So The Unemployed Don't Want To Work

[DemocratSinceBirth]

Fuck anybody who believes that and anybody who looks like them. I went to the library to use the computer. Our lap top doesn't have a printer and I needed a printer to print something. It seemed that every computer was being used by someone searching job listings or sending out resumes.

[PA Democrat]

1. The average unemployment check is around $300 a week.

Not many people would "choose" to try to support their families on that amount. It's like an extension of the comment about the "lucky ducks" who don't have to pay federal income taxes.

If being poor and out of work is so effin' great, why aren't people quitting their jobs in droves?

[thecrow]

2. You have to pay taxes with unemployment too

I was kinda surprised about that.

[Xicano]

8. It wasn't always so until Ronald Raygun.

eom.

[zbdent]

3. similar statements are made about the "prison population" ...

how they have it so "good" in jail.

Any time someone will point this out to me, I am going to ask them why they don't hold up a gas station with a gun, and that way, they can have it so "good" themselves ...

[raccoon]

10. Great response to such dumbasses! nt

[old mark]

4. ...right, and people who work for the government make too much money.

Some people here are just assholes.

mark

[RockaFowler]

5. My husband has been out of work for 8 months

He wants a JOB. He can't stand what little money he's getting from Unemployment. And the fact that he may lose the benefits soon make it impossible for us. $275 a week is nothing. Not when he was making $800 a week 8 months ago. So why would he want to stay on Unemployment?? The Repukes disgust me. And anyone who believes their filth disgust me, too.

[femmedem]

6. In my neighborhood people line up at 5:30 a.m. at Labor Ready

and stand outside until they open, hoping for a day's work.

[Recursion]

7. My last roommate

would find a construction job and work it until he got laid off, and then stay on unemployment for as long as he could. Once it got cut off he would find another construction job. I have no idea what percentage of recipients he represents, but he's the kind of person that gets people's hackles up about unemployment.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

15. And That's Another Common Right-Wing Tactic

Take the ONE example of somebody abusing the system (and it's usually anecdotal--it's somebody they knew, or a relative of somebody they once knew, or something like that), and then use it to imply that EVERYONE is doing that. Despite the fact that those who abuse the system comprise about 10% of the people on unemployment. Aren't they the ones who love to shout, "Don't punish EVERYONE for the indiscretions of the FEW!!!"?

[Recursion]

16. Two things

and then use it to imply that EVERYONE is doing that.

I don't know of anyone who's said everyone is abusing the unemployment system. For that matter I don't even know if my roommate was "abusing" the system; he followed all the rules.

Aren't they the ones who love to shout, "Don't punish EVERYONE for the indiscretions of the FEW!!!"?

Who's "they"? I think most of the people who are for cutting off unemployment benefits are pretty explicit about being ok with punishing the many for the actions of the few.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

17. re: Two things

1. Right-wingers view people who are "able" to work but choose not to as abusers of the system. And in truth, they really are, because that money is meant to help people who CAN'T find a job weather the storm. But like I said, the evidence of people who take unemployment money despite not really needing it comprise about 10% of everyone on unemployment. The reality is that right-wingers simply can't imagine a scenario where everyone in the world isn't exactly like themselves, with all the inherent benefits of sound mind, body, and upbringing that they take for granted every day. And because they think everyone is like them, they think everyone on unemployment COULD be working, but just choose not to.

2. "They" refers to right-wingers, and that argument comes up most often when discussing gun rights with them. They don't want any kind of gun laws made because that's punishing all the responsible gun owners for the indiscretions of the few. But, since we know that right-wingers' "logic" is adaptable depending on which particular issue you're discussing at the time, they don't apply the same logic here. They know a guy who collected unemployment even though he didn't need it, therefore EVERYONE on unemployment collects it even though they don't need it. How many more times do I have to hear right-wingers tell the story of the "welfare queen who shows up to collect her check in her new Cadillac"? That story was PROVEN to be a myth when Ronald Reagan told it 30 years ago. Yet you still hear about a million different right-wingers who tell that story as if it's something they witnessed personally.

[Recursion]

20. Well, I'm personally against most gun control...

...so I might not be the best interlocutor on that point. But I think that as an extreme generalization conservatives are more willing to accept Type I errors (punishing the innocent) while liberals are more willing to accept Type II errors (not punishing the guilty). (Decreasing the chances of one increases the chances of the other.)

[kctim]

18. It is a common tactic of all

Highlight the negative in order to prove a personal opinion. See it everyday even on here.

The fact is that it is NOT just one example of abusing the system, people abuse it all the time. Its just that the person who drives by help wanted signs because those jobs are beneath them or the person who only works when it runs out, are far more noticed than the ten who are out searching for anything.
Its the same things as highlighting the one criminal with a gun while ignoring the millions of gun owners who are not criminals.

[raccoon]

9. Anyone who thinks that has their head jammed firmly up their arse. nt

[sellitman]

11. My Cobra was over $900/Mo

With a $300 weekly check and that payment I was living in the lap of luxury!

Why look for work when I obviously could live off the backs of hard working Republicans?


:banghead:

[dgibby]

12. FYI: There are several companies hiring in the Charleston, SC area.

Boeing and BAE are both hiring. Info is online. Both require at least a GED and to be able to pass background/drug tests. My neighbor got hired by BAE @ $20.00/hr+benefits after being out of work for 3yrs. Needless to say, he is one happy camper!

[Sal Minella]

19. I wonder if it's Boeing that's making the new "making war safer"

killer robots for the military.

If this job comes from one of those fat military contracts, then the Republicans CAN take credit for some job creation!

[babydollhead]

13. I don't want to work. I just want to make art.

I have pressure on me, from my husband and kids to earn money, and I do, by making art. It's just slow right now. I am only not a nervous wreck when I am making art.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

14. I've Been Using That Line For Years

Every time someone talks about how great things are for the unemployed and people on welfare, I ALWAYS say, "If it's so great, why don't YOU try it for a while?"

They always come back with some mealy-mouthed, self-congratulatory bullshit like, "I have too much self-respect to sponge off the hard work of others."

I think that deep down, they know that what they're saying is bullshit, but it's just easier to hate the poor than to help them. Very Jesus-like, those ones. I like to point THAT out to them, too. Then they usually declare that they're taking their ball and going home. You can never "win" an argument with a right-wing mouth-breather. The second you start making points they can't refute, they clap their hands over their ears and start yelling, "LA LA LA!!! I'M NOT LISTENING!!! LA LA LA!!!"