World

Prolonged Aid to Unemployed Is Running Out

by Babel-Fish | August 2, 2009 at 02:13 am

123 views | 18 Recommendations | 7 comments

Over the coming months, as many as 1.5 million jobless Americans will exhaust their unemployment insurance benefits, ending what for some has been a last bulwark against foreclosures and destitution.

This is a very bad position for people to be in what will Obama do about this pending problem? Social care has to be the only option other wise people will end up on the streets

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Rory Cripps

at 05:32 on August 2nd, 2009

Thank you for this story! I used to be a devout "free marketeer", anti-union, anti-welfare, and so on and so forth. You know . . . everyone needs to pull themselves up by their bootstraps as it were. In theory, I agree whole-heartedly with the self-reliance/educate yourself/work hard concept. But I've noticed throughout the past decade or so that here, in America, education, hard work, integrity, honesty, etc. doesn't get one very far in financial terms. I'm beginning to believe that this "American Dream" stuff is more of a myth than a reality.

If the fallout, spin-offs, job losses, etc,. as a result of the current recession, follow the same statistical pattern as the last few recessions, there's going to be millions of financially devastated Americans added to the welfare rolls and out on the street. America has experienced twelve recessions (including the current) since the end of World War II. But in those recessions, we didn't have the severe mortgage default and foreclosure problem that millions of Americans are now experiencing. We also didn't have the level of career displacement that 45% of the currently unemployed are faced with. Once a recession gets to a certain level, the line between recession and depression gets very thin.

sara star

at 05:44 on August 2nd, 2009

A good friend of mine, maintains that if we only looked after ourselves there would never be any problems. Instead of focusing on helping others, focus on yourself, and make sure nobody has to look after you.

I may not agree with it totally, but he does have a point.

Babel-Fish

at 17:10 on August 2nd, 2009

Its surprising how those that have selfish related streaks, that state I think we should look after our self's, become selfish in requiring aid when they have no job and no money. Their attitude seemingly changes over night.

Selfishness is in fact the main human trait that is the cause of wars and crimes.

Rory Cripps

at 06:24 on August 2nd, 2009

sara star: Does only looking after ourselves include family and friends or is meant literally? I couldn't imagine not looking after others. JEEZ! Sounds reminiscent of Sartre. In theory, your friend may have a valid and logical point but how is it possible to look after our self without looking at what the guy next to us is doing?

Roy C

at 09:53 on August 2nd, 2009

I am with you, Rory.

I have never believed in total free market solutions and consider them utopian. Same for so-called "free trade", an excuse for local rich folk to milk some poor people in other countries and escape our SEC, our FTC, our environmental laws, and our unions.

And, now, China has the factories and the capital, and what we have is the debt. So, our party is over, and so it is for our "suppliers" of what it took to go off on this folly: the purchase of our debt and the stripping away of our manufacturing capability.

So, we can't sell the debt or we can only in the face of continuing bad news, and we can't produce the wealth making and selling things to ourselves as we did so well since before the Civil War.

Next comes, as we used to say in the old neighborhood, "nobody gettin' nothin' " because that is all that is left.

We can't pay for our medical care if it is single payer and we own all the doctors as slaves or if we adopt "free market" solutions. The piggy bank has undergone a bout of anorexia nervosa.

Rory Cripps

at 10:18 on August 2nd, 2009

Anorexia nervosa! HA! You got that right! The party does seem to be over doesn't it? I guess that's what happens when a society allows itself to be dumbed down and scared down . . . .