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19 Surprising Facts About The Messed Up State Of The US Economy
Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,
Barack Obama and the Federal Reserve are lying to you. The "economic recovery" that we all keep hearing about is mostly just a mirage. The percentage of Americans that are employed has barely budged since the depths of the last recession, the labor force participation rate is at a 36 year low, the overall rate of homeownership is the lowest that it has been in nearly 20 years and approximately 49 percent of all Americans are financially dependent on the government at this point. In a recent article, I shared 12 charts that clearly demonstrate the permanent damage that has been done to our economy over the last decade. The response to that article was very strong. Many people were quite upset to learn that they were not being told the truth by our politicians and by the mainstream media. Sadly, the vast majority of Americans still have absolutely no idea what is being done to our economy. For those out there that still believe that we are doing "just fine", here are 19 more facts about the messed up state of the U.S. economy...
#1 After accounting for inflation, median household income in the United States is 8 percent lower than it was when the last recession started in 2007.
#2 The number of part-time workers in America has increased by 54 percent since the last recession began in December 2007. Meanwhile, the number of full-time jobs has dropped by more than a million over that same time period.
#3 More than 7 million Americans that are currently working part-time jobs would actually like to have full-time jobs.
#4 The jobs gained during this "recovery" pay an average of 23 percent less than the jobs that were lost during the last recession.
#5 The number of unemployed workers that have completely given up looking for work is twice as high now as it was when the last recession began in December 2007.
#6 When the last recession began, about 17 percent of all unemployed workers had been out of work for six months or longer. Today, that number sits at just above 34 percent.
#7 Due to a lack of decent jobs, half of all college graduates are still relying on their parents financially when they are two years out of school.
#8 According to a new method of calculating poverty devised by the U.S. Census Bureau, the state of California currently has a poverty rate of 23.4 percent.
#9 According to the New York Times, the "typical American household" is now worth 36 percent less than it was worth a decade ago.
#10 In 2007, the average household in the top 5 percent had 16.5 times as much wealth as the average household overall. But now the average household in the top 5 percent has 24 times as much wealth as the average household overall.
#11 In an absolutely stunning development, the rate of small business ownership in the United States has plunged to an all-time low.
#12 Subprime loans now make up 31 percent of all auto loans in America. Didn't that end up really badly when the housing industry tried the same thing?
#13 The average cost of producing a barrel of shale oil in the United States is approximately 85 dollars. Now that the price of oil is starting to slip under that number, the "shale boom" in America could turn into a bust very rapidly.
#14 On a purchasing power basis, China now actually has a larger economy than the United States does.
#15 It is hard to believe, but there are 49 million people that are dealing with food insecurity in America today.
#16 There are six banks in the United States that pretty much everyone agrees fit into the "too big to fail" category. Five of them have more than 40 trillion dollars of exposure to derivatives.
#17 The 113 top earning employees at the Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington D.C. make an average of $246,506 a year. It turns out that ruining the U.S. economy is a very lucrative profession.
#18 We are told that the federal deficit is under control, but the truth is that the U.S. national debt increased by more than a trillion dollars during fiscal year 2014.
#19 An astounding 40 million dollars has been spent just on vacations for Barack Obama and his family. Perhaps he figures that if we are going down as a nation anyway, he might as well enjoy the ride.
If our economy truly was "recovering", there would be lots of good paying middle class jobs available.
But that is not the case at all.
I know so many people in their prime working years that spend day after day searching for a job. Most of them never seem to get anywhere. It isn't because they don't have anything to offer. It is just that the labor market is absolutely saturated with qualified job seekers.
For example, USA Today recently shared the story of 42-year-old Alex Gomez...
"I've had to seriously downgrade my living situation," said Alex Gomez, a 42-year-old with a master's degree in entrepreneurship. Gomez lost his last full-time job in 2009 and has been looking for work since a short-term contract position ended in 2012.
Gomez's home was foreclosed on, so the Tampa resident lives with three roommates in a college neighborhood. He drained his 401(k) trying to save his house, and he has around $150,000 in student loans. His mother is tapping her 401(k) to pay his rent. Gomez subsists on that and about $200 a month in food stamps.
"I have been applying and looking for pretty much anything at this stage," he said. Although he's looking for work in engineering or data management, "I applied to a supermarket as a deli clerk because I used to be a deli clerk as a teenager," he said. He was told he was overqualified and turned down.
Does Alex Gomez have gifts and abilities to share with our society?
Of course he does.
So why can't he find a job?
It is because we have a broken economy.
We are in the midst of a long-term economic decline and the system simply does not work properly anymore.
And thanks to decades of very foolish decisions, this is only the start of our problems.
Things are only going to get worse from here.
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Finally some good news.......
/s
Please stop saying these horrible things, maligning the finest leadership a sinking ship ever had.
"#11 In an absolutely stunning development, the rate of small business ownership in the United States has plunged to an all-time low."
But Janet said starting your own business was how poor people could become rich!
He obviously hasn't put his degree to good use! Dude, start a business! Isn't that what you wasted that $150,000 on? He should have used that $150,000 as his seedcorn, instead of on useless debt that cannot be discharged. Why look for a job, when you can create one. But then again I remembered that small business ownership is at an all time low earlier in the article. Thank you O-shitty-care!
Why are we ignoring the fact the the labor participation rate SHOULD be getting lower as the population ages?
Because the next generation replaces the older generation as they retire... Or at least they used to... Now with H1B visa holders and immigrants taking the jobs, Americans are left holding their privates...
The black community is just starting to figure out that Obama has turned into Benedict Arnold with his executive amnesty plan...
So I'm curious. What do you think happens with the money an immigrant makes? I'm going to hazard a guess and say on average it gets spent rather quickly. Do you know what happens when money gets spent little boy?! It goes to someone else who has a job!!!!! And if that person is young and irresponsible, he/she spends all that money at another place!!!!
So quit crying and sell immigrants something they want. Lazy ass.
And no, the next generation DOES NOT replace the last one. Because the last one did not reproduce enough. Look at some demographic stats dolt. Even with all your scary immigration, the population is rapidly aging. This all happened before too. Before WWII. Then they made lots of babies and things got better....SHOCKING. Young people spending money makes a good economy!@#!@# NO WAY1!!@#!@#
I thought they sent a lion's share back to their homeland?
Yeah bunz your comment on how money gets spend from immigrants is a fallacy.
I've worked with Hispanics from El Salvador, and Mexico.
Everyone of them I knew sent at least 30%+ back to their country for their family (parents, siblings, and children)
FRN spend a lot further there then they do in Amerika.
Plus they live 12 to 15 people per house, ride bikes and walk everywhere.
My brain just exploded.
Little money, even less velocity.
Are you attempting to insult me?
"My brain just exploded."
And NOBODY, not even in the same room, heard a sound! Just sayin...
And as I commented below, that money comes back....getting spent on someone else's job. It is a zero sum game. It's all about velocity within the country/state you care about.
So the question becomes, does allowing immigrants to come here increase or decrease the velocity of money here?
Yeah, someone else's job in another country... since you prefer to enrich them why don't you just move there and spare us your bullshit.
Be careful, you might explode his brain.
And then it either gets spent there, helping that economy. Preventing some of those evil immigrants from coming this way. Or it comes back here in the form of exports. It's a damn circle no matter how many countries are involved. Tell me sir - have the living standards gone up or down since 1950?
Just curious...when should we have shut off immigration? 1700? 1800? 1900? 2000? Somewhere in between? I'm sure there's an optimal point you can come up with for some reason or another.
IMO they shouldn't have messed with the formulas back in 1965.
When should we have shut off immigration? When we allowed your sorry ass in.
Bunz, Bunz, bunz, you really should not speak out of your arse, put down that magazines from the California Peoples Party and join reality. I live in a small farming community. Most of the local, legal population is one or two generations from Mexico. Here is how it works: In the early summer migrants flow accross the border and either shack up at a family member's house or find some realtor that will rent them a cheap house. If they rent, they pack 5-6 families in the rental. They place a deposit for water/electricity witht the full intent of walking away from the bill. Then, they get a job in the fields, picking onions first and chile or watermelon later. Once the season closes, they move on to work at the distributor packing the onions in 50Lbs sacks or to the processing plant, canning the chiles for distribution. This all ends around October. For those 6 months the kids went to summer school, paid by the property taxes of the local homeowners. They used the emergency rooms for free. Received additional vouchers and government rent/utilities assistance and sent 90% of the funds to Mexico. At the end of the season, they run off on the rent and utilities bills (unless the realtor is familiy) and return to Mexico to start all over again next season.
BTW, I have no problem with immigration. I would like open borders. I just dont see the point of govenrment asistance for anyone. Why steal my money to pay for someone elses needs? I dont care if the person receiving the assistance is native born or not.
Atually, immigration was pretty much shut down for decades to give time for assimilartion from the 20's. In addition, virtually ALL the past immigration was LEGAL AND they did not get an entire booklet of welfare housing, medical, food stamps, phones, cars, and a dozen other things they currently get. AND they were screened for diseases and sent back if they were found to have diseases like TB.
And if you think they spend all the money they illegally make, you should educate yourself better.... I have known illegals and they use other social security numbers and SS #'s like 000-00-0000 which does nothing but lines the Feds.....
Illegal Immigration is just creating a second class slave class that pieces of shit like you turn your nose from......
Actually no. Most of the money that the immigrants spend locally is government assistance money (Food Stamps, WIC, etc). The money that they earn under the table is sent to Mexico as soon as it is earned.
dumbfuck! check the repatriations to Mexico and the barrels of food stamp purchases shipped to the Caribbean by your beloved "immigrants." and do you think a dollar GIVEN to an immigrant is the same as a dollar earned? have you no fucking brains at all?
Money goes to someone else all right, someone else in Mexico or other hellhole they came from. Very little is spent in US. The minute they cross the border, they are eligible to join the FSA. What not to like.
Do not insult General Arnold that way. He was, by far, the best battlefield commander on either side during the war. He led and he led from the front. He started as a small businessman himself. He had to contest with so called patriots like Ethan Allen and battle Congress for reimbursement of his expenses even after he saved them twice in consecutive years after capturing Fort Ticonderoga, possibly coming close to taking Quebec (is debatable), and turning back an army with just the words of a "special person". If he had only died after Saratoga he might have been considered the most exhulted war hero in this nation's history.
Our current President (government in general really) seems to have turned on us after far, far less sacrifice and difficulty.
If this amnesty plan happens, the black community is finshed... I mean they are completely obselete.... They will be forgotten about and disregarded... For their sake, I hope this amnesty plan doesnt happen.
Because it's not the old leaving the work force to enjoy retirement (thank you ZIRP) that's the reason for the decline. It the fact that the young can't get jobs and millions more are scamming for disability.
Bunzbunzbunz - can you answer a question for all of us here?
Why are you so against LEGAL Immigration and so much FOR Illegal immigration that creates human trafficking, drug smuggling, corporate slavory and non assimilation? Why do you promote the hurting of so many poor immigrants through illegal means that kill thousands of babies and women every year?
Why don't you do what we all do and advocate for LEGAL Immigration and help these people do things LEGALLY and be a PART OF AMERICA?
Maybe you are one of the fatcats exploiting children and illegal migrants and actually human trafficking these people?
Who said they were for Illegal immigration???? Troll.
Personally, I think illegal immigration and the rush to defend it is one of the worst most vile, disgusting, acts anyone can take... Rewarding people who are clearly violating the law and hurting your fellow country in broad daylight... No honor, no morals...
That might be true in a free market but when the game is rigged nothing is normal. Old people have to eat too.
I do not know why you all say that the student loan debt can not be 'discharged'... ok that is true if you stay in the USA .... but think outside the box... if the situation is that bad - LEAVE. (and just ignore that odious 'debt' forever).
Make some money elsewhere - accumulate assets .... then if you want, return to the US - still have little or no income - retire - and you are not liable for that 'debt'.
Assets to accumulate? PM's, real life skills in other countries, world wide contacts for the future... maybe real estate outside the USA
Oh ... and even Bitcoin in part - especially on a temporary basis while crossing borders manned by the TSA and others. Convert back to PM's at your destination....
You might even find that there are much nicer places on the planet than what the USA has become.
Really nice places outside of the USA? Where ?... You mean europe with a and average 40% tax on anything over 32,000 Euros? Next. What about south america? Youd would be shived and robbed before you got out of the airport.. Next. What about Africa.... Next... Middle east? Beheaded.. Next... I guess Asia.. Good luck getting in or living past 35 due to pollution... Do you see the common theme? At least in the USA, i can die standing on my feet....
Um, you been to Asia? Asia isn't all China, where the worst pollution is, or Indonesia, with their incessant burning of the forests. Think places like Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Korea. Those countries put the US to shame in terms of how modern they are. Singapore is probably the cleanest country in the world. Plus, generally speaking, the people are a hell of a lot friendlier, particularly to Westerners, so long as you show them some level of courtesy. I have, in fact, thought long and hard about relocating to Malaysia.
A Masters in Entrepreneurship and living as a deadbeat? Do I see a disconnect there somewhere? Ah, the US education system is a sight to behold. Then again, who was it said "those who can, do, those who can't, teach" I know that's not really fair to teachers, but c'mon, a Masters in Entrepreneurship?
Sorry kids. The old people stopped making babies. Then they expected their social security to last longer when they lived longer.
Fewer kids to pay more benefits. What could go wrong. Thanks old people. You did a great job with that one. Now blame the lazy kids.
I actually partially agree with you. The "greatest generation" which seems to come from surviving the Great Depression and WWII put socialism firmly in place with things like the alphabet agencies and Socialism Security. It has never been modified except to make it worse.
I give them a partial pass because who really knew how this collectivist garbage would actually turn out in the 1930's and 40's. So, every generation deserves some blame along the way for continuing the BS despite the evidence it will break. That is why the SS tax went from 1.5% to over 12% and is still due for bankruptcy...not to mention precious characteristics like no property right in it and no fiduciary responsibility on the part of the government.
So, they should support the kids in the sense of evening things up a bit. However, the fact they need to support the kids says a lot about the economy.
So after looking at the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany nobody could figure out just how this collectivist garbage would turn out? 500,000 Americans died fighting the Axis and they didn't know? Wow, they were absolute, verified, stamped, and approved, friggin' morons in that case.
And why should "they" support the kids? Do you mean the oldsters who are clinging to old people welfare or do you mean government which was the tool used to break everything by supporting people in the first place?
What I'm trying to say is that you don't seem to be very consistent with your dualing themes of "collectivist garbage" and "they should support the kids in the sense of evening things up a bit."
Social Security passed in 1938, I believe. WWII had not started. Apart from that the resulsts from the USSR and National Socialist Germany were not in, yet. In fact, WWII would delay many of the economic lessons and consequences.
What I mean by "evening things up" is that the kids pay for SSec and a Medicare tax from grandma and pa. So it may come back to them in the form of being supported by the same.
Families and cooperative economic arrangements are not the same as collectivism. Apart from that i would say that you and I are on the same side of things as to opinions of and on the Left.
100% why the immigration deal never happens and borders are loose...Need more consumers and tax payers for corperate America and Gov....why don't the just admit it
That is correct. But small businesses can take advantage of those consumers too. Shitty car dealerships are learning how. You can too!
race to the bottom
diminishing returns
vicious cycle
circling the drain
Forward!
No. They need more people who are ready and willing to accept full blown, in your face socialism ala fascism or communism (pick your poison, it doesn't really matter does it?).
Hispanics are like that. Catholics tend to be like that. Catholic hispanics... look out Venezuela by route of some other even worse off place here we come.
yes but this type of immigration just creates legalized slavory, human trafficking and puts Americans at risk.
Why not create a LEGAL immigration program. Then we would get the tax payors and consumers!
Why are so many AGAINST LEGAL Immigration?
Doesn't matter if there are fewer babies... Use some of the studies about monkey farts to make up the short fall in SS payments....
There is enough spending fraud in the US Federal Government to make Barney Madoff look honest.....
Aha, a new business venture I am going to market a DVD with the music played on the Titanic as it sunk.
I'm sick of the tombstone mentality personally.
No sarc ;-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGt-8adyabk
Since we are being honest, I find humor lacking in most of this.
Read further down, an elitist media hack trades her Hippocratic Oath in for a bowl of soup...lol.
Its amazing what self important snobbery will do to a persons mind ;-)
I'm pretty sure she likely got her start in satire and cynicism and it just devolved into outright immorality in the face of possible imagined gain.
lol...I'll run with that too ;-)
my neighbor's half-sister makes $71 hourly on the laptop . She has been fired from work for 9 months but last month her paycheck was $17975 just working on the laptop for a few hours. look at this site... www.job-reports.com
20) Barry's credit card was recently rejected at a fancy restaurant because "he did not use it enough".
....... speechless ......
just fucking speechless
if bullshit was snow he'd have global freezing
if I had a son he sure wouldn't look like that
frustration to the point of rattling piping like pissing with gonorrhoea is not normal, is it?
https://search.yahoo.com/search?p=goneriah+&ei=UTF-8&fr=moz35
But would it look like "Malia" or the other one? Because there are no, as in zero (0), pictures of a pregnant wookie.?!?...?!?!?.....
Interesting.. You are right... There are none... Just did a google search..... We NEED a DNA/Paternity test lol.......
YOU ARE NOT THE FATHER lol
There's no fucking history, documentation, records that ain't been sealed, modified or redacted that exist as far as most casual observers can tell.
Barry uses the taxpayers' credit card, soon it will be rejected because it has been overused.
That would be Barry's RACE card.
It was maxed out a couple years ago. Can't buy votes with it anymore.
People need to stop feeling ashamed and start getting pissed off. I just don't get it.
Neither do I.
It's pretty simple, dude. Assuming you're a dude, of course.
There are too many outlets for people to vent their rage. Video games, comment sections, music festivals, and so on. They get angry, vent their rage on the internet, and then they're not angry anymore. The force of their rage evaporates into nothingness, and will continue to do so as long as modern infrastructure remains in place, which will only not be the case in the event of a large unforseen disaster.
I think the light at the end of the tunnel is the progression of technology that allows for the decentralization of power. Localized energy production in the forms of food, fuel, and electricity will change the balance of power, I think, unless the government manages to maintain a stranglehold on its usage, which will become more and more difficult as the scales decrease.
Ratbagger perfectly described #Occupy. Just a giant steamvalve to vent frustration. Camping out in city parks did NOTHING to stop the bankers.
doin what i can, mainly voting with my actions and feet. just ready willing and able when the cliven event errupts.
patience for market/dolla collapse. got the telescope focused on da japs. but, you could place your bets on which economy comes unraveled first.
japan, euro, merica of the majors, then the vortex sucks em all in cept a few iceland types...
#11
Future success in the USA will probably be found in the underground/ cash/ off-the-books economy. The Black Market.
Someone should write a dissertation on how to thrive finacially off grid.
It's way too risky & expensive to start a business nowadays. The government regulatory rentier skim & cost, constant threat of nusiance lawsuits from starving attorneys, constant tax and fee attack & huge costs to hire even minimum wage workers.
You hire someone at minimum (bad for them) then add SUTA, FUTA, employer half of SS & MEdicare, plus workmans comp, OBAMACARE tax, etc, etc. A minimum wage "slave" actually costs a business $15/ hr or more.
The Who had it right in the early 70's :
"Goin' Mobile"
I'm goin' home
And when I wanna go home I'm goin' mobile
Well, I'm gonna find a home And we'll see how it feels Goin' mobile Keep me movin' I can pull up by the curb I can make it on the road Goin' mobile...
Yeah Mobile, mobile, mobile, mobile, ... I don't care about pollution I'm an air-conditioned gypsy
That's my solution
Watch the police and the tax man miss me I'm mobile
Oooooh, yeah, hee! Mobile, mobile, mobile yeah
US Citizen, Press TV reporter dead in car crash near Syria 2 days after Turkey calls her a spy
Now there's some good news!
Combined with "Dr.Nancy Snyderman" finding her head in the ebola noose for breaking quarantine for takeout food and CNN being dropped by DISH...its a good day!!! ;-)
Amen Brother.
I really don't understand why people don't get angry anymore. Or at least not appropriately. A work associate today was foaming at the mouth because the geek squad had shown up 4 hours late to fix her TV set and she couldnt see her favorite show. I have never seen her so angry in 15 years. This is were we have come. I was so angry I came home and had a scotch. I probably would have felt better if I had broken into her house and bashed in her TV set.
Miffed
+ 1 for having a scotch Miffed, I feel your pain. ;)
mericans priorities are sooooo fucked up. spent today doing doing home fixits, a wiring project, wired the camper dc, and the fucking tv will not be turned on for another day. wifey poo turns it on occasionaly though, hear the fucker in the background and gotta say it is mostly repulsive. so, it really is hopeless for the majority, but fuck them, who cares...til the walls come crumblin down,ha...
But Merikans DO get outraged when their self-rightousness is violated.
In fact I saw a women the other day yelling at a dept store girl because they did not have her size (a size 16) in her favortie brand of corduroy pants. She claimed she was, "horrified" and then later "petrified" they were so negligent.
This is what Merika has come to: a gaggle of outraged consumers.
I would hate to see this women's reaction if something actually serious happened to her.
I remain outraged at the absence of outrage.
To get a real masters degree in entrepreneurship, you would grind it out and (l)earn $150,000, instead of arriving at 42 with mama paying your mortgage and student loans.
While I feel for his pain, I thought it a bit Ironic that he studied how to be an Entrepreneur, yet he has not become one.
I can tell you who the smart ones are, they are the ones getting real wealth, you know like janet said, buy some assests or stocks or some such thing. Go search out a long lost rich relative or something, don't just sit on your arse.
150K$ student loans and he is looking for jobs working for others?
It seems like the only Entrepreneur is the conman who shlocked this bozo his degree program.
Good point. When I could not get a job I went out and started my own business. But then I didn't have a degree in entrepreneurship. I didn't even have a high school diploma. I figured that if I was not smart enough to be an employee, I would have to be a boss.
I have about twenty different homestead type chores/repairs that I do not have time to do. I would be happy to pay a good price to someone with a little initiative and a little skill.
Off your ass and on your feet.
Out of the shade and into the heat!
where do ya live regionally?
I just saw your post on the other thread. It appears you could be my handy man.
I would much rather give the business to a fellow ZH'er.
Hopefully someday.
How far are you from Orlando? I'm a retired farmer with a pickup load of tools, what do you need?
I don't understand what a study program to be an entrepreneur is. I thought being an entrepreneur is something one does, not what one studies to do.
Gotta say I'm with you here.
..master's degree in entrepreneurship....
What? And he's looking for a job? Make one! I thought that's what being an entrepreneur was all about.
Sorta tosses cold water on the whole argument. I find sympathy difficult in this case. My degree in entrepreneurship came by creating my own companies and failing at a few. Never had a paycheck signed by anyone but myself. (Not counting the 4 year Air Force thing from late 60s to early 70s, of course.) Worked in a cabinet shop at no pay just to learn cabinetry while going to college after the AF enlistment. Ain't nothin' like waking up early on Friday morning wondering how you're gonna pay the employees that day. They got paid -- whether I did or not. That's entrepreneurship.
Thats what it is.
People who work for others assume they have it better, make more money (which may or may not be true) all the time.
Small business is nothing like corporations, been there, done both.
After working at for profit, public and non profit hospitals I can't believe I am still sane. I frankly don't understand how the medical field is still functioning with the masses of bureaucracy, inefficiencies and insane government mandates. That we only kill 200k a year from medical mistakes and prescription drug problems blows my mind. Were doing pretty damnwell!
Miffed
Its unreal, I've worked for myself and now in a corporation.
The insanity at the corporate (and government) levels has reached its zenith, it can't go any higher. Trying to word this so as to not expose myself but...just today a manager (different department) forwarded an email to me stating what one department was mandating he do, as I was reading it, another came through from MY department saying what he did was so far down the totem pole on what corporate actually wants as to make it underground.
Yet...he is being hounded by his own boss and _____ to make some sort of contrition.
I didn't respond on email, just called him and we both agreed what is going on (above us) is a cross between Kafka and Orwell, we are perfectly sane in an insane world.
But THOSE people remain employed, completely oblivious to the reality of what they're doing is for corporate show, nothing substantial.
And they're really into it and proud of themselves, thinking they're accomplishing something...pretty wild...lol.
This is my greatest challenge nmewn. Negotiating the shark infested management waters. I have had 5 jobs. Three I quit in a FOAD moment when I couldn't take the absolute bullshit anymore. Two I was fired because I wouldn't cow to management and Drs ridiculous demands that had nothing to do with patient care. I took on the big and powerful and was handed my ass. Now, I am determined to be smarter and less idealistic. I will beat them in their own game.
Management seems to be influenced by trendy theories how to extract the most blood from their employees. I have noticed this ranges from " the big stick" do as we say model to the " be a pal, we are all a big family" model. Depending what model is in use, I adjust, cover my tracks and fade into the background. This has been very difficult because I have been a frontal attack kinda girl all my life. My only absolute is I will not compromise patient care even though I am being challenged to provide quality work when management won't provide the tools necessary.
It's funny to watch them gush over perceived accomplishments that look good publicly but do not have a clue how the day to day work is done using inadequate equipment. Now they are parading around in a media show how ready we are for our first Ebola patient when I am wearing an old lab coat, reusing N95 masks because our supply is running out, and our hood has been decertified for BSL 2 agents, let alone BSL 4. I smile and nod now but when the time comes I will not be a dutiful soldier.
Miffed
Sounds exactly like the plateful's of crap I had to eat for several years. I did the same, adapt and survive. All the while positioning for the day to leave. Worked out real well in the end for me. I can just tell that it will for you also.
P.S. It did cause me some pretty drunken Saturday nights, blowing off steam.
As for now, I just blame my drinking on ALL THIS CRAP.
"Now, I am determined to be smarter and less idealistic. I will beat them in their own game."
And its relatively easy to do because they can't keep track of the truckloads of business toxic bullshit they dumped even yesterday (let alone last week or month or year) but someone of superior intelligence can. I'm speaking of the ever-changing policies/procedures/standards that large corporations issue downward daily.
I've come to the conclusion that most of these "edicts" come from the bureaucratic layer just below the board member level, done so they can have something to show the board they have done to justify their existence.
"Management seems to be influenced by trendy theories how to extract the most blood from their employees. I have noticed this ranges from " the big stick" do as we say model to the " be a pal, we are all a big family" model."
Yes indeedy...lol.
Around here its complete departments of trackers & reporting on reports with departments who track the trackers along with followup conference calls as to why unattainable goals weren't met...followed by we are one big Team!
Good Lord, if people knew of the absolute waste of time & energy created by upper management in an attempt to see whats going on at the level where the rubber actually meets the road they would fire most BoD's and those just below them.
Thanks for the laugh! Funny there is such commonality between sectors and industries. It always comes down to sharks and minnows. Who survives and who does not. I have watched with amazement my husband gut a senior manager through careful chess moves the man could not see. Got him fired but it took quite a lot of patience and moving on narrow windows of opportunity. I couldn't believe a minnow could take down a shark but the minnow does have to be damn cagey. I learned from my husband my bull headed tactics we just not effective and I adapted my approach.May be mutability is just as important as smart.
Miffed
Yes, sharks & minnows, a good analogy.
When I first hired on I told them look, I just want to do the job I was hired to do, be paid for it promptly and go home to my family. I don't care about the intrigue & the intra or inter-departmental drama, leave me out of it. But of course it always finds you (meaning me) because you become a part of it, the thing I didn't want. So now I've learned enough (and have enough) to sink the careers of many people, if I had a mind to.
You recall the email I was talking about yesterday?
Today the portion of that "practice" that had the manager I spoke of being brow beaten by his superiors was amended, good corporate practice or...one never knows ;-)
Corporate America. A faceless and bureaucratic despotism with no identifiable despot. This is why I failed. My husband perceived this innately but I had to be face down eating dirt numerous times before I got it. There is no morality in chess.
I, as you, have made an attempt to keep my job at arms length. I made an agreement I would not do as I had done previously and " let all the shit" go, do my work and collect a paycheck. Of course this is never fully possible. Now their lunacy may cost me and my loved ones our lives which is a game changer but I have still kept my promise. They only see a nodding sycophant, not me.
"Today the portion of that "practice" that had the manager I spoke of being brow beaten by his superiors was amended, good corporate practice or...one never knows "
I never can understand the corporate practice of changing an appearance will result in the changing of reality. This creates more work environment stress than relieves. But I don't understand political correctness as a preference rather than the "horrible offensiveness" of honesty and truth. Not only are people not angry anymore, they are full of fear. A terrible combination.
Miffed
For what I'm about to say, please don't misunderstand, I have not turned into some rabid leftist...lol.
But once I recognized that most large corporations are basically being stripmined these days (to benefit the few at the top) it all started making sense.
They will state some pap about "shareholder value" one day and the very next day counterfeit millions of shares of stock to compensate themselves, making dear shareholders stock worth less, its a dilutive event as there is more stock on the market.
Then note the alliance of big biz and .gov on the issue of illegal immigration. Instead of warehousing them for a 24hr turnaround back across the border, they are sent to all corners of the country to await an extradition hearing they will never attend, only to pass foreign infections (of the body AND mind) to the general population and at some point, become a lower wage "worker bee" AND voter.
They are also stripmining the country, not just corporations.
I enjoy the back and forth of the two of you. I have to agree in general on most of your observations and experiences. I am in the corporate animal and do not have other realistic options, at present. My observation is that the corporation whether hospital or business sows the seeds of it's own destruction just like the USSR and leftist countries. It can be no other way. My proof is to look at the stock market in 50 year blocks and see who is up and who is down and ask why it is. 50 years ago GM was the biggest corporation in the world. By 2011 it is on welfare. Honestly and dispassionately...how many Wharton, Columbia and Ivy League business schoolers went through those institutions? Tens of thousands and yet they could not stop the decline. I believe it is the nature of the beast. Here are my three phases of corporate life...as I see it.
Phase I: Inspirational. This is the period when the founders and passionate entrepreneurs start the business whether it is an auto maker or a better cup of coffee. They are hands on experts and have a vision of how to do it right. They usually actually lack all the business skill touted in the Masters' degrees.
Phase II: This is when the founders and first generation are gone. This is when the "professionals" take over. The people who are actually good at working up the corporate ladder and the skills needed to do that take over and bring in more like them. They may or may not like the business and they tend to play it safe. They are not at all as good or as smart as their paychecks suggest. They tend to be pessimists and their ultimate answer to everything is to do more work. They have no ideas that will save the company and the company begins it's slow inevitable decline. The last ones leave with handsome severance packages. They often pay themselves more than the founders and early leaders.
Phase III: Salvage. This is when the finance people take over. They might be corporate raiders, too. However, it is almost always someone from the money side of the company, generally finance. Their job is to cut the size of the company to get revenues back under earnings. They are brutal and generally don't care about or like the business. They don't give a shit about a good cup of coffee, only that is sells for more than it costs and if they have to add water, cut an ounce or two and buy thinner cheaper cups...so be it. They don't even know how an automobile works. Their basic theory is "If we fire everyone (but me) we can save a ton of money." They merge with other companies or sell of pieces or even close the doors. Game over.
My proof is corporate histories.
I was talking to a nice old school physician today about healthcare reform, hospitals and even ambulance services and the dishonesty in how they bill. Hospitals are loaded with corporate suits of guys making hundreds of thousands who are good at the game and not necessarily medicine. I think if we try to divorce the charitable and humanitarian aspects of healthcare from the system we will get...about what we are getting now. It is rather heartless, cruel and dishonest the way things are done. In the end, the same exact people will run it into the ground. What is interesting are the names on the hospitals, "Baptist, Presbyterian, Good Samaritan, Sisters of Charity" and so on. They are all pretty much heartless and started as mostly charity.
Its a good point you make.
"______'s are loaded with corporate suits of guys making hundreds of thousands who are good at the game and not necessarily ______."
They are good at the game, whatever that industry happens to be. They also create a myriad of problems that degrade efficiency and effectiveness because they don't know the actual profession or protocols, just the game.
Its like plugging a banker into a mechanics job. He can talk a good line of BS to the customers but at the end of the day no ones car ever gets fixed ;-)
Yes, you got the point. They would tell you how to run the shop but not actually be very good or even understand how to fix the cars. They also will not listen to anyone who fixes cars as they are the "little people" without vaunted degrees. This is the beginning of their failure and it is why the new little shop down the road run by actual mechanics will eventually eat their lunch.
Absolutely! Sorry I hadn't come back to this thread for so long. My life has taken a few twists and turns recently.
It's facts like these that make me so frustrated I had never built my own business and lived by my own wits. I have traded freedom for safety and have ended up with neither.
Always good to talk to you ( and freedom guy too).
In comradery and respect.
Miffed
We do not all assume that. Some of us have tried it and found we don't have the knack for it. Not everyone is the same. If it came to simply surviving through self reliance I'm good to go. Finding customers and getting FRNs out of them, not so much.
I don't like meeting new people. Maybe that has something to do with it. Ya think?
How do you create a company?
Or, more to the point, how do you survive while you're in the process of creating your company?
Perhaps the answer should have been part of that guy's degree in entrepreneurship.
Or perhaps the real degree should go to the bloke selling the course, not the guy buying it.
collect morrel mushrooms! pan for gold, ha...
Either he needs to hand back his degree or he needs to sue for false advertising.
" The average cost of producing a barrel of shale oil in the United States is approximately 85 dollars. Now that the price of oil is starting to slip under that number, the "shale boom" in America could turn into a bust very rapidly."
This right here was Obala's motive behind the deal with the Saudi's. It wasn't to put pressure on Russia, it was to kill off the shale boom in the US.
Right. US oil is dollar bullish. That hurts SA but, more importantly, US Debt sales.
The Beatles - All You Need Is Love-HQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-pFAFsTFTI (3:46)
The Beatles - Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (HQ)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRtAO-nffz0 (3:08)
The Beatles Strawberry Fields Forever
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3jrWVp2L7U (4:15)
The Beatles - Taxman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtksJEj2Keg
ZH synchronicity. Heard this story today. When Harrison wrote that song, they were being taxed 90%! BUT, if you were in that bracket there was a 4% surcharge! "That's one for you nineteen for me"
While I agree that we are going down the shitter at warp speed, this article was the worst attempt at explaining the problems as I have ever seen.
A load of mixed metaphors and non-sequiturs.
No wonder we're doomed...
nice piece but all points should already be indelibly seered in minds of most ZH'ers
ZH has published this list about 100 times.
The Messed Up State Economy of the U.S. , there, fixed it for ya.
"Things are only going to get worse from here."
That is why the history books will be calling this a Great Depression.
And if you peel off the top 1%, the other 99% are probably 10% lower, we've seen the charts on ZH a dozen times, the lower you are the more you've been hit.
"Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night."
+1 for... Zombie Land movie reference? ^^
He is a DBA? Here's an idea. Use free website template and offer de-dupe and data hygiene services. Charge $700 per customer for a de-dupe of large housefiles. Build an index in SQL and learn the de-dupe script. Cold-call the RNC and DNC to de-dupe and hygiene political donor and constituent files. Work a shit job to save $1,000 and post an ad on Google where there is only Oracle tech support packages or software which doesnt work on very large files and still requires a learning curve of a programmer since most of them only know how to set-up a website table. $700 is an easy argument for the boss to clean a housefile.
Feel free to use this plan I already built, I am making money other ways with data that pay more. One machine to run scripts, 40 hours total learning and $1,000 ads for a $250,000 business. Have a nice day ;)
One of you bitches that run with this plan owe me a fucking beer someday.
So pretty much we can all agree that "government" certainly is not looking out for the average bloke here in USA.
next....................
The economic recovery that the media and talking heads have been bantering around is a manipulated myth. A manipulated stock market distorted by recent economic policy hides and mask the real truth, in many ways it is ground zero in the war to convince us all is well.
The American people and Main Street will tell you they are far from convinced that it is smooth sailing ahead. Huge weakness in the economy has been shown by numbers that barely get by even after record amounts of stimulus. Fact is if QE or the massive government deficit spending that props up our economy is removed it will fold like a cheap umbrella.
Recent changes in how the GDP is figured , which boosted growth thus reducing the debt to growth ratio, and attempts to spin poor numbers regarding employment have been met with skepticism. More on this subject in the article below.
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2013/10/myth-of-economic-recovery.html
A "Winston Smith" Economy.
An American, not US subject.
"Or is it a 'memory-hole' economy?!"
The American people have two types of votes. One is participation and acquiescence to the system. The other is rejection and nullification of the system.
If the system is legal and just as prescribed by the "law of the land," the Constitution, then participation is a benefit to self and one's neighbors. However, if the system is criminal and unjust, then participation is not only a detriment to self, but is also detrimental to one's fellow Americans.
The first step against a criminal and unjust system is withdrawal of one's acceptance and participation in said system: If the system serves you, embrace it. If it only serves the powerful and elite, Reject it.
The most powerful weapon the American people have is Rejection.
The system of fraud and theft that has been built up upon the backs of the American people is dependent upon our backs. Withdraw our backs, and the whole scheme collapses. This is our greatest weapon.
Quit Paying--Put it into food, and precious metals, etc.They stole what ever "debt money" they loaned you in the first place (fractional reserve banking) and soon you won't be able to pay them anyways.
Quit Obeying--If they are in violation of the Constitution then they are not legitimate anyways.
Quit Playing--Quit being a tool for them to use.
The Four Rs Rejection: Quit paying, quit obeying , quit playing Revolution: It is inevitable, so prepare, as they are. Retribution: The guilty must answer for their crimes against the American people and the Constitution. Restoration: Restore the American people, country and Constitutional republic.
Lol @ degres in Entrepreneurship.
Get an accounting or enginering degree and STFU!!
I've worked with high school drop outs, kids still in college and physistics/electrical engineers.
They all had skills like programming and were gainfully employed.
These people need to learn skills, not get degrees in entreprenuership
~DipshitMiddleClassWhiteKid
Nike expropriated it, but I am taking it back:
Just do it!
I would also add, fuck the thieves of government and their bankster masters.
Just do it! Fuck them!
An American, not US subject.
If one factors in all taxes, including those called fees and fines, and price inflation from fiat "printing," government makes more money than the private sector. If one removes fascist firms like Lockheed, Blackwater, Halliburton, etc., then government make dramatically more than the private sector.
Running will help .
https://www.academia.edu/8899526/How_to_run_faster_and_why_
In this case , something is gaining .
Duplicate
Wait a minute!
"and he has around $150,000 in student loans." So, you go into massive debt for a degree that most honest-to-god entrepreneurs never needed, and never will need and would likley say ain't worth a bucket of warm spit.
You're 42 years old! Apparently, you slept through a few lectures. Entrepreneurs create jobs, including their own!
Jesus-H-Christ, Mr Gomez, quit taking money from your mother and go grow a pair.
Back to killin' snakes...
Mongoose, just goes to show how distorted the "educational" system has become. Entrepreneurs are self-made, not educated into business. His prof could have saved him 150 grand by kicking him out the first day with instructions to get out and clean drains, mow lawns or do something on his own to make money. Beginning like that Alex Gomez would now have his own little business, be productive and shaking his head at the craziness around him.
We need a military coup to take over the government. Their first order of business should be to execute all 536 members of Congress, the entire executive branch and the Supreme Court for treason. Freeing the American people from the tyranny of Washington would be a national day of liberation which would be celebrated forever.
Except there are a few REAL Constitutional conservatives in CONress worth saving.
Regarding the article, this just in: 0bama tax hikes bring in over $3 trillion of fed revenues for F/Y 2014.
That's $3 T that could have been left in people's pockets to grow the economy.
http://dailycurrant.com/2014/07/15/obamas-summer-vacation-costs-taxpayers-37-billion/
40 million on Obama's vacations seems like a bit of an understatement...
Just because you have a "Masters Degree in Entrepreneurship" does not make you one. You don't need a degree in anything to be a real entrepreneur. Many times having a college degree is nothing more than putting lipstick on a pig. Just look at all the brilliant Ivy League folks running this country (into the ground).
If I were to give advice to a youngster today it would be, study hard and learn all you can in high school. Skip college. Go right out into the real world and learn from others who know more than you with the mindset that you want to be your own boss. Sooner or later reality will settle in and you will either be the boss or not. In any case you will have more pride in yourself and feel more accomplished without being brainwashed by college professors who have ZERO real world experience. Plus you would have saved you and your parents a ton of money and any debt incurred would have been spent on your own desires and dreams and not of others.
Enjoy the ride, because whether you are the boss or not - you are the driver.