The Louisiana Heist

[Frankie Reloaded]

[Thunder_Snus]

There's 7.3% of the US population on unemployment benefits which I grant you is a larger problem than the UK.
A lot of those people would be genuinely either mentally or physically disabled so you could discount those...and granted you'll have quite a few professional lifestyle benefit claimers but doing my research here, there are a heck of a lot of people in the US that genuinely cannot find work.

That 7.3 is just the percentage of americans. Some states....particularly some of those south of the ol' mason dixon are much higher than that. It's easy to say looking at statistics that most of these people need it but its really not the case. These people are not using their benefits for what they are intended for, they are buying expensive foods to last a few days rather than decently nutirious food that has a long shelf life that is also cheap. That and the fact that what is considered a "disability" is incredibly different than what it used to be. I can't comment on what exactly applies for receiving disability, all I can say is that when i was a kid in 1st or 2nd grade the kids that wouldn't settle down and couldn't grasp concepts were "slow learners" now its like they are all automatically diagnosed with "add/adhd." and thats not to say that those conditions do not exist but it almost seems to be a catchall now. We give this stupid hippy interpretation that everyone has the same ability to learn but some people have these "conditions" that don't allow that when in reality some people are just stupid.

It is totally socially acceptable (atleast here in the US) to say "I'm smart but I'm a bad test taker." The whole point of a test is to find out what you know. If you are "bad" at it it means you do not know it. We just keep lowering the bar and some of the most outrageous shit once thought imaginable is totally acceptable to do. And even going back to that percentage 7.3% receive unemployment benefits....thats 219000 if you say there are 300mil in the us which that is much higher. Take into account a decent percentage of that 300mil is below working age or in retirement, and keep in mind stay at home wives are not part of that category. Fast food restaurants are ALWAYS hiring. Hell in the midwest there are industrial factories ALWAYS hiring. People just get brainwashed in school to think they are king of the world so something under 100k a year seems like an absolute insult to them. Everyone wants that high paying CEO job but noone is willing to mop the floors for the current one in order to get there.

[LincolnSnuff]

Unemployment benefits are actually a form of insurance paid for by employers in the US and subsidized by the government. It is reserved for those who have been laid off from their jobs and it is only available for a limited amount of time (usually 12-24 months).

Government assistance is a different story in this country. A recent study by the US Census Bureau showed that 49% of households in the US receive some form of government handout (welfare, food stamps, health insurance, disability, etc.):

Click thumbnail for larger version.

7.3% would be a vast improvement on the current situation.

[trebli]

Personally their needs to be more investment in keeping people sane when they are out of work and eventually getting them back to work which just isnt happening in the uk due to all the austerity cuts. Its going to be an endless cycle. The majority of people who have recently found work are working part time or on zero-hour contracts and are living life below the breadline.

Well I learned something new today. I didn't know the "part time only" jobs were becoming standard in the UK too. I thought it was only an American phenomenon. You see a lot of help wanted signs, but everything is part time and some companies are even changing long standing full time employees into part timers to avoid the new insurance cost and red tape.


I wonder if this is also happening all across Europe?

[Snusdog]

It is too expensive to pay the benefits required for full time employees.

Here in America........the majority (literally) of these people voted themselves right out of work.

[Crow]

[Frankie Reloaded]

...even changing long standing full time employees into part timers to avoid the new insurance cost and red tape. I wonder if this is also happening all across Europe?

In the freshly enslaved post-Commie countries like the one I live in the tendency is not to employ at all, but hire through a "temporary work agencies" which can avoid all labour restrictions and make their "clients" work 7 days a week for some two years. Then the worker is transferred into new "temporary" work agency. The usual pay is exactly on the level of minimum wage. Per month, not per hour. So it´s somewhere around 300 € for 30 days of work.

Be glad you live in the UK. Many local slaves dream of getting there...

EDIT: Sorry. I just noticed the "Location: Tennessee" in your mini-profile.

[Thunder_Snus]

Unemployment benefits are actually a form of insurance paid for by employers in the US and subsidized by the government. It is reserved for those who have been laid off from their jobs and it is only available for a limited amount of time (usually 12-24 months).

Government assistance is a different story in this country. A recent study by the US Census Bureau showed that 49% of households in the US receive some form of government handout (welfare, food stamps, health insurance, disability, etc.):

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2278[/ATTACH] Click thumbnail for larger version.

7.3% would be a vast improvement on the current situation.

Wow I knew the percentage was high but I was never aware it was damn near 50%. Thanks for the info. Just think how quickly our debt would be payed off if half of the population wasn't working to support the other half. America....we tell you to go out and achieve your dreams.....so people who don't can live slightly better off than you.