either even though the author gives the impression to be talking to people frequenting that web site.
But when I google "the company of one," it turns out to be the title of a book to be released by Cornell University Press in April 2011 about the fate of the unemployed white-collar workforce in our new economic system. And who is tha author, but a "smart" looking young assistant professor in American Studies...
Supposedly, this letter was written at the end of November. So, why did it show up now, on Valentine's Day of all days?
I did not read all the comments yet, so, perhaps, someone else pointed out that this may be an example of new-new-new-new economy marketing. But this looks like a Cornell U. employee working for the Cornell Press may be trolling this site to see how people are reacting to his innovative marketing idea.
So, what ar u all going to do? Take it on the chin like everything else? (After all, you are supposed to be losers anyway.) Or start that g*ddam revolution about which everyone is talking?
"the socialist state of America"
TYLER YOU'RE A RETARD
If America were a "true" socialist state, very much like commie scandinavia, then the plight of this man would be inexistant. No, America is pure imperial fascism, and has been for a long time. Unemployment insurance is nothing but an alm, not a socially just redistribution.