They can get away with treating workers like cattle as long as the actual unemployment rate is abut 12%. That guy who worked on your computer is functionally unemployed, but not according to the widely reported unemployment rate. That rate is completely useless. The rate you need to look at is called "U6":
That one catches all the people who are forced into part time or employed way below their skills. It doesn't include those who are completely outside the work force, and that number is even high of course. But U6 gets all those who are actively trying to hold down a job.
And notice what it tells us. It tells us:
a) Contrary to what 90% of the "experts" and 99% of the media tells us, this recovery is actually stronger than the past 2 recoveries
b) The issue is not the strength of recovery. The issue is just how badly the economy was screwed by the Bush meltdown.
We needed a New Deal and we got a package of timid stimuli together with a bunch of counter-productive tax cuts to placate Republicans who didn't even vote for it anyway. If Obama would have done the full $700Bn in stimulus, we would be close to that historic 7.5% number today. That is the point when workers have some leverage, and the Republicans (and sadly many Democrats too) will fight like crazy to make sure we NEVER get back to that point.
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