This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
A Homeless Harvard Graduate In The Schizophrenic Job Market
Submitted by Daniel Drew via Dark-Bid.com,
The BLS continues to perpetuate the distraction officially known as the "unemployment rate" to hide the grim reality portrayed by the labor force participation rate, which shows the true decline of employment in America. The labor force participation rate of college graduates has never been lower. In the new normal, McDonald's has a lower acceptance rate than Ivy League schools. Just when you thought you had seen everything, a new story emerges: Alfred Postell has three degrees - accounting, economics, and law - but he is unemployed and homeless.
Postell graduated from Harvard Law School in 1979.
Here he is now.
Postell could possibly be the most educated homeless man in history, and his tragic downfall reflects a great failure of modern society. As The Washington Post reports, he used to work at Shaw Pittman Potts & Trowbridge. One day, Postell started talking about how the police were chasing him. The cops were not there. Then he went through a bad breakup with his girlfriend. Postell lost all sense of reality and spent the next 30 years drifting. Postell had schizophrenia.
Despite having a $35 billion endowment, Harvard has not taken any initiative to assist their former student. However, they gladly sought the attention of hedge fund manager John Paulson, who donated $400 million to the university last month. It seems like Harvard has developed a new theory of one-way reciprocation, a concept even the schizophrenic mind could not imagine.
Genius and schizophrenia have been linked before. The late game theorist John Nash is one example. Ironically, Nash made his greatest mathematical achievements at the height of his mental illness. Schizophrenia involves hyperactivity in the prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain that helps people make unusual connections between seemingly unrelated ideas. Perhaps Nash's condition was just an excessive manifestation of some kind of natural asset.
With the right assistance, the potential contributions people like Nash and Postell could make to society are enormous. When a Harvard graduate is on the streets, it's not a result of a schizophrenic mind; it's a symptom of a schizophrenic job market and a schizophrenic society that seeks short-term profit over long-term gain.
- 33419 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -


"Alfred Postell has three degrees - accounting, economics, and law..."
and that is why you fail....
Yoda
"Harvard has not taken any initiative to assist their former student"
WTF? Are you serious? They have some sort of duty to help him?
"If I had a father, .... "
Why would I be shocked? Its not like they teach correct information in school...
I like this site, but sometimes some utter shite is posted.
1 homeless person in 30 years. And that one is due to schizophrenia. I'd say that's pretty impressive.
too much half empty is no good for the soul, or the pocketbook
This Daniel Drew is one of the worst guest posters that Tyler has ever featured.
Harvard experiments with mind control of its students to feed them whatever government bullshit is popular and then sends them out to be CEO's etc... So, yah, they have some responsibility for turning this guy nuts. /sarc
I knew this cat named Dale/
Who didn't have a dollar/
He was Harvard material/
Ivy League scholar/
Had a PHD/
An MBA/
But now he's waitin' tables 'cause there's rent to pay/
Company's down sizin'/
Inflation's risin'/
Can't find a job/
He's feelin' kind of stressed/
Doesn't even feel the effects when he says/
Forgot to count how many times he's been blessed/
So he falls off track/
Starts smokin' the crack/
And once it hits his brain/
It starts a chain react/
Sells the shirt off his back/
The shoes off his feet/
He's losin' all his teeth/
Now he's out on the street/
And all of the sudden he's like Jesse James/
Tryin' to stick up kids for their watches and chains/
But he's from business school
And he's nervous with the tool
So he ends up on his back in a bloody pool
For the ends
It's pretty obvious that MOST economists, lawyers and accountants are fucking crazy.
Street Smarts and Street Fighting are sometimes more helpful then a wall covered with diplomas.
He doesn't appear to be missing any meals.
Only in American can an unemployed, poor, homeless, mentally ill person be fat.
it is a bit surprising that no jews or neocons were blamed in this article
I think by the time this mess is all said and done, many Harvard (and Princeton) economists will be lucky if they are only homeless, and not swinging from the end of a rope.
Don't forget feeling like someone is after them.
The author of this piece is corrrect -- he should sue Harvard. They let him in frauduantly on affirmative action, and graduated him fraudulently for the same reason. The stress of being a lawyer under false pretenses triggered his mental breakdown.
Now just get Jesse and Al to loudly cry racism and this poor homeless man becomes a millionaire. Minus everybody's cut, of course.
I doubt that will happen since almost all are busy with getting likes on Facebook to get even their pathetic real life. In absence of meaningful organization, nothing will take place.
Perhaps there's some clause in Obamacare that we're just now discovering. Thankfully we passed it so we can find out what's in it.
Still waiting to see what's in the TPP but it must be at least as good as Obamacare, what could go wrong?!
By the time you find out what is in the TPP it will have changed.
Duty to help him? No. Poorly written/argued article? Yup.
That said...
I'll bet Harvard has taken PLENTY of "initiative" to guilt their former student(s) into "giving back" to the ol' alma mater -- after the students paid in full for the degree granted by the illustrious institution...
Affirmative Action kicked in that time as well if I remember correctly...
Maybe he is doing you a favor, all the other graduates are fucking you up big time and he is only collecting welfare....
Good fukn job by the fudgepacker looking out for black people.... the fudgepacker has about as much in common with American blacks as white people do with polar bears...
So when do I hear about the first female homeless person with degrees in Women's Studies, The History of Feminism,...?????
Why the hell do you spend time (and money) on 3 different degrees ? It's like advertising that you can work either as a doctor, an engineer, or a cop. Whom do you think you're fooling ? Get one specialty, start some work and become good at it... unless you prefer to be a perpetual student, that is !
Yes but what actual Skills does he possess.
BTW - If you think about it, the three degrees he holds all contradict one another so ..... Cause and effect
Must be why Stanford has the lowest admit rate and highest yield of any us university. The difference between STEM and lib arts...oh well lib arts is still useful to be a barista ...blogger..and spout off whitty crap at a cocktail party.
and comment on ZH
At least Postell is living in DC. He'll get a hand out sooner rather than later down there. Let's hope that he doesn't go "postell" before he gets some sustainable help.
Yawn
The guy went crazy. This case reflects nothing at all about the economy or the worth of college degrees.
No comments... That makes me curious, does it make you curious? As if the blog does not exist...
Everyone is.......Insane!
To blame this man's troubles on the current job market is bull. He lost his job 30 YEARS AGO because of an untreated mental illness. The article does not discuss if he is currently on medication. 30 YEARS out of your profession would make ANYONE unemployable in that field.
Grasping at straws here all the while the market pushes higher.
"To blame this man's troubles on the current job market is bull..."
ok, now tell us about the other hundred million mother fuckers in addtion who have dropped out of the labor force and the other millions of mother fuckers on unemployment and SSdisability professor?????
just sayin.
EVERYTHING IS GREAT!!!!
But this article does not metion "the other hundred million mother fuckers" who have dropped out of the labor force. The article only talks about 1 man with a disability.
My comment was base soley on this article. If they wanted to discuss how bad the labor market is, they could have done a much better job than highlighting ONE MAN.
no biggie too me dude...
the story is just a distraction...i'll even down myself if it makes ya'll feel better
live long and prosper....
Spock out..
Why don't we send all our insane and violent criminals to a different country? Canada maybe? Just keep the immigrant train goin right on thru to Canada.
We send 535 to the Distric of Colombia at minimum every 2 years.
Harvard Shmarvard. If someone is clinically schizophrenic their marketability drops to near zero-at least in the professional world.
he's plenty qualified to be the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). I hear there's an opening....
But, but, but, the jobless rate is 5.3% - Yellen would not lie unless she is Satan's spawn.
David Stockman looks at 5.5% unemployment:
At the present time, there are 210 million adult Americans between the ages of 16 and 68—to take a plausible measure of the potential work force. That amounts to 420 billion potential labor hours, if we accept the convention that all adults are at least theoretically capable of holding a full-time job (2,000 hours/year) and pulling their share of society’s need for production and work effort.
By contrast, during 2014 only 240 billion hours were actually supplied to the US economy, according to the BLS estimates. Technically, therefore, there were 180 billion unemployed labor hours, meaning that the real unemployment rate was 42.9%, not 5.5%!
http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/the-warren-buffett-economy-why-its...
Just walk into congress and tell them you're a lawyer and you're here to help.......they'll put you on the DC payroll right away.
He really should just fit right in with the rest of them.
With today's paranoia, he probably shouldn't be going to interviews with a towel on his head.
Harvard should be on the hook for a graduates mental state of health?..WTF. Well we use to have institutions supported by the State to care for the psychologically impaired. It was the hallmark of a great society to care for the disabled. Now I Just see them in the street begging real people for assistance.
degree in Law = there is no law....worthless...
Degree in Economics = discredited discipline....worthless
degree in Accounting = FASB......worthless....
degree in Community Organizing - priceless....!
Community Organizing or Complying with Orders of TPTB?
This guy probably read too much zerohedge...
This has nothing to do with the job market and everything to do with devaluing college degrees. The more that have it the less it is worth. Expect the participation rate to fall. It will converge with the overall rate as the percentage of grads to the overall population increases.
He should have been a politician with those degrees. Nobody would have noticed the dribbling and ranting among the rest of them in congress.
(Very poor taste, I know. I was poking fun at the politicians, not this unfortunate guy with problems beyond this control. Sorry if I caused offence)
Maybe he can be a tackling dummy for the NFL for a season or 2, and then qualify for the brain injury/concussion benefits program.
I'm the last guy to defend Haahhvahhd, but why is this guy THEIR problem?
I've seen a few lousy ZH articles in my 5+ years here, but this one is about the worst. Worst click bait I've ever seen.
And if the story was about how Harvard reached out to help Mr. Postell obtain treatment, ZH would spin it that Harvard is charging poor students' tuition on treatment of a homeless bum. Lets use common sense, a private university has no obligation to provide health assistance to a former student, especially one who has not attended the school in 36 years.
Zerohedge is in serious need of some Zoloft.
Sick and homeless 30 years ago, a reflection of todays job market, absolute drivel.
Not one of your better inclusions, Tylers.
Probably thrown out here to be torn to shreds. Have fun with it!
I bet he was employable before he attended Harvard.
I like his headgear
"Stop looking at my headgear"!
i too lost my job - by way of droppig out of the labor force in 2007...
why u may ask??? (maybe - just sayin..)
because when i finally understood the REAL nature of the US debt based currency system, the TRUE nature of REAL MONEY, and that the FED was the tool of the International MoneyChangers who have fucked humanity every since its creation, i decided to say to the government it controls and the MoneyChangers FUCK U!!!
death to the MoneyChangers............
You are 100% correct. I wish I could say the same for myself!
Postell lost all sense of reality and spent the next 30 years drifting.
Once he lost " all sense of reality" - politics should have been his obvious choice.
Maybe he wasn't as out of touch with reality as those in Washington DC.
Last time I looked a shovel only needed ne personality...but you could have several per shovel.....he can still work....if they want to ..they being his personalities....but in DC..I bet the tips are great.....just a sign that says will vote for food is enough to clear 80 grand tax free..
I fail to see the point of this story.
Unless you're continuing your professional education (MD, JD, PhD,etc) , nobody cares where your degree came from after several years. They care about what you know, how well you execute and how driven you are to complete your work.
Nothing else matters.
The US job market sucks but it is not 2009 bad. Some areas are worse than others but there a jobs out there right now. Hate to be Debbie Downer but if people can't find work now they're really going to hate what's coming.
Sure the good jobs are there but they just aren't trying hard enough. Either that or they are enjoying the good life (like our friend in the article above).
Like I said the US job market sucks but I doubt that is what is happening with this guy. People have to remember that the corporation knows everything about you now. They know if you have filed with L&I, ever collected unemployment, sued an employer, have any expensive medical or psychological issues, your FB posts etc.
He is probably being black balled because of his medical issues, not surprising.
FFS, "accounting, economics, and law" -- three useless subjects. No sympathy.
....Are there no workhouses...?
If he were merely a functional sociopath he'd likely be a very rich man.
He could have gone into finance and destroyed countless lives, but instead can brag of 30 years starving the squid of income tax. I'd say his life has been a huge success so far.
So the point is that all Harvard Law graduates are schizophrenic, but some are on the street and others are in the White House? Yes, I see. I wish Harvard would take more responsibility for both. But in the improving economy of the future, if we just keep adding 200,000 more presidential positions per month for the next 300 years, we will eventually absorb all those currently in the non-participation category. Soon we will all be schizophrenic presidents together, kumbayah.
It has been my experience that it is best not to trust negroes. I have tried dealing with them, but every time, I have been lied to or deceived one way or another. I used to be liberal about dealing with negroes, not anymore. Just the other day I slightly backed into a negro's car. My insurance agent said the negro claimed bodily injury, all the while the negro was maintaining that he was out of the car when it was hit. I figure the negro was backing into me but needed to lie about it.
Louis Winthrop III? Is that you?
Yowzaa, boss.
Should have learned a trade to fall back on.
Genius may portend schizophrenia.
But Schizophrenia does not portend genius.
It seems unfair.
But it is entirely possible, likely even, to be both crazy AND intellectually value-less.
The comment that "it's a symptom of a schizophrenic job market and a schizophrenic society that seeks short-term profit over long-term gain" may sound intelligent, but I agree that this is not the best post.
To better comment on the state of things you might say that:
1. the incentives promote profit OVER people
- more specific . . . they promote a particular subset of persons (including corporations here since that is the state of things) with interests that aren't in the interest of 99% of the working poor.
2. We also have a large percentage of that 99% who through social engineering actually desire the very things that keep them in shackles, aka debt, mindless entertainment and uninformed decision making.
3. There is also a large portion of Academia that has been coopted by "persons" (aka corporations) that create consensus on policy matters which enrich the very actual humans who derive benefits from the system that shelters them from the consequences they manufacture.
To wit, I say this is not schizophrenic, but a horrible tragedy of the REALITY stemming from the decisions made from this 1%. The fact that the consequences are borne by hundreds of thousands of Alfred Postells so to speak (these are people with value who are wrongly considered 'human refuse' by some, and this unfortunate result is a rational outcome of the decisions made by the 1%.
Unfortunately these "extenalities" must be paid for by the 99%. Its as perfect of a system a psychopath could ever hope for. IF Daniel Drew made this man's name stick in our throats, and he has, he has shined another light on the self evident injustice.
Another Jimmy Carter success story!
I knew that some of ZH crowd were Sociopaths greedy bastards egoistic and egotistic whining pussies complaining that FED banksters fuck them up and stole money they supposed to make off gullible and/or stupid as in good old days.
But now when talking about true victim of the system their despise they are raising their psychopathic heads from a slumber of ignorance and proclaim their schizophrenic attitude: no mercy, no guilt no remorse, no compassion while eating food bought by money made up by those they swear to hate.
This guy is a victim of system, the system you hate, get it to you head and if not today or tomorrow, soon you will be next unless you are dead before hand. And do not give me this escapist shit.
Who says that this guy is more schizophrenic seeing thing that are not there than bankers, economist politicians, seeing things that are not there like great America, sound economy and healthy financial system.
Should they be locked up in mad houses or thrown out on the streets. I am looking for them all over and I cannot find them, they are living luxurious lives and lecturing us about our mental health while clearly hallucinating about reality.
This is not about anything but conformance to the totalitarian system that flows underneath propaganda veneer of democratic chaos and chance politics.
I suggest more compassion, humility and self-effacement since it could be you on the street tomorrow complaining about conspiracy to kick you out of your cushy chair cause you did not sang the song of those whose food you ate. Your former ZH pals won'be be listening to you immersed in their torpor as you are now. They will say it was your fault, your fault alone.
Very interesting and exclusive take on Dr. Nash struggles with mental illness and wider socio-political context I found at:
https://contrarianopinion.wordpress.com/2015/06/04/loss-of-beautiful-mind/
He's too old and that makes him unemployable in his chosen fields.
Maybe a car wash will hire him.
Or, he could start his own business.
Ivey Car Wash.
Well. look at what he's wearing...a T-shirt proudly touting Washington D.C. Herein lies the problem...he was brainwashed at Hahvad...just like that blooch in the White House...but don't mind me...I just have a strong dislike for Bo Jangles.
Haaaa! Too Funny. Great first comment to read!
The guy wasn't hired because he was schizo, he wasn't hired because he was black. Being schizo is actually an advantage in a number of professions: politician, anything in finance, anything in law enforcement, anything in real estate, anything in sales.
He must interview like dog shit
worthless article posted by a truly worthless idiot