Comments on: Opportunity nation? http://blogs.reuters.com/katharine-herrup/2011/11/09/opportunity-nation/ Mon, 18 Mar 2013 06:38:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: DrJJJJ http://blogs.reuters.com/katharine-herrup/2011/11/09/opportunity-nation/comment-page-1/#comment-1971 DrJJJJ Wed, 16 Nov 2011 01:07:00 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/katharine-herrup/?p=194#comment-1971 Solutions: Make many non essential government jobs into two-increases productivity and at least helps retain jobs! Speed up the patent process (it's on the table I think)! Increase taxes dramatically on alcohol, gambling and porn- the industries that could never pay enough for the harm they do! Make criminals pay for their court costs, jail time and police time-at least a larger portion! Limit lawsuits big time, medical in particular! Also, those that aren't passing in High school-send them home-their parent s will kick their butts back to reality-about a 50% grad rate now FYI! Teachers get paid much less than the current $75k/yr avg and yes, we'll need to raise taxes for years on everything under the sun for everyone, the rich in particular-was there every any doubt about this? Finally, we particpate less in any wars that small brained teerorist start and if they do, we get out the big stick in a hurry with all the super powers on board or we stop trade with them overnight! Solutions: Make many non essential government jobs into two-increases productivity and at least helps retain jobs! Speed up the patent process (it’s on the table I think)! Increase taxes dramatically on alcohol, gambling and porn- the industries that could never pay enough for the harm they do! Make criminals pay for their court costs, jail time and police time-at least a larger portion! Limit lawsuits big time, medical in particular! Also, those that aren’t passing in High school-send them home-their parent s will kick their butts back to reality-about a 50% grad rate now FYI! Teachers get paid much less than the current $75k/yr avg and yes, we’ll need to raise taxes for years on everything under the sun for everyone, the rich in particular-was there every any doubt about this? Finally, we particpate less in any wars that small brained teerorist start and if they do, we get out the big stick in a hurry with all the super powers on board or we stop trade with them overnight!

]]> By: DrJJJJ http://blogs.reuters.com/katharine-herrup/2011/11/09/opportunity-nation/comment-page-1/#comment-1969 DrJJJJ Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:53:05 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/katharine-herrup/?p=194#comment-1969 America will soon have 80 million baby boomers that plan to work longer than their parents with a pension did, automation/computers and internet business has displaced jobs as fast as we can buy them and government (Fed, state & local) is now almost 40% of US GDP-greater than all manufacuring & construction jobs combined with monster gov debt too! Also, poor morals & ethics (secularization of church and state-call it progressive) are behind most of our problems! We do have close to equal opportunity now (fact) but we have fewer opportunities for these reasons! Deflation for a generation is my guess-ala Japanese style or worse!Hope we come out the other end a better country! Prepare or suffer, you've been warned! America will soon have 80 million baby boomers that plan to work longer than their parents with a pension did, automation/computers and internet business has displaced jobs as fast as we can buy them and government (Fed, state & local) is now almost 40% of US GDP-greater than all manufacuring & construction jobs combined with monster gov debt too! Also, poor morals & ethics (secularization of church and state-call it progressive) are behind most of our problems! We do have close to equal opportunity now (fact) but we have fewer opportunities for these reasons! Deflation for a generation is my guess-ala Japanese style or worse!Hope we come out the other end a better country! Prepare or suffer, you’ve been warned!

]]> By: ChrisPawelski http://blogs.reuters.com/katharine-herrup/2011/11/09/opportunity-nation/comment-page-1/#comment-1965 ChrisPawelski Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:24:37 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/katharine-herrup/?p=194#comment-1965 Opportunity? What opportunity? Hurricane Irene has destroyed our onion crop and wiped out our family farm. The federal crop insurance program is worthless and no disaster aid is getting passed by this Congress for farmers in the northeast. My wife and I have been un-paid advocates for our valley for about 15 years (here is the link for my testimony before the U.S. Senate last year about the worthless crop insurance program http://bit.ly/stP73C) and we can't believe it has come to this. I was on the Hill in September and nothing has changed recently. They are no closer to passing any sort of crop loss program now than they were then. Farmers were not only wiped out by Irene and Lee in my area, but were also wiped out across the northeast and the best they can do is maybe pass measly programs that will cover conservation practices that have nothing to do with crop losses. The public will be told farmers will be helped and that’s quite simply crap. Our government is dysfunctional and unwilling to provide the real help we need but we don't think it represents how society feels. When the local ABC and News Radio WCBS piece and local pieces ran about my eBay ad there was a strong outpouring of concern expressed to me for farmers getting real help. A farmer shouldn’t have to do this, my eBay ad, in the hopes to save his farm. Dozens of farmers are teetering on the edge of going out of business. And all of the businesses that depend on them, the seed dealers, the pesticide dealers, the tractor dealers, the supply companies, the repair persons, the fuel companies, etc ... all down the line, in these rural communities, are all now teetering as well, as we farmers are on the brink. Again I ask, what opportunity? Opportunity? What opportunity?

Hurricane Irene has destroyed our onion crop and wiped out our family farm. The federal crop insurance program is worthless and no disaster aid is getting passed by this Congress for farmers in the northeast.

My wife and I have been un-paid advocates for our valley for about 15 years (here is the link for my testimony before the U.S. Senate last year about the worthless crop insurance program http://bit.ly/stP73C) and we can’t believe it has come to this. I was on the Hill in September and nothing has changed recently. They are no closer to passing any sort of crop loss program now than they were then. Farmers were not only wiped out by Irene and Lee in my area, but were also wiped out across the northeast and the best they can do is maybe pass measly programs that will cover conservation practices that have nothing to do with crop losses. The public will be told farmers will be helped and that’s quite simply crap. Our government is dysfunctional and unwilling to provide the real help we need but we don’t think it represents how society feels. When the local ABC and News Radio WCBS piece and local pieces ran about my eBay ad there was a strong outpouring of concern expressed to me for farmers getting real help. A farmer shouldn’t have to do this, my eBay ad, in the hopes to save his farm.

Dozens of farmers are teetering on the edge of going out of business. And all of the businesses that depend on them, the seed dealers, the pesticide dealers, the tractor dealers, the supply companies, the repair persons, the fuel companies, etc … all down the line, in these rural communities, are all now teetering as well, as we farmers are on the brink.

Again I ask, what opportunity?

]]> By: KarenParloc http://blogs.reuters.com/katharine-herrup/2011/11/09/opportunity-nation/comment-page-1/#comment-1960 KarenParloc Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:55:10 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/katharine-herrup/?p=194#comment-1960 Excellent article Excellent article

]]> By: edgyinchina http://blogs.reuters.com/katharine-herrup/2011/11/09/opportunity-nation/comment-page-1/#comment-1952 edgyinchina Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:44:25 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/katharine-herrup/?p=194#comment-1952 Checksbalances: You need to take an economics lesson... many of them.... I teach Economics. Would you like to sign up for a class ? ? Checksbalances: You need to take an economics lesson… many of them…. I teach Economics. Would you like to sign up for a class ? ?

]]> By: Checksbalances http://blogs.reuters.com/katharine-herrup/2011/11/09/opportunity-nation/comment-page-1/#comment-1917 Checksbalances Fri, 11 Nov 2011 20:56:58 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/katharine-herrup/?p=194#comment-1917 Is'nt this the main problem? The result of unbridled, relentless, financial-economic ultra liberalism: "Was not it just unwillingness from the side of the GOP that stopped Obama from creating at least some jobs that could not be exported and would leave a stronger backbone to the American Society? Then…laissez faire prohibits import duties, so if you would try to balance out too cheap imports…the only way to recreate heavy industry…you would find the “trade liberals” against you. I am afraid that if the West will not introduce limitations to the supply side economy we will never survive this game. We only think markets(money), not people (work)" Are we going to find an answer for that, the Chinese also have a good education system, they also take their opportunities, they are however taking wages that would just pay our rent.....in a controlled economy, so it would take very long to come alongside us. Is’nt this the main problem?

The result of unbridled, relentless, financial-economic ultra liberalism:

“Was not it just unwillingness from the side of the GOP that stopped Obama from creating at least some jobs that could not be exported and would leave a stronger backbone to the American Society?
Then…laissez faire prohibits import duties, so if you would try to balance out too cheap imports…the only way to recreate heavy industry…you would find the “trade liberals” against you.
I am afraid that if the West will not introduce limitations to the supply side economy we will never survive this game. We only think markets(money), not people (work)”

Are we going to find an answer for that, the Chinese also have a good education system, they also take their opportunities, they are however taking wages that would just pay our rent…..in a controlled economy, so it would take very long to come alongside us.

]]> By: robinbugbee http://blogs.reuters.com/katharine-herrup/2011/11/09/opportunity-nation/comment-page-1/#comment-1906 robinbugbee Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:27:28 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/katharine-herrup/?p=194#comment-1906 Katharine: I think you should also consider the part that unreaistic job expectations are playing in the response of well educated privileged young people to their inability to find employment. If you go back 10 or 20 years, it was common for young people to seek summer work experiences in almost all economic groups beginning at the age of 16 (when it was legal to work in most geographical areas). It was routine to find such jobs in summer camps, chain fast food restaurants (like McDonald's) resort areas and retail businesses. That kind of employment, which was somewhat tedious and low paying not only taught us that work sometimes meant showing up on time and doing something that we might not like very much under the direction of a superior- all lessons that need to be learned in the transition from adolescent to someone who was serious and ready to work. Beginning about 15 years ago, high school and young college students began abandoning this kind of work in favor of "educational and societal enrichment programs" and unpaid "internships". Trips to thrid world countries to do "development" work replaced actual work experiences and companies like McDonalds (which at one time was one of the major "first job" entry points for young people) stopped hireing anyone without a high school diploma making these jobs unavailable to anyone still in school and on summer break). Couple this with the experience of inexperienced business school graduates snareing $200,000 annual salaried jobs in the financial community and you end up with what we have now: a population of well educated people who are totally unprepared for the reality of the job market and whose expectations, even in good economic times, is wildly out of line with the kind of jobs and remuneration that is the average for most. The other factor that needs to be considered is that college loans and the roll our university system plays in those loans is seriously flawed. Rhode Island School of Design in Providence is a good (bur surely not an isolated) example. Although jobs in Graphic Design have been decimated by both the economy and the computerization of that industry, RISD continues to churn out a growing number of graduates in that field every spring. Because of the low level of aid available in that institution many of these young people are graduating with loan totals of more than $50 to $90,000 with no reasonable expectation they will every be able to use the expensive skills they have gained in an exployed position that will allow them to both live a satisfaxtory life and repay their loans. This is going on throughout colleges and universities in this country and even in a great economy, would create serious employment problems. Lastly, I cannot emphasize enough the roll that the kind of "woe is me" pervasive attitude to our current problems is playing in our current crisis. It is a part of our American character that we can always find a way to solve the problems we face. I am personally confident that the work I have put into starting and growing a small business will eventually pay off for me in real terms. But the constant regurgetation of negative financial news and difficulties around the world seems to be creating a climate where the self confidence needed to confront a problem and then surmount it is severely lacking today. Possibly because our young people have not had to work and their expectations are so inflated and partly because our soon to be retired baby boom generation is threatened by an economic inability to retire and a concurrent inability to find the continued employment they need in order to continue to support themselves in their declining years we are becoming a nation of people who spend most of their waking hours complaining about how bad things are instead of trying to find workable solutions to the changing landscape we all face. Katharine:
I think you should also consider the part that unreaistic job expectations are playing in the response of well educated privileged young people to their inability to find employment. If you go back 10 or 20 years, it was common for young people to seek summer work experiences in almost all economic groups beginning at the age of 16 (when it was legal to work in most geographical areas). It was routine to find such jobs in summer camps, chain fast food restaurants (like McDonald’s) resort areas and retail businesses. That kind of employment, which was somewhat tedious and low paying not only taught us that work sometimes meant showing up on time and doing something that we might not like very much under the direction of a superior- all lessons that need to be learned in the transition from adolescent to someone who was serious and ready to work. Beginning about 15 years ago, high school and young college students began abandoning this kind of work in favor of “educational and societal enrichment programs” and unpaid “internships”. Trips to thrid world countries to do “development” work replaced actual work experiences and companies like McDonalds (which at one time was one of the major “first job” entry points for young people) stopped hireing anyone without a high school diploma making these jobs unavailable to anyone still in school and on summer break). Couple this with the experience of inexperienced business school graduates snareing $200,000 annual salaried jobs in the financial community and you end up with what we have now: a population of well educated people who are totally unprepared for the reality of the job market and whose expectations, even in good economic times, is wildly out of line with the kind of jobs and remuneration that is the average for most. The other factor that needs to be considered is that college loans and the roll our university system plays in those loans is seriously flawed. Rhode Island School of Design in Providence is a good (bur surely not an isolated) example. Although jobs in Graphic Design have been decimated by both the economy and the computerization of that industry, RISD continues to churn out a growing number of graduates in that field every spring. Because of the low level of aid available in that institution many of these young people are graduating with loan totals of more than $50 to $90,000 with no reasonable expectation they will every be able to use the expensive skills they have gained in an exployed position that will allow them to both live a satisfaxtory life and repay their loans. This is going on throughout colleges and universities in this country and even in a great economy, would create serious employment problems. Lastly, I cannot emphasize enough the roll that the kind of “woe is me” pervasive attitude to our current problems is playing in our current crisis. It is a part of our American character that we can always find a way to solve the problems we face. I am personally confident that the work I have put into starting and growing a small business will eventually pay off for me in real terms. But the constant regurgetation of negative financial news and difficulties around the world seems to be creating a climate where the self confidence needed to confront a problem and then surmount it is severely lacking today. Possibly because our young people have not had to work and their expectations are so inflated and partly because our soon to be retired baby boom generation is threatened by an economic inability to retire and a concurrent inability to find the continued employment they need in order to continue to support themselves in their declining years we are becoming a nation of people who spend most of their waking hours complaining about how bad things are instead of trying to find workable solutions to the changing landscape we all face.

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