The American Spectator

home
ADVERTISEMENT
Print Email
Text Size

Special Report

The Character of Unemployment

By on 7.22.10 @ 6:09AM

My response to an underemployed critic and to the blogger community.

A little while ago, I wrote a piece that appeared in The American Spectator with many observations about the recession. One was that among the people I knew who were unemployed, most had poor work habits or personalities that were difficult to work with. I said there were major and glaring exceptions to this observation but among my small circle, it was true.

A fellow named Aaron Crowe, who describes himself as an “…underemployed writer…” or something similar, apparently was disturbed by this suggestion. He wrote something angry about how offended he was that I would say that most of the unemployed had poor work habits or difficult personalities.  He seemed to think that even though I had not said so, I was describing the mass of the unemployed in my essay. He was REALLY REALLY ANGRY about it. Somehow, he associated this in his mind with the idea that all Irish were drunks. (This kind of thinking could have something to do with his underemployment or maybe I am just mistaken here.)

Anyway, all kinds of blogs and leftist websites picked this up and ran with it, one even suggesting that somehow I was part of a GOP plot to deny unemployment benefits to the unemployed even though I am on record contra that position.

So, I spent most of today thinking about this issue and with great respect to Mr. Crowe, may I please offer a few humble thoughts?

1. I have a small circle of friends and acquaintances. Their experiences may be totally different from the experiences of the rest of Americans.

2. Within that small circle, the persons who are long-term unemployed are generally, with some exceptions, lacking in good work habits or substance abusers or difficult to be around because of personality problems or have not bothered to learn new skills or are wildly unrealistic in what kinds of jobs they will accept.  They are fine people and I like them but they are troubled. This apparently has a lot to do with their economic situation. 

3. This may not at all represent workers in Hamtramck or Passaic or anywhere else. I suspect it has some bearing on their situation but maybe not a lot. I have not made a scientific study, although I would like to.

4. Some kindly soul wrote on the Internet that I must be wrong on this as a generalized matter because so many people with these disabilities were employed three years and now are not. But that is exactly my point. If there is high prosperity, anyone can get a job. When times are tough — and they are really, really, really tough now — employers tend to lay off or refuse to hire people with low productivity — and these tend to be people with poor work habits or poor personalities or unrealistic ideas about work, or some combination of these factors. That at least is my observation and I might be wrong. It does seem to make a tiny bit of sense that if an employer has any discretion at all, he will employ the most productive and not the least productive.

5. I am particularly struck by the fact that Mr. Crowe, my critic, is a writer as an occupation. That is a great job. I have been one most of my life and I love it and I am sure Mr. Crowe does, too. But chronic underemployment is part of the life of the writer unless he or she is a rare bird indeed. There are so incredibly many people who want to be writers and so few who are able to make a living as writers, and this situation is getting worse so painfully rapidly, that writers just have to accept that they will often be unemployed or underemployed unless they are truly exceptional. Most writers, or course, think they are exceptional, but alas, the market makes that decision. I wish Mr. Crowe well. I have been where he is on many a day, and I admire his eagerness to seize any opportunity to get exposure. Even so, writing is a tough gig. To believe one is entitled to earn a good living as a writer because he wants to is the essence of unrealism, a sort of magical thinking.  People who realistically will take any job that comes along can — in my limited experience — get work, even in this difficult era. People who insist on having glamour jobs like “writer in the Bay Area” may often be disappointed.

6. I am guessing that the point that Mr. Crowe and his pals on the left were trying to make is that because I pointed out a truth about the unemployed I know is that I am hard hearted. This is painfully the opposite of the truth. I am 65 now, as Mr. Crowe thoughtfully pointed out (in the context of suggesting that I am either insane or demented, a very sophisticated way to begin an essay). The main reason I am not as well situated for retirement as I should be is that I support so many unemployed people — some of them writers. It is the bane of my wife’s existence that money she thinks should go to our savings goes out to help unemployed friends. My critics on the left are pretty free with words of sympathy. How many of them pay for the mortgage payments of their unemployed friends, as I do, would be an interesting thing to know.  

In any event, good luck to you, bloggers. Keep coming back.

About the Author

Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer living in Beverly Hills and Malibu. He writes “Ben Stein’s Diary” for every issue of The American Spectator.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (167) |

drudge ette obama| 7.22.10 @ 6:24AM

Well done, and you are right. Cream floats to the top. What's not whipable lies on the bottom and stagnates. When the going gets tough, the tough get going - they don't write inane articles about human resource departments - they get a job. Even if it's painting a neighbor's house or cleaning houses.

Look at you, Ben Stein, "writer, economist, actor and lawyer" - you have a lot of options available to you because you made it so.

Congratulations on being a productive member of society.

JimH| 7.22.10 @ 8:45AM

If you have ever seen a sewage treatment plant, you know what else floats to the top.

Publius| 7.22.10 @ 11:34AM

Thanks for the amazing commentary! You've certainly raised the bar on this discussion! Please excuse the rest of us, though, as we return to thoughtful conversation.

Good luck on the job seach, JimH.

PJ| 7.22.10 @ 4:49PM

It also rolls downhill.

There are well paying positions for STP operators that are going unfilled because now everyone is too good to get their hands dirty. Our grandfathers would probably smack our collective mouths for becoming such a nation of whiners.

MyAngle| 7.23.10 @ 2:11AM

Another reason for unemployment, but then the market forces clean up the mess.

Poppy | 7.22.10 @ 9:41AM

I am three years and one day younger than Ben. I have been reading him for at least 30 years. His writing has often been so personal and specific that I believe I know him as well as any long-time friend. He is the least "hard-hearted" individual I have ever come across and worthy of great respect for his charity and consideration of others throughout his long life.

Just in passing, if I was looking for a small loan, I'd call Ben.

Sniklemot| 7.25.10 @ 7:31PM

Ben, what are your interest rates?

SeattleBruce| 7.26.10 @ 10:26AM

He probably doesn't charge usury. Helping friends is one of the best, and most difficult things you can do. Also, I've found many, many liberals who want to have the government do everything, but are unwilling to lift a finger to help themselves. Tasking the government, especially the federal government to 'do everything' is just a huge, lazy excuse, in my experience to do nothing.

We also help our friends during times of crisis - and we encourage them always in finding work or in connecting them with our local networks of friends, families and churches that can help. Sometimes the current jobs available are not the greatest - so yes, it does come down the pride and the will at times.

We all need to be compassionate to the poor, and to the unemployed generally - and the first, best compassionate thing we can do is to reign in the job destroying admin on 11/2/2010.

Maeve| 7.26.10 @ 3:45PM

Perhaps Ben Stein is a fine fellow but in writing about his circle of friends and applying those norms to the unemployed as a generalization he forgot to mention that his circle of friends are right-wing ideologues who generally don't work in any real capacity and are probably as nasty as most right-wing ideologues. Most people who actually work -- and therefore have the ability to collect unemployment benefits (as opposed to those that HAVE NOT worked in the past 18 months) are NOT generally right-wing ideologues -- or nasty.

Tom Davis| 11.13.10 @ 6:47PM

I am a fan of Ben Stein. I am considerably older. I am a Christian, Constitutional Conservative and have been as long as I can remember and before I could even identify that position. I believe in God, I believe that our forebears, the Puritan Fathers set a good example as did our rebellious Founding Fathers. What the hell is an idealogue? I doubt that either Mr. Stein or I are one. Help me straighten this guy out, Sir Ben.

Vern Crisler| 7.22.10 @ 10:59AM

Ben's circle of friends tend to be California, Hollywood types, so I can see how he would form the view that the unemployed are being difficult or are not hard workers.

Most of the unemployed (outside of California) are hard workers and intelligent. The main thing is to match them with the right jobs. However, when the government is intent on passing policies that kill jobs, it makes it much harder to match the right people with the right jobs.

Ben should be more charitable. Unemployed people (and I'm not talking about the permanent welfare dependents) are suffering a loss of dignity and hope, and need encouragement during these hard times. Ben's "you're not good enough" is more like the nagging of a wife or mom -- discouraging and counter-productive.

Tom| 7.22.10 @ 2:26PM

Vern,
You may or may not be right. However, you are making the same mistake as Stein: generalizing from the specific.

Vern| 7.22.10 @ 9:22PM

Hi Tom, check out Ben's cv.: "living in Beverly Hills and Malibu." That's Hollywood, pretty much.

MyAngle| 7.23.10 @ 2:21AM

Not his point. Ben doesn't have to be charitable in describing his friends. You generalized in morphing his description to counseling advice. Ben isn't beating anyone when they are down. Your attack ad hominem is a logic fallacy. I have been through enough corporate downturns to state categorically the stay or go decision is based on who is most productive and who is an integral part of the team (i.e. liked).

SeattleBruce| 7.26.10 @ 10:32AM

"You generalized in morphing his description to counseling advice. Ben isn't beating anyone when they are down. "

Exactly. Ben is making observations from his life that have some truth generally. Often writers will leave us to pull out the applications. He did not make the claim that this was true 75, or 50 or 25% of the time, correlative, vs. causative, and he mentioned that fact in saying he'd like to do a study on the matter, but hasn't been able to.

Tom Davis| 11.13.10 @ 6:53PM

Any insinuation that Ben is a 'Hollywood' type just because he lives there is really claptrap. If he lived on the dump in Mumbai, his character would be the same. He is a well-spoken, brilliant intellect who writes without rancor, hate or envy.

SeattleBruce| 7.26.10 @ 10:29AM

"you are making the same mistake as Stein: generalizing from the specific. "

So none of Stein's observations are true about productive and unproductive?

Mike| 7.22.10 @ 3:14PM

It may very well be true that some of the unemployed are intelligent and hard working. What they need to realize is that the game has changed. More than likely, the jobs they lost will not come back. The question, therefore, is where do they go from here? What are they willing to do to be productively and gainfully employed? It may mean moving to a different area or starting over. I can already hear the complaints that the unemployed "should'nt have to" make those adjustments. The sooner a person becomes productive (at mowing lawns, painting houses, bussing tables, etc) the sooner dignity and hope will return.

SeattleBruce| 7.26.10 @ 10:34AM

"The sooner a person becomes productive (at mowing lawns, painting houses, bussing tables, etc) the sooner dignity and hope will return. "

Right, and this is a matter of pride and the will. As is 'starting over' (which often implies retraining, going back to school, etc.)

ACynic| 7.22.10 @ 3:28PM

You have absolutely no idea if Ben's circle of friends are Hollywood types, unless of course, if you too, are a friend of Ben.

Vern| 7.22.10 @ 9:24PM

See, response to Tom.

BackToBasics| 7.22.10 @ 5:26PM

Mr. Stein, of all the commentaries and blogs about your article, I find it interesting that you would choose probably one of the weaker blogs as a defence since it just happens to fit into your idea about how much of the unemployment comes because so many Americans are lazy or irritable. Interesting that you ignore the blogs that speak about open borders that allow illegals and continually increasing H1-B visa quotas by foreigners to take jobs that Americans could and WOULD do. You are friends with Bush and Rove and it used to make me sick when Bush would defend open borders spak about about "jobs Americans don't wanna do." And he never addressed the H1-B visa quota increases but of course those are the good jobs such as engineers, technicains and doctors that are given to foreigners on these visas, jobs that Americans most definitely do want. And there is no shortage of skilled Americans in these fields either. Many engineers and technicians took jobs in low-paying service jobs and retail after the dot-com bust during which the quotas of H1-B visas were STILL increased by the Republican-controlled congress.

What used to make me exasperated about Bush and Rove is that at their age, they semed to understand so little about the selfishness of human nature. They thought that if they could get an amnesty-lite bill through for the illegals that the Republicans would get the Hispanic vote forever and ever and ever. That worked out well with black, didn't it? In 1964 it was Republicans who pushed for the Civil Rights bill to be passed and for many election cycles now we get all of 9% of the black vote. So what made Bush and Rove and I think probably yourself think that we could win the Hispanic votes if we passed an Amnesty-lite bill? Democrats, unlike most Republicans KNOW and UNDERSTAND the selfish bent of human nature. They know how to play that tune and consequently get the votes they want. Republicans cannot be Democrat-Lite. They must not play into selfish demands of millions. They must stand for principle. How was that Bush could not understand this most basic aspect of human nature? Or perhaps he did understand it and tried to play into it. But this is what made him a failure in the ways that counted most; the protection of America and her people and the building up of her own legal citizenry. Tis is why Republicans lost much of the conservative base in 2006 and 2008 and will continue to do so in the future if they don't get serious about protecting her own legal citizens first.

Yes there is some laziness and irritability but this is not the main problem. The main problem is that hard-working and highly-educated Americans many of whom happen to be white men are being ignored by Republicans for the sake of cheap labor at both the high and lwo end of the job market.

bruce b| 7.24.10 @ 10:02PM

mr. stien has made some valid points.but the bottom line still remains the same, too many workers and too few jobs.

SeattleBruce| 7.26.10 @ 10:43AM

"The main problem is that hard-working and highly-educated Americans many of whom happen to be white men are being ignored by Republicans "

I'm sorry - ignored by Republicans? If either party has a huge element within it, and growing, becoming more powerful and visible all the time related to illegal immigration, controlling the borders, et al - it's the Republicans. As to the H1-B visa issues, let's push that to the forefront as well. Even and including the inefficient union protections, the Democrats are clueless on the issue of illegal immigration and American jobs and have presided over the most massive UR in recent history.

Yes, let's fight for American jobs vigilantly - but let's not leave out the Democrats from our vitriol.

BillW| 7.25.10 @ 6:20AM

I wish all would watch this & see what unemployment looks like...Please.
http://marklevinshow.com/goout.....final.html

Tomas| 7.22.10 @ 11:17AM

#5 hits close to home with me, as I am a musician and an artist. Of course, I think my artwork is great (and have been told so by many of my friends - mostly by my friends.....), and my musical abilities are high.

But getting art sold and getting a gig is very hard. Even if I were to be successful, making big bucks is not a reality, because I don't have a "name." And many times even getting by is not realistic.

Life is not fair. But it's rewarding. You must choose on what level you will accept your reward, and be content. Once you find that level, you will find yourself much easier to live with.

-

Steve| 7.22.10 @ 6:58PM

He is out of touch with reality. No mention of age discrimination. No mention of how many people seeking few jobs. Those of us who would show the initiative by starting our own business don't have the resources and guess what? The SBA is out of money! Some who look for even part time jobs see 20 or more people in front of them for a clerk's job at 7-11. I am sick and tired of the one side commentary on those seeking work. How about the dysfunctional and destructive personalities that exist in these companies? Employers are not exempt from the kind of indictment leveled at those who are unemployed. I have personally lost out on $80-90K being on the "outside" and a $8.50hr job doesn't quite cut it.

Kevin Riley O'Keeffe | 7.22.10 @ 7:48PM

I'm so desperate, that when I read an article about how the local McDonalds are paying people around $12/hour (here in Silicon Valley, one of the most expensive places to live in the USA), that I went down there and applied. And I got an interview. But the interviewer told me that he'd give me a call, "if one of my workers decides to return to Mexico, as they periodically do." Of course, he never called. I guess those illegal aliens from Mexico were doing "the jobs Americans won't do." Neo-"conservative" douche bags like Ben Stein don't give a hoot in Hell about border security, unless it somehow relates to Muslims, and his people's tribalistic squabble over who gets to squat over the insignificant little land of Palestine. Then he's suddenly a super-patriot, but when it comes to a million Mexicans coming over the border into the USA each year, well, that's different. You wouldn't want some multi-millionaire to actually have to hire a native-born American, and pay him a living wage to tend to his garden(s), now would you? Oh, the horror!

Alan Brooks| 7.22.10 @ 9:10PM

"Neo-'conservative' douche bags like Ben Stein"

Stein is not even neo-con, he is a solipsist, though therre is no deception, he does not hide what he is. Above all, he worships his many houses and possessions.

Kurt| 7.22.10 @ 9:03PM

Steve,
Maybe playing the victim card is not working for you and maybe $8.50 an hour is all you are WORTH!!! Sorry to burst your bubble !

SeattleBruce| 7.26.10 @ 10:47AM

"He is out of touch with reality. No mention of age discrimination. No mention of how many people seeking few jobs. Those of us who would show the initiative by starting our own business don't have the resources and guess what? The SBA is out of money! "

Perhaps. But Stein is exptrapolating from his own experience with his friends, and never claimed a 100% scientific causation related to his comments. Taken in context his comments indeed make sense, and are not 'out of touch' in my humble opinion.

SeattleBruce| 7.26.10 @ 10:53AM

"I have personally lost out on $80-90K being on the "outside" and a $8.50hr job doesn't quite cut it. "

First of all, I'm sorry to hear of your troubles. You are indeed in a really difficult quandry. I hope you had emergency funds and have a good circle of friends around you - and perhaps a church that can help out. $8.50/hour might eventually put food on your table, although I don't envy you any of those choices. Working at the pea patches, which some of our friends are doing also will put food on the table.

We live in a VERY difficult new reality. Lastly, I sure hope you'll help throw out the job destroying Democrats, so we can all get this economy back to creating jobs.

Kevin Riley O'Keeffe | 7.22.10 @ 7:41PM

Sycophant alert!

Alan Brooks| 7.22.10 @ 8:18PM

All true, but when people Ben's age get so much from the transfer of funds from the young to the elderly (he doesn't even need it) they are gbasically loating about youth being worse off than them.
But I don't merely promise Ben, it is guaranteed to him it will avail him nothing, he will die someday and then his kin get everything:
no U-Hauls on the back of hearses.

Alan Brooks| 7.22.10 @ 8:19PM

funds from the young to the elderly (he doesn't even need it) they are basically gloating about youth being worse off than them.
But I don't merely promise Ben, it is guaranteed to him it will avail him nothing, he will die someday and then his kin get everything:
no U-Hauls on the back of hearses.

Reply to this

SeattleBruce| 7.26.10 @ 10:55AM

"he will die someday and then his kin get everything"

Not if the Democrats get their way - they'll get close to nothing.

Surfdumb| 7.25.10 @ 4:41PM

Stein picks another loser argument to bodge up after a piss up. But then what do you expect from an overly cheeky wanker. Sure, blame the victims of decades of leftist keynesian destruction and crony capitalism - that's the way to go.

Surfdumb| 7.25.10 @ 4:49PM

Whoops! Mark Steyn / Ben Stein, all talking heads to me, guess I bodged that one!!

Laura Schleifer| 7.27.10 @ 1:23AM

Drudge Ette Obama, before you jump to congratulating Ben Stein on his "float to the top from the bottom" to become a "productive member of society with a lot of options available" because he supposedly made it so, you might want to invest 2 seconds of your time in a google search to find out just what Ben Stein's journey to reach his current position of privilege entailed.

It turns out that Ben Stein is the son of noted Economist Herbert Stein, the former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under Presidents Nixon and Ford. Herbert Stein was also a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and was on the board of contributors of The Wall Street Journal.

I don't suppose his family background MIGHT have something to do with Ben Stein's current status as an economist, lawyer, actor, and writer...?

Ah, yes. Ben Stein is yet another "self-made man" who worked his way up from "humble beginnings" (cough, gag, choke) to achieve the American Dream--and to look down his nose at "those [literally] less fortunate".

Daniel| 7.22.10 @ 6:25AM

Well put, especially the part about unrealistic expectations. By the way, Martin Luther's wife had similar issues with her husband as yours has with you

Alan Brooks| 7.22.10 @ 9:06PM

Stein doesn't know what it is like to suffer economically, so he can't know what it is like and:
thus he does not know what he is writing about.

SeattleBruce| 7.26.10 @ 11:00AM

"Stein doesn't know what it is like to suffer economically, so he can't know what it is like and:
thus he does not know what he is writing about. "

Interesting perspective. Have you ever visited somone in the hospital that has some form of cancer that you don't have? Maybe you've never had cancer - so can you not 'know what it's like' and should you stay home and not visit and show compassion? Or perhaps, you've been sick in other ways and can extrapolate. All human suffering to some degree relates.

Don't you think Stein has suffered at all - even when younger, etc.? Don't you think he's capable of relating to us all on a human level? Do you think the friends he's helping with their mortgage payments currently think he's incapable of relating to them, even though they may not appreciate the tone of his article?

NVA Patriot| 7.22.10 @ 6:39AM

Ben Stein is right.

I manage people. I have been on both sides of the lay-off/laid-off equation. I also have no gaps in my work record on a month to month basis.
A pleasing personality+high productivity+understanding the difference between Boss and employee+a consultative attitude towards customers (your boss is a customer OF YOURS)+ basic courtesy is the equation that I have observed maximizes employment and minimizes economic hardship. That's the personal equation.
There is one situational factor to consider - you must seek work where people are paying. Looking for a car assembly job in Detroit 1950 is a great idea, Doing the same in 2010 is nuts. Alabama 2010 would be a better place to look for car assmbly jobs. The same can be said for many other industries. Unfortunately, our Federal Government today is so hungry for the gold from the golden free eneterprise goose that they are killing the goose with their greed inspired regulations, re-distributionist health care, and conversion of the economy from Free-enterprise driven to government driven. This process is failing and the high unemployment numbers reflect the failure. Hopefully this coming election will change our leaders sufficiently to staunch the bleeding. It will take a 2012 free enterprise oriented President to begin a recovery.

Kevin Riley O'Keeffe | 7.22.10 @ 7:55PM

You're so right, sir. Americans are just little economic tokens on a game board, who should all be willing to relocate across the county every 18 months, in order to chase a paycheck. We can't possibly raise our children in a single school district, or have anything akin to a sense of community that comes with being settled in a particular locality, and all that old-fashioned fogey, William Kauffmanesque stuff that they probably like over at Chronicles. We have to compete in the global economy! Which means we all have to live like shit, and fucking like it, apparently. Work harder, for more hours, less money, and fewer benefits, with no job security or employer loyalty what-so-ever, AND be willing to relocate every 18 months to boot. What a great life! For those who can even find a job at all, that is. And since there are actually more unemployed people than there are jobs, many will not.

SeattleBruce| 7.26.10 @ 11:04AM

"Americans are just little economic tokens on a game board, who should all be willing to relocate across the county every 18 months, in order to chase a paycheck."

That's not what NVA Patriot said. He mentioned the difference between Detroit in 1950 and Alabama in 2010. That's hardly 'every week.'

Alan Brooks| 7.22.10 @ 9:03PM

But Stein has it better than 80 percent of people-- in every way.

Appleby| 7.22.10 @ 7:33AM

As I mentioned in my response to your previous essay, the factor you overlooked that has affected me most (I am a couple of years younger than you) is age. Today larger companies are firing (*downsizing*) older and more experienced workers in order to hire young people who still live with their parents and are on the family insurance plan, thinking they will save money by doing so. Unfortunately, the young women here in Kanukistan get a year off with pay for getting pregnant, and hiring cheap workers in their prime breeding years proves to be a poor risk. Not to mention the fact that these younger people are unable to spell, punctuate, read, write or show up on time; they *demand* time to tweet and twitter and peruse facebook on company time, and as my current boss told me about his past two assistants, they cannot keep up. Nevertheless, the older one is, the more difficult it is to get another job even if there are no complaints about one except one is old and has to be paid for her experience and her usefulness to the company.

Perhaps the lesson to be learned by writing essays based only on your own personal experience is that we all suffer from Pauline Kael Syndrome to a degree. You recall Ms. Kael could not understand how Nixon got elected, since nobody she knew had voted for him.

Darin| 7.22.10 @ 7:36AM

Excellent point about charity. Liberals, in general, are very generous with other people's money but far less so with their own. My family supports a few charities, donates to the local food bank, and helps our parents with monthly expenses (their mortgages are already paid). We do this because we want to, not because we feel we have to. Jesus told us to help each other; he didn't tell us to take from one person and give to another.

Bryan | 7.22.10 @ 7:41AM

I'm a recruiter. I agree 100%. Whether the unemployed person is at a $10/hr skill level or a $100,000 salary level, long term unemployment seems to affect those with poor work habits, poor personalities, a refusal to take a pay cut, or refusal to move to a new town from a small employment market. Some of the brilliant unemployed people I deal with are very employable when money is rolling in to companies. At that point these brilliant people bring in huge returns on their salaries. In a downturn, they can be a drag on morale.

Red Bubba| 7.22.10 @ 7:59AM

Aaron reminds me of an problem employee we once had who agreed to a psych exam. The doctor's report said he was argumentative, litigous and paranoid. He sued to dispute the report becasue the doctor was out to get him.

Beer For My Horses| 7.22.10 @ 8:01AM

Anyone who has been unemployed for a year or more needs to start asking some hard questions (of themselves) about why the market isn't buying what it is they are selling.

And the government is not helping matters by extending benefits more than one year. A year really ought to be enough.

Anthony| 7.22.10 @ 9:07AM

May I offer another take on your observation? Anybody unemployed for over a year needs to ask why the Ds have created such an anti-business atmosphere, such that jobs are non-existent.
Obama and his fellow D hacks are essentially buying peace with millions of Americans who can't find work because there is NONE, due to their policies.
Ninty nine weeks is a bribe, pure and simple. If Obama & the Ds didn't do this to keep the lid on the boiling rage amoung Americans, Washington would have been burned to the ground by now.
Hopefully, we'll burn down Washington in November, metaphorically speaking, that is.

Beer For My Horses| 7.22.10 @ 9:49AM

Well, Anthony, you will get no argument from me on your main point. But leaving aside our mutual aspirations for national politics for the moment, I still think a lot of the problem is at the individual level caused by the perverse disincentives to find work by the way-too-cushy system.

Consider: Over the course of a year, an person unemployed could upgrade skills by taking courses at a community college or a vocational school; they could do volunteer work which is great for networking and at least keeps you in the habit of getting out of bed before noon and maybe even teaches you something about cooperating with others and generally helps you to be “sociable.”

Or here’s an idea: A young person (I believe the rule is under 35) could consider the military, which is a great way to acquire technical skills, not to mention self-discipline and all the attributes of good character that are highly sought by employers.

Or a person unemployed could just bite the bullet and take a job that they deem beneath them. I am sure I have studies in the past that demonstrate that a person’s market value increases rapidly just by accumulating work experience and demonstrating some tenacity for holding a job, even one that is humble or maybe unpleasant.

Thoughts anyone?

Robert| 7.22.10 @ 4:12PM

Here’s a thought: There are temporary agencies that have short term employment opportunities and within those agencies, one can learn new skills and thus become more employable.

Kevin Riley O'Keeffe | 7.22.10 @ 8:00PM

Join the military? What if someone has no interest in going overseas in order to murder people?

Amanda| 7.22.10 @ 9:03PM

Mr. O'Keeffe, I believe the comment was in reference to joining the American military. You've apparently confused "the military" with al-Quaida or a number of other militant leaders that the American military has battled in the last.....hundred? years in order to assure your safety. On behalf of my husband and every other American serviceman/woman and the families that sacrifice with them, we'll politely and silently ignore you. My infant son, sir, has sacrificed more for your freedom than you have yourself.

boomerbabe| 7.23.10 @ 12:01AM

Thank you Amanda, and your husband for your sacrifice to serve our country through love of the constitution, and not who the commander in chief is at any time. And God bless your son.

SeattleBruce| 7.26.10 @ 11:15AM

"Anyone who has been unemployed for a year or more needs to start asking some hard questions"

One HUGE issue is that feds are providing more than 2 years of unemployment benefits now. People so inclined to sit back in that safety net, don't have to REALLY start asking tough questions until about 18 or even 24 months in.

That's a huge issue. We need a huge shift in mindset from relief - to DEVELOPMENT - of jobs that is.

Vote out the job destroying Democrats in 11/2010. And if you're struggling to find work, that urgency must be doubled, or trebled.

Eric| 7.22.10 @ 8:13AM

Somehow leadership needs to explain to young people what it was like when last we had a roaring free market economy (i.e. President Reagan). There was so much company growth that it created a vast upward suction in the job market, down to the entry level. That’s the job market our young people should have. And it’s the job market that they, in their political ignorance and illiteracy, voted to destroy when they picked Obama.

I was there at the Reagan recovery, freshly out of college with a hard-to-employ liberal arts degree. At first I had a hard time because I broadcast resumes like “here’s what I’m brilliant at, give me the job I want”. Then, humbled, I researched companies and jobs I’d turned my nose up at and wrote “here’s how deeply I’ve thought about your business and why I am just the cheap, inexperienced, yet enthusiastic bundle of energy who will give you great bang for the buck if you just give me a chance.”

Suddenly it was like I’d aligned myself to fit through the vast job vacuum-cleaner suction opening and up I went. Granted, it required accepting (at first) low pay and a willingness to bust my tail and do anything. But promotions and pay raises came in direct proportion to my willingness to serve.

Two things are needful: 1) a government that doesn’t criminally crush the free market to create too-big-to-fail crony-capitalist facism (the inevitable destination of socialism), and 2) young people free of the entitlement mentality. The free market offers you a job serving your fellow man, doing what he wants/needs you to do. You are not entitled to enslave other people by demanding they pay you (or worse give you subsidies/welfare) to indulge what you want to do.

Even then it is possible, in the still somewhat free United States, to indulge your desire to write or make music and support yourself with humble work on the side.

Mimi| 7.22.10 @ 9:21AM

What a great post! And ,yes ... The "O" should : Buy a book on how Reagan did it and study it, ..SOON! Heh, Ben.... I thought you would get some flack on your views on the un-employed. What you said....lazy, lardy and..ornery may be back in normal " times" the case . Today things are totally different...the lay-offs are massive and there are NO picks..... it's everybody! YEA.....THIS IS CRIMINAL!

sean| 7.22.10 @ 11:37AM

I hear you. I graduated in the fall of 1981 with a degree in PoliSci and Economics. I took the best job I could find to pay the bills, assistant manager at a Thrifty Drug Store. Not a fun job, but, very educational. If I lost my job, I'd have no shame in working anywhere. The way I look at it, I'm the husband and father and that makes me responsible for the welfare of my family, not the government.

Kevin Riley O'Keeffe | 7.22.10 @ 8:18PM

The Reagan administration was indeed a great time for America...but short of a violent political revolution, or some other world-sweeping change, such as a huge spiritual re-awakening that transforms tens of millions of Americans into conservatives as they also become devout Christians, times like that are never coming back to America. Between Third World immigration, and 30-40 years of leftist indoctrination of the young, via the media & public education system, there will never be a President like Ronald Reagan elected again. And due to neo-"conservative" infiltration into the Republican Party and the conservative movement generally, no one like Ronald Reagan would ever get nominated anyway.

Vern| 7.22.10 @ 9:38PM

Dittos, Eric. Instead of tax cuts and cutting government & regulation, the Obama administration did the opposite. The best thing the unemployed can have is a free market, but many of them voted for the opposite. When will they ever learn?

JP| 7.22.10 @ 8:37AM

I agree with most of what Ben wrote. For most of us we are just worker-bees. And our ability to obtain and hold a job is usually dependent upon our own work habits. There are exceptions; but, on the whole not one person is so important to an organization that they are indispensible -especially large corporations, where outsourcing is always a consideration.

For those who don't like being under the thumb of the Man self employment is always an option. But few of us have the drive and self discipline and the skills to be self employed.

JP| 7.22.10 @ 8:46AM

There is a counterside to Ben's argument. Yesterday, the blog section of this site linked to a very interesting (but also disturbing) article at the Weekly Standard. It concered a book of economic essays written by a Univ of Chicago economics professor. And one of the disturbing trends he picked from his pile of data is the fact that since 1990 our economic recoveries are mainly "jobless recoveries". Professor Rajan blamed this the deindustrialization of our society. This makes perfect sense if one looks at recent job loss data. The current recession is not gender neutral. Unemployment amongst woman is only about 4.75% when compared to men (which is over 20%). Most of the long term job losses have been in construction, manufacturing, transportation, warehousing, etc... - fields dominated by men. Women, on the other hand are over-represented in the service and professional fields (sales, marketing, medical, project management, etc...).

Yet, there's even more bad news. Corporations continue to divest thier North American operations (well, at least in the US. Canada seems to be doing ok). Besides manufacturing and even argirculture, firms are increasingly sending sending engineering, project management, IT, customer support, finance, and even legal jobs over to Asia.

Grim statistics.

Dai Alanye | 7.22.10 @ 10:36AM

There is an amazing number of Pollyannas posting today. In experience gathered over many years my observation is that among the most likely to be laid-off first are those who are trouble-makers--people who don't know when to keep their mouths shut, especially when disagreeing with the higher ranks.

It doesn't matter if the disagreeable ones are right. Indeed, nothing is more dangerous than to oppose management and be proven correct. Not to claim it's universal, but I've seen many a case where the drones in an organization keep their jobs while better men are shown the door.

The situation mentioned by JP relates to this. Women being more compliant and less likely to seem threatening are retained while the testosterone-laden are released.

Kevin Riley O'Keeffe | 7.22.10 @ 8:23PM

American society hates men. This should be obvious to anyone.

Katharine| 7.22.10 @ 2:13PM

Excellent points! I certainly don't consider Mr. Stein hard-hearted, and I'm sure that difficult personalities, poor work habits, etc., do play a role with the long-term unemployed. But there are also these scary trends occurring, and the results of dumb Democratic policies. Sometimes whole divisions are let go, the older may be the first let go. And when there are no, or very few, jobs being created ... well, can you really place the blame entirely on the unemployed?

Kevin Riley O'Keeffe | 7.22.10 @ 8:22PM

A "jobless recovery" is absolutely no recovery at all.

Ed| 7.22.10 @ 8:50AM

Ben is mostly correct, although left/right politics can enter into who is hired and who is fired. Conservative teachers (at the high school and college level) are often fired for their political beliefs. Keeping your mouth shut does not work, because you have to actively embrace and parrot back whatever left wing fad is currently in vogue. Even traditional JFK-style liberals get caught in this trap.

Denver Todd| 7.22.10 @ 9:04AM

The other day, when Obama had his press thing flanked by a few unemployed, he said somthing like how they need a helping hand for being unemployed "through no fault of their own." I then thought--and forgive me for being harsh--of course it is their fault: they have made choices as to skill, experience, and location, and if they stick with those things, they won't find a job. They could change direction by moving to a differenct city, or trying a job in a different field, or one that pays less than what they initially want.

On another note, posing with Obama as a poster child for being unemployed is akin to a bad tattoo. Just think about telling their grandchildren someday how they went to the white house so that they could get welfare. This doesn't seem to be something to be proud about.

Claud Becker| 7.22.10 @ 9:14AM

Unemployement rules are thier own enemy - they do nor require that you accept a job that pays less than you were making before you were laid off. I know lots of people that were laid off in my area andyes jobs were hard to find. But these people were getting over $1600 per month & families
where both sposes were getting over $3200 and were complaining they could not make it. Some of these people also had insurance that made vehicle
payments while laid off. Why would anyone want to take a minimum wage law & screw all this up.

Kevin Riley O'Keeffe | 7.22.10 @ 8:27PM

What about those of us who's unemployment benefits have actually run out already, but we still can't find a fucking job? Nearly one-third of the men here in Santa Clara ("please don't call it 'Silicon') Valley are unemployed. Of course, most of those men are people who've moved here in the last 15 years, often from other countries. This is the only place I've lived since 1972 (at the age of two), and its my home, so those people should leave, not me.

boomerbabe| 7.23.10 @ 12:08AM

Kevin, I do understand your anger and frustration. I think about all the people who lost their jobs when the car dealerships were forced to close during the "Government Motors" takeover. They didn't lose their jobs because of their poor work habits! And, how do you move to another state if you can't sell your house because it has lost more than half of its value (and you bought it in 2007 just before everything collapsed?) I hope you can find a job - we are blessed that my husband still has his, but we also do 2 paper routes at night to try to get our house under water as soon as we can. It is truly terrifying, and I'm glad my husband is a good worker, but we're getting older, and if his company does another huge layoff, he'll probably be toast. I hope you find a job soon.

boomerbabe| 7.23.10 @ 12:09AM

Sorry, typo - I meant to try to get our house out from under water as soon as we can.

JimE| 7.25.10 @ 11:28PM

No wonder you are unemployed, you are afraid to move. You are weak and deserve nothing. You can stay but no one owes you anything.

Claud Becker| 7.22.10 @ 9:18AM

SORRY About my spelling - should be - they do not & and yes seperated & last sentence should read minimum wage job

LivingInNowhereNebraska| 7.22.10 @ 9:49AM

Ben, I've always been a huge fan of yours, even in the Nixon years. As usual, what you say is dead-on right. Most of the people who post repetitively on the HLN site - and who are posting there now in response to your article - without jobs are MAD. Mad because they chose to buy McMansions with mortgages that they knew they couldn't pay, mad because their service-industry jobs are the first to go, mad because they chose to have babies and they and their children are now doing without. The operative word here is - CHOICE. They were warned repeatedly by economists other than Bernanke and Greenspan about the fallacies of Kenyesian economics, and they CHOSE to ignore them. They CHOSE to be wishful thinkers and to run up their debt to impossible heights with nothing to pay it off. They CHOSE to think that frugality and caution were something stupid that their parents did. They CHOSE the sushi and the every-night-out-for-dinner-and-club lifestyle. Now they are MAD at everyone else because they made the wrong choices. The evils of the nouveau riche have come home to roost. They refuse to understand that a service economy just passes the same dollars back and forth; it creates nothing, it manufactures nothing, and it eats itself.
Sorry to say that I have no sympathy for them. I put up with their sneers when I didn't go crazy buying everything in WalMart. I listened to them brag about all the things they had - McMansions, cars, servants to cut the lawn - that they thought would last forever and multiply in value forever. I watched them tool back and forth between their service jobs and the bars and restaurants, making fun of my home cooking and not blowing every dime as soon as I got it.

Soon I'll be watching them, starving in their cars and McMansions, waiting with their hands out for someone to save them, over and over again. Those are the people in MY experience, too.

Kevin Riley O'Keeffe | 7.22.10 @ 8:32PM

I never chose any of those hipster fripperies, asshole. Even when I have a job, I never buy jack squat from WalMart, or some faggoty-assed mall where they don't sell anything a man should want anyway.

I don't own (or desire) any credit cards, and I'm not in any debt. But I still can't find a fucking job.

Parkprotector| 7.25.10 @ 2:12PM

And what are your skills? Where do you live? Are you willing to move or commute? What have you done to upgrade your job knowledge or skills? Your post makes you sound like a very critical, bigoted, hatefilled person. If that is what you project, there are few employers who will want to hire you.

Bobster| 7.25.10 @ 11:31PM

Kevin is a gay porn actor, his unstable mental condition has caused him to be unable to perform.

boomerbabe| 7.23.10 @ 12:16AM

Hmmm, very self satisfied and smug. You know, there are some people out there who moved because of their jobs frequently. This can sometimes end badly, as in the case of buying a home just before the collapse. Lucky is the person who was able to stay in their home and work at paying off their mortgage. You are blessed, and perhaps should work at being a tad less hateful toward those who might work just as hard as you, but have a different circumstance affecting their net worth. Perhaps you might not wish to offend the multitudes of hard-working conservative living people who are experiencing real fear at the coming tsunami of taxes, debt, unemployment, etc., rather than look forward to the times ahead when you will enjoy their distress.

Keith| 7.22.10 @ 9:51AM

I left manufacturing years ago for an occupation that had greater potential to withstand the recession I knew was coming. It entailed a pay cut and relocation. That decision paid off in spades., as I now have the skills and experience that keeps the paychecks coming.

Matt Morehouse| 7.22.10 @ 10:16AM

In the recession de jour in the 1990's I was "downsized" from a large Publishing House. Instead of scrambling around sending out resumes as all my friends were doing I started my own Publishing firm . Best thing that ever happened to me, I wish I had done it sooner. The business has done well over the years and we are now buying another company which will double our sales.

All you un and underemployed writers are welcome to submit submit work. Please follow manuscript submission guidelines on our site.

Recession? What recession?

Matt Morehouse| 7.22.10 @ 10:20AM

The web address didn't print it is: . Paradise Cay Publications, Inc.

Ms. Jones| 7.22.10 @ 1:36PM

Are you hiring editors/proofreaders?

Matt Morehouse| 7.22.10 @ 11:43PM

At this time we are not hiring editors or proofreaders.
In the near future we will be in need of a forklift operator/warehouseman.

Dai Alanye | 7.22.10 @ 10:52AM

Since your firm is highly specialized, and since you expect authors to pay for editing, and since you don't offer advances, and since you don't accept emailed submissions I'm going to suggest that you are unlikely to gain many serious responses.

Matt Morehouse| 7.22.10 @ 7:42PM

I apologize for the information on our site I thought it had been changed.
We no longer require authors to pay for editing, and we do accept emailed submissions. Our firm is a highly specialized "niche" publishing house and that is the linchpin of our success.
We do receive many serious responses. I review several unsolicited manuscripts every week and make it a point to personally reply to each.
Again, I apologize for the misinformation and have instructed our webmaster to fix it.

Dai Alanye | 7.22.10 @ 11:11PM

No problemo. My site is often in need of updating as well.

Coincidentally, I've written a story with much of the action dependent upon sailing. I've used words such as leach, abaft, clew, anchor, steerboard (and starboard) point, tack and yaw, etc. I've no idea what these terms mean but I've run across them in C S Forester's Hornblower series, so threw them in to lend a sense of realism.
;~)

Matt Morehouse| 7.23.10 @ 12:03AM

We have published fiction but have only been marginally successful. I have decided not to take on any fiction for the foreseeable future. We do best with books closely focused on the technical aspects of bluewater sailing; navigation, weather, rigging, and such.
I took a look at your site. How are your books doing?

Larry| 7.22.10 @ 10:39AM

Mr Stein - this is disingenuous. In this piece you indicate that the poor work habits and personalities you reference relate to "the people I knew who were unemployed." However, in your original piece, you indicated that you had "survey[ed] the ranks of those who are unemployed." Since when is a "survey" solely sourced by the handful of people you personally know who are unemployed. I believe you did intend to make a broad, sweeping generalization and that you are now attempting to redefine your scope.

great entertainment| 7.22.10 @ 10:40AM

LivingInNowhereNebraska
"Sorry to say that I have no sympathy for them"

Same here, they somehow thought they where ENTITLED to good jobs for life and they would never be one of THOSE people who they called whiners and told to go get an education and walked away from.

pass the popcorn, great show watching yuppies go down in flames

boomerbabe| 7.23.10 @ 12:19AM

Wow. I hope you tell people you are a Democrat - your post blends in well with that hateful bunch.

Laney Bormel| 7.22.10 @ 10:46AM

Imagine being an executive recruiter whose sole occupation is to solicit mid-level management job orders from companies. When most companies everywhere are cutting their management forces to the bare minimum, there are no jobs left to fill. And when they are filled, they are generally filled by inexperienced supposed go-getters who can be hired for less, but who will change companies frequently, causing the companies that hire them to have to repeat the hiring and training process every year or so. There are six applicants for every one job opening; five out of those six will be under forty. HR research has shown that the most reliable hire would be someone over fifty with a lot of bills to pay. That person will never be asked back for a second interview. Not everyone who is unemployed is a slacker or has mental problems or a poor work ethic. They're just over the age of youth worship.

Kevin Riley O'Keeffe | 7.22.10 @ 8:37PM

While I'm sure this problem affects women as well, it never-the-less also ties in with the anti-man tenor of our society. For the younger a guy is, the less likely he is to be a man, and the more likely he is to be merely a male. And the masters of our society prefer males to men.

Appleby| 7.25.10 @ 8:59AM

A friend of mine who works for RIM (Research in Motion, the Blackberry people) reports that a large and growing number of young men show up for job interviews with their Mommies to hold their hands. Mommy does the follow-up and if Junior is hired, will hound Juniors boss for raises and improvements in his benefits.

Being of the generation who left home at age 18 and would have lived in a tent in the park under a nom de plume rather than stay in the family home once graduated from high school, I find this both pitiful and astonishing.

CharlesMartelsGhost| 7.22.10 @ 11:09AM

Great post by Laney Bormel. Also it should be noted that a) the level one is at in their job search will dictate how long it may take to be reemployed, i.e. a senior/director level manager may take 18 months, in a good employment market, to find a job whereas an accountant or clerk may take 3 to 6 weeks, b) a job applicant has to know the games that HR and recruiters play when interviewing. games, whether right or wrong, they use to weed out candidates. A book I highyl recommend to those looking for work or contemplating a job change is "What does somebody have to do to get hired around here? 44 insider secrets that will get you hired" by Cynthia Shapiro. It is a good read on the dirty tricks and traps used by HR and recruiters. The hiring process is a game and in today's job market could be considered combat.
My circle of friends, who are unemployed, are engineers, controllers, supply chain directors, operations managers with marketable skills and experience, but are finding their job search can take over a year in today's market. They are not writer's, liberal arts types who think the world owes them something just because they have a college degree or were being paid "X" dollars at a previous job.

In closing the majority of those looking for work, that I know, are not slackers with poor work ethic or unrealistic expectations.

Laney Bormel| 7.23.10 @ 7:24AM

Thank you Charles. In theory the best hires are the ones kept when an industry or economy go sour. These are unusual times, and that theory in such an environment works only to a point. Being an HR professional, I work with scores of people who have all the skills, talent, experience, success and personality to fit in anywhere, but in straightened times employers pare their departments to the bare minimum making once-essential roles expendable. Therefore, even the most perfect employee may find himself jobless and unable to secure viable employment at any wage. Specialists in a field find they are locked out of the job market because they are either over-qualified or have too much experience. And once they hit a certain age, employers see their resumes and deep-six them.

buckeyeman| 7.22.10 @ 11:16AM

I don't give a rats heinie why these people are unemployed. It's not my responsibility. I save money and live within my means. If I should veer from this wise approach to life then I should be willing to accept the consequences of unwise behavior. My reward is the government confiscating my property to hand out to the masses. Then comes soft the headed pretend conservative Ben Stein who really supports the endless unemployment benefits but gets his feelings hurt when the insatiable rabble complain that he has dared to mention the obvious.

sean| 7.22.10 @ 11:31AM

Vern wrote: "Most of the unemployed (outside of California) are hard workers and intelligent. "

I've got news for you Vern, I've lived a large part of my life in California and know that most of the people in California do work hard. With the largest population of any state in the country, there is more competition for jobs. Also, the illegal immigrants that I see are trying to get work, even if it means standing around a Home Depot all day so that they can feed their families. Next time you want to criticise California, try either living here or offer some kind of proof to your innane comments. Otherwise stfu!

ericLM| 7.22.10 @ 1:24PM

Whenever I work on a program with them, California workers always seem a bit more laid back and casual than us NYS workers. Good jobs are very tight here, we work our butts off to keep them. Southerners have pockets of this as well. Maybe they have the right idea though, if you're not truely working for yourself...

Vern| 7.22.10 @ 9:54PM

Give me some slack sean. I was indulging in a little satire at California's expense.

Gary Foster| 7.22.10 @ 12:04PM

I am glad to see this response and the acknowledgment of the criticism. Being in Const. Management, I can tell you that it did not matter how good you were. When the crash came we all went. Your thinking that the cream stays and the crud goes is sometimes true but in this recession it is not.

John II| 7.22.10 @ 12:29PM

Sean: You just broke the thread with your sour grapes--did you read Vern's entire post? I mean, what the hell?

Anyhow, thanks to Ben and all the respondents so far for a terrific series of thoughtful comments. In a sense, the quality and consistency of the comments add up to a kind of anecdotal approbation of Ben's thesis, suggesting the direction a sure-enough formal survey would lead a researcher interested in this topic.

There's a flip side to it as well. My wife and friends and I have noticed (anecdotally speaking, of course) that in times of high employment (or de facto full employment, discounting the chronically unemployable--which is what a mere 3% unemployment rate generally means)--at such times, the quality of service at the store counters and fast-food outlets and similar venues for entry-level jobs takes a nosedive. The slots seem disproportionately filled with the sullen and the lackluster and, occasionally, the downright hostile.

In times like these, we find that the store clerks tend to be alert, perky, upbeat, and helpful. Go figure.

EricLM| 7.22.10 @ 12:34PM

This is a tough thing to analyze...people's skills are subjective, and the fast talkers do a good job of inflating their worth, and tend to not help others. Of course employers "rank" their employees (it is brutal where I work - Lockheed Martin) and tend to keep the higher ranking employees. But we have so little "dead wood" here, we often layoff very good workers, sometimes clearly true geniuses have been laid off. Some "clunkers" made it through the latest layoff just because they happened to be busy on a program - hard to replace them mid-stream. Therefore some better employees got whacked just by bad timing - their program had recently ended or was scaling down. Engineering jobs are hard to find in less populated areas, so laid off enigneers often have to move, kids have to make new friends; etc...and they wonder why fewer and fewer students go into it! Fellow coworkers do not encourage their kids to go into nearly as much as my parents' generation did.

Kevin Riley O'Keeffe | 7.22.10 @ 8:43PM

"Fellow coworkers do not encourage their kids to go into nearly as much as my parents' generation did."

I'm pretty sure that's true about absolutely every single field & profession these days, alas. Every industry is way worse to work in than it was 30 years ago, even during good economic times.

FakeEagle| 7.22.10 @ 12:34PM

Well Ben, when I read your previous article, I told my wife, "I'll bet someone is going to tear into him for that one." Not that it was warranted, but I was certain that someone would take it beyond its context and start stirring the pot. I understood the limited scope of the article: that it was the product of an "unscientific poll" consisting of the few people with whom you deal directly, but people in our day just love to wrest words from their context and flame away.

I'm certain that some of those who lost their jobs were dedicated, hard-working employees, as my dear wife was one of them. We're doing fine, however, during the "lean" years because we didn't live beyond our means in the "fat" years.

Please keep the fine commentary coming, and all the best to you.

Tim| 7.22.10 @ 12:45PM

While I agree that "Some" folks love to suck on the government breast because they are lazy

I tend to believe that the great majority of folks enjoy being productive and work in careers and in jobs that help them sustain their families and themselves.

The fact that economic realities have caused millions to be under employed by a reduction of hours and still millions of others truly unable to find productive work doesn't mean these folks are lazy.

The problem I have with advancing this argument is the same as those that say that all "Mexicans" are lazy and they want to be lettuce pickers or drug dealers.

Or that all "Blacks" are lazy and enjoy being unemployed and all they want to do is have sex with their neighbor.

or that all poor whites livie in trailers an enjoy sitting around drinking cheap malt liquor.

Generalizing and painting most unemployed with a "Lazy" brush is as unfair and racist as when we do same to any other group of folks in our society.

Finally, and there is no spin here.

For every job opening there are 1000 applicants.

So you tell me, are the other 999 that aplied lazy?

Alan| 7.22.10 @ 1:09PM

It's also stupid (and PC) to try to deny the racial demographics of laziness and unemployment. There's a reason why so many blacks and Mexicans are out of work, and don't try to tell me that it's because of racist Tea Partiers discriminating against them!

Xando| 7.22.10 @ 12:46PM

I can say from personal experience that much of what Ben Stein and others in the comments section is true - for a portion of the unemployed folks out there. I admit that my work habits, personality, etc played a role in my most recent layoff (one of several). I had to take a good hard look at myself and honestly factor in my own role in my layoff(s). I was beyond fortunate to find a decent job again and I can tell you that I don't plan on making the same mistakes again.

However to those who think that every person who is unemployed/underemployed right now basically desires it you are flat out wrong and in need of a little humility and compassion. There are tens of thousands of hard working and responsible people are lost their jobs and struggle to find meaningful work.

Pat| 7.22.10 @ 1:02PM

Given our tremendous wealth, Americans can easily support a serious drug habit, we’re addicted to ridiculous fantasies. Fantasies like: “every poor American should own his or her own home”. Except for folks living in underground caves or hollow trees, the poor owning their homes has never existed in all of recorded history, anywhere, but we insist it should be an everyday reality within this country. Or, how about: “we need NASA because putting a handful of men and women on the moon directly benefits every single American” – sure it does, we can look up in the sky each night and wave. Then there’s that golden oldie: “any American who wants to work should have a job”. Seriously, say it out loud: “I want to work, I want a job” and it becomes the responsibility of the rest of us Americans to find you a job – stop laughing, it may sound absurd when you say it that way in polite company, but that’s exactly how our system works.

And if you lose your job or can’t find a job, we will pay you to look for one, because most of us are entitled to a job – no, not teenagers out of school for the summer or old geezers on social security, but most Americans deserve a job – why? – well, because they simply deserve one. If you have a job and lose it, we pay you not to work and it’s not charity the way we Americans think of it. How many people have actually paid back their unemployment benefits after they find a job? Yeah, that’s right, doesn’t happen. How many Americans have been on unemployment several times during their working lives – well, we don’t track those numbers. And while we’re paying you to watch Oprah in your bathrobe, you’re not required to help your working neighbors with their household chores, you know, the ones who are paying for your unemployment benefits. You don’t have to cut their grass, scrub their floors or patch their roofs – that’s what illegal immigrants are for, real Americans want jobs with dignity and vacation time.

And it doesn’t stop there either. There’s a Mrs. Hildebrandt down at the unemployment office, her job is to take care of the unemployed, maintain paperwork, approve extensions, etc. We pay her well for those tasks if you include her pension and health care benefits - and she, in her thousands, exists in one body or another throughout the 50 states – in other words, Mrs. Hildebrandt doesn’t produce one valuable product or service, she simply administers charity. Given the various taxpayer supported charities we maintain; welfare, unemployment, food stamps, Social Security, Medicare, Youth Work Camps, ad infinitum, it does seem like we should combine the “giving” process into one massive federal agency – economies of scale, workforce efficiencies and all that. But we don’t because we insist welfare isn’t unemployment, isn’t Social Security, isn’t Medicare – unemployment is a loan you never pay back, but it’s not charity.

T.C.| 7.22.10 @ 1:14PM

I agree with Mr. Stein. I spent 20 years in the military (1978-19980), and when I got out I was appalled by
the lack of self discipline, and whining in the work force.

Jeffrey Apodaca| 7.22.10 @ 1:17PM

The major problem with your analysis is that it is predicated on the assumption that we live in a mostly free economy where in fact "the cream rises to the top." Nothing could be farther from the truth however and in this employment market nepotism and special favors get people jobs, not effort. This is a new world that we live in and with greater scarcity of jobs and the destruction of the free market there is also a new paradigm for getting a job.

Matt Morehouse| 7.22.10 @ 7:32PM

Nepotism and special favors may get people jobs but hard work and diligence keep jobs.

Kevin Riley O'Keeffe | 7.22.10 @ 8:51PM

Yeah, well, you still have to be able to get 'em, in order to keep 'em.

I've never worked so hard in my life as I did at my last job...but they still laid off like 40 percent of the employees less than a year after I was hired, so it didn't do me tremendous good. The boss will give me a great recommendation, but that hasn't helped, alas.

Writer and editor| 7.22.10 @ 1:29PM

I've been writing and editing for newspapers and magazines for 30 years, almost entirely as a freelancer. I've enjoyed setting my own hours and taking time off for vacations whenever I like, but I've paid for those vacations out of my own pocket (my health insurance and other benefits, too).

When times have been lean, I've been a pizza delivery driver, a house-sitter and a pet-sitter, and an office worker through various temp agencies.

I get so tired of hearing people whine about having only so many months of unemployment pay remaining to collect. I've known too many people who have waited as long as possible to find new jobs. If I don't work, I don't eat.

ShortNSweet| 7.22.10 @ 1:38PM

First, I have to say, I have grown tired of hearing apologies for having told the truth. The truth shall set you free! Why not just tell the truth?!

I love Ben Stein. I have only been reading his work for the last few years. Before that he was just the cutest little guy on TV in the visine commercials. Since I started reading Ben's essays, or diaries, I've learned to love him. I agree with most everything I've ever read.
I haven't known him to be hard hearted in the least; quite the contrary.

I live outside the Hollywood boundaries by a thousand miles and I'm employed. I agree with what Ben's diary said. Of course, we are in some extraordinary times, and there are hard working, dedicated, and motivated people out there today who are unemployed. But, I also know that when I was a single mother of two, I started a new live, just them and I on a minimum wage job, and a pray. We did without a lot of things, lived in a tiny house, but did it without any government assistance at all. We did without things, but never one necessity. I'm just saying that if you're priorities (family, food, shelter) are in order, you can achieve anything you set your mind to...and maybe the job that was lost due to this economy is something that will take time to work back up to, but it's not going to happen without dedication, and motivation, and priorities in order...and unfortunately we live in a spoiled, me, I and mine culture, and few of us have watched our children go hungry. When that day arrives, a minimum wage job that's on your feet 10 hours a day will work just fine. Priorities! Priorities! Just saying!

After thirteen long hard years, I'm middle class, and loving my job. It took love for my two kids, determination, and volunteering to stay when others called in sick, and volunteering to do extra whenever it was needed, never expecting anything for FREE, and most of all long and very hard work! Priorities!

Darragh| 7.23.10 @ 5:15PM

I totally relate to this thanks!

John| 7.22.10 @ 3:38PM

Blessings upon you, Ben Stein.

Robert Rosenthal| 7.22.10 @ 3:43PM

Thank you Ben, for giving us the clear and concise truth. Those that want to work, work, those that don't want to work, collect unemployment.

Kevin Riley O'Keeffe | 7.22.10 @ 8:53PM

I'm not collecting one red cent from the government, sir. And yet I still can't find a job, as desperately as I need one.

Richard Szathmary| 7.22.10 @ 3:46PM

I would like to thank Ben Stein for mentioning Passaic (I assume he meant the one in NJ, I know of no other) above. (And has he in fact ever been in Passaic?)

But as someone who lives in the town "next door," Clifton, I would also like to add that things hardly seem as famously "bad" there re the jobs picture as they do in places like Hamtramck (which Ben also cited), Michigan.

One interesting thing about Passaic, however, which does not bode well for America in general, is that up until a few years ago it in fact had THREE hospitals: one of a "general" nature, Passaic General; another Catholic, St. Mary's; and one Jewish, Beth Israel. I myself was born in St. Mary's, had a mother who worked for some 40 years at Passaic General as an RN, was treated once (and very nicely indeed) in BI's emergency room. Today Passaic General and BI are shut, and St. Mary's in fact has moved into Passaic General's old quarters and abandoned its original site which was just a few blocks away. No, none of this is a result of Obama's health care schemes, but the reduction of a three-hospital town to a one-facility version hints at future seismic shifts throughout the health care industry that will dwarf even the recent ones we've seen in Passaic. All those health care jobs from the closed hospitals are also probably lost for good, alas.

David| 7.22.10 @ 3:52PM

Tim, where did you get the info that for every job opening there are 1,000 applicants? I don't accept that "some" are lazy". I suggest that "many" are lazy and milk the system for all they can.

There is a recent report out by Robert Rector. He has studied welfare and poverty for decades and is well-respected.

His report indicates that there are 71 different welfare programs to help lower income people. He also reports that the bottom 30% of income earners receive an "AVERAGE OF $30,000 in welfare benefits, tax free, from multiple programs. Then let's not forget that those people also get the Earned Income Tax Credit check every year at tax time.

Think about that. What incentive is there for anyone in the bottom 30% who are making minimum wage to maybe $10 an hour to work longer, or harder to get promotions to increase their pay, when they can take it easy and collect $30,000 a year in food, housing allowances, medicaid, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the EITC (3,000 - 5,000 net check) to do whatever they want.

That means that if a worker has a family and he makes minimum wage, he will gross $15,000 a year. He pays no taxes. Then he gets $30,000 in benefits. That is a net of $45,000 per year. Remember th $30,000 is the average, so we can assume that at min wage, his benefits will be greater.

Now, what chaps me is that the minimum wage earner, with limited skills, NETS more money than I do because I am in the 25% tax bracket; and I spent 16 years managing restaurants, and have 24 years legal experience. And a person with no skills net more than I do??? Please.

So Tim, and some of you others, people in my situation, and there are many where I work, would really appreciate a little empathy coming our way, because after all, we are the ones who are supporting the ones for whom your hearts bleed.

Jay Forest| 7.22.10 @ 3:56PM

Mr. Stein, while you are as witty and charming as ever, you are simply full of it. As there is a major economic and social realignment on way, the future is somewhat difficult to predict. As a producer, I know I have a future, whether it is in industry, farming, or defense. These people are of all origins, creeds and color, and share both the ability and desire to work. However, there are other people who do not produce, only consume, who I suspect will be highly vunderable to being marinalized in the near future. Shall we call them chaff, that exist off the labors of others?

I suspect Mr. Stein that you are of the chaff variety, good luck.

Misthios| 7.22.10 @ 4:31PM

Just how many drug abusers are in Ben Stein's close circle of friends?!

dw| 7.22.10 @ 5:06PM

Mr. Stein, as a knowledge infused intellect how can you engage in these "journolist" type methods with this anecdotal attack on the unemployed?
There are presently 14.6 million Americans looking for work. How many of those fall into your class of substance abuser, malcontents? Is it 100%, 60%. 20%? Even if we agreed on 60% that leaves around 6 million "others".
Could some of them be the ones who were last hired and first laid off? Could it be those in the construction industry that is at a 25% unemployment level and showing no signs of improvement? How about those mid aged, mid to high level managemnt types who were essential to companies making money when times were good but are now considered too top heavy to be retained? By the way, many of them did offer to take pay cuts but were refused.
We have in place a socialist, instituting liberal economic policies that are killing jobs and his stupidity is only growing worse. I have experienced two recession since 1978 and this is by far the worse one and there is still no end in site.
Why don't you channel your energy and intelligence towards fighting to regain our free market economy so that good people can get back to work and regain their integrity?

Ruffslitch| 7.22.10 @ 5:15PM

FOOF! Ben Stein strikes again! Speaking from MY personal experience I know a handful of people who are, or have recently been, on layoff. One sustained a life-altering injury and proceeded to fritter away a $100,000.00 settlement. One is laid off from a major Fortune 500 company and is seeking comparable employment months later along with several dozen others from her old office. Another just got a job-same thing, less pay. And a few are still enjoying unemployment checks until the pressure builds. I have worked all along-as a truck driver!-though many of my Teamster colleagues have suffered layoff due to lack of seniority, my husband included. ( No, I do not support BO. Many Teamsters are conservatives AND Tea Partiers. We realize some unions and union members are anathema to freedom-as-we-know-it but we still enjoy the benefits, which aren't as over-the-top as you might imagine, compared to what we have to do to earn them. ) And one of my girlfriends is 63 and still driving a truck over the road, through good freight times and bad, for a non-union company. We provide a needed service that no one has figured out how to export yet ( although I have seen internet ads for Indian drivers trained on "big American-type equipment,eager to work here under a visa, with no family so they don't need time off!" ) In short, we are useful. There are many people who simply aren't but they still need to feed themselves and their children. This is where politics begin and end.

So Ben is correct in noting that adaptability, grace under pressure, and good cheer CAN get you places liberals would like to think only government mandates can get you.

ShortNSweet| 7.23.10 @ 4:15PM

Amen! Love the way you said that!

Ruffslitch| 7.22.10 @ 5:37PM

P.S. I suspect that companies are shielding themselves from burdensome insurance issues by picking healthy, lower-paid youngsters over some more-qualified oldsters with, perhaps, pernicious health problems. Also, with such a slow economy there IS no need for so many paper-pushers. ( The federal government comes to mind here...) and so people who might have been useful in good times when, as Ben said anybody could get a job, no longer are.

Unions keep workers strictly on a seniority basis which is why a**holes like being unionized-they can act out their infantile issues with authority without being fired permanently. They give us all a bad name. ( If I sound conflicted about unionization it is because I am. We took 15% pay cuts to help the company out yet they still do not address payroll errors, etc. ) And yet, nice as I am, if I had not had the seniority necessary to avoid the layoffs, I too would have been out of work, at least until I got another trucking job. I would have had better chances of employment because I do not have a record of job-jumping like many drivers who flitted from company to company back when times were good. I have no disqualifying tickets, a great safety record, and good work habits. I know drivers who are stuck working for bad companies because they CANNOT go elsewhere. So one's behavior does have an impact on one's prospects.

dougfoot | 7.22.10 @ 6:24PM

I've been laid off once, attempted to get unemployment and found it to be too much of a hassel - I was out of work for almost 6 months, however, I lived off of savings during that time. I picked up odd jobs here and there and have vowed never to be in a possition to rely on government. Sure, I may be laid off, ok, does that mean I have to turn to government? Who says I have to work for somebody? Why not work for myself? I have skills and market myself and I get paid for the work I do. It's called being "selfemployed" for a reason...
Taking unemployment is like taking pain meds - it'll ease the pain for a small while, but soon you find you can't be "normal" without it. Time to cut the purse strings!

JC| 7.22.10 @ 6:27PM

Ben Stein was a speech writer for Richard Nixon, one of, if not the most crooked leaders America has ever seen. Please explain to me why Ben Stein has any credibility. Was it his role in Ferris Bueller's Day Off?
His choice to battle his critics over his incendiary article speaks volumes about his personal agenda, regardless of his denial of having any.

Blacque Jacques Shellacque| 7.22.10 @ 6:42PM

When times are tough -- and they are really, really, really tough now -- employers tend to lay off or refuse to hire people with low productivity -- and these tend to be people with poor work habits or poor personalities or unrealistic ideas about work, or some combination of these factors.

In my case, the credit freeze-up in late 2008 resulted in the company I worked for going under. The service offered that my position covered (contract manufacturing/engineering outfit) was eliminated and I was RIFd a month before the whole thing finally slipped under the waves (it had been in rough seas for a couple of years).

Bohred| 7.22.10 @ 9:49PM

OK, time to calm down little boy. I know it's hard, but you need to relax and not stab out at others just because you can't get what you want.
Ben isn't saying anything other that the first fired are the easiest to let go. And that has been the truth of the world since the first lion brought down the weakest zebra.
If you cannot accept this, then you are the weakest zebra.

Greenacres| 7.22.10 @ 9:58PM

Kevin Riley O'Keefe (or anyone who knows him):

Please get all the guns out of your house, for cryin out loud. Go to a clinic and get a script for some "happy pills". I'm told they can work wonders.

Kevin Riley O'Keeffe | 7.23.10 @ 6:07AM

Yeah, having normal emotional responses to disgusting lies is a sign of mental illness. Are you a real woman, or do you just wish you were one?

John II| 7.22.10 @ 9:59PM

Er . . . getting back to the two articles Ben Stein wrote that have caused all this fuss, what was it he said about difficult personalities?

Anybody? Anybody?

Bohred| 7.22.10 @ 10:04PM

He said that people who don't get along, don't go along.
So if you think I'm a f*%&ing; son of a b*$&ch;
You're fired!

I learned long ago;
Work hard, take what comes, be positive.
It will all end soon enough anyway. Lord willing.

Joe| 7.22.10 @ 11:04PM

Maybe you can't find a job because you swear too much.
Just sayin'

ShortNSweet| 7.23.10 @ 4:24PM

Dang! Need a therapist - maybe some nerve pills?
Which employer in his right mind would keep the guy that hides out in the restroom half the morning over the guy that stays late, and gets the job done?

jstwndring| 7.22.10 @ 9:22PM

Wow, people are thinned skinned, aren't they? Why take Ben's opinions on the unemployed so personally? It's just his opinion. I'm assuming he touched a nerve with Mr. Crowe which explains his reaction to Ben's article. Of course, by reacting that way, he fully justifies every word of Ben's article. :)

Bobby Dale| 7.22.10 @ 9:49PM

I will pray tonight for Kevin Riley O'Keeffe, that he is granted God's graces and that he review his posts to see that he is poisoned by anger, hatred and evil. Things will get better for you sir when you allow them to.

Bohred| 7.22.10 @ 10:08PM

You're too nice. I work in a steel mill. I would give Kevin all the shit jobs until he thanked me. Then we would talk.

Vern| 7.22.10 @ 10:19PM

I agree that Kevin is over-the-top in his last post, but I see this as frustration. Kevin sounds like someone who wants to work, and to be productive, and could bring some energy into a new work environment.

Joe| 7.22.10 @ 11:06PM

Not with that mouth he won't.

Kevin Riley O'Keeffe | 7.23.10 @ 6:10AM

If you really think I swear during job interviews, or while I'm at work at all, for that matter, then I think we can safely assume your shirt is damp with drool.

Joe| 7.23.10 @ 10:40AM

You can assume that. It's wrong, but that doesn't seem to bother you.
You apparently lack self-control which is the larger issue.

John II| 7.22.10 @ 11:06PM

Actually, he sounds like a self-absorbed Irishman to me--and I can get away with saying that, since I'm part Irish and, worse, part Welsh and part French. In other words, he sounds like he's the sort of man who's at his best when things are going his way.

The worst thing about hard times, I guess, is that it often brings the worst out of us. But it was in us to start with, I reckon.

Bohred's right, though--right now Kevin (along with a few million others) needs a good friend to kick him in the ass. Ain't nothing manly about whining.

Bohred| 7.22.10 @ 10:26PM

I just had a man rejected for hire in my department. The men who interviewed him thought he was perfect, the guys on the floor knew that he chews with his mouth open. Like a cow.
So he didn't get the job. Time to shut up and grow up. I know it's hard, but what do you think this is anyway.

Miss Rose Comfort| 7.23.10 @ 3:52AM

I'm sad to see and hear all those I respect in the conservative media be so harsh with the unemployed and the extention of unemployment insurance. This is the kind of disconnect I'd expect from the libs. If you spend a lifetime paying into something like unemployment, or social security, it's YOUR MONEY. With so much waste and bribery, this should be a non-issue and certainly not so mean-spirited. This is not welfare. This is becoming a real crisis which will affect everyone, even in Beverly Hills.

ShortNSweet| 7.23.10 @ 4:32PM

No one is trying to be harsh on the unemployed. It should be taken as an educational thing, pick-yourself-up, smile, and be positive thing. Not curse God and die. Compassion for the hard-working, dedicated is not abscent from conservatives.

NEW ECONOMY| 7.23.10 @ 6:36AM

Welcome to the NEW ECONOMY you all cheered on, low prices at wal-mart, free trade, high property taxes because your kids needed an education to work in the NEW ECONOMY.

"a nation of burger flippers"
Ross Perot
"a giant sucking sound "
Ross Perot on NAFTA

Jimbo| 7.23.10 @ 6:49AM

Ben: 1. You need to enlarge your circle of friends. 2. To all commentators so far, unless you have experienced unemployment, you don't really know much about being unemployed. 3. Most competant professionals will experience unemployment in their careers. 4. From experience I can say that while unemployment is painful, it can be an enriching experience that adds character. Indeed, some of the best managers I know have been fired before.

Lee| 7.23.10 @ 8:41AM

How unbelievably insulting and ignorant! It stuns me -- how small minded and coldhearted one very rich, very comfortable individual be. How nice it must be to have food in your pantry and millions in the bank, sit in a comfortable chair in one of your comfortable houses and make untrue generalizations about millions of people who have lost their homes, jobs and their dignity. How far you have traveled from your supposedly humble beginnings. If you want to know something about MY character, ask ME.

John II| 7.23.10 @ 9:41AM

No need to ask. You just revealed about 90 percent of it with your slovenly remarks. Now take a deep breath, blow out all the unseemly envy, and reread the article. Silly.

Laura Schleifer| 7.27.10 @ 1:06AM

A word about Ben Stein's "humble beginnings"...

Ben Stein is the son of noted Economist Herbert Stein, the former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under Presidents Nixon and Ford. Herbert Stein was also a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and was on the board of contributors of The Wall Street Journal.

Ah, yes. Ben Stein is yet another "self-made man" who worked his way up from "humble beginnings" to achieve the American Dream. (cough, gag, choke).

reads1| 7.23.10 @ 9:24AM

His posts leave NO DOUBT why Kevin Reilly O'KeeFFe is unemployed. With his language and attitude the only prospect he has is to see Spike Lee to get employment as a rapper!!

Darragh| 7.23.10 @ 5:10PM

If you are 65, you were brought up in the generation that was taught you were responsible for your life. So was I. Creative writing is inherently a profession where it is difficult to achieve success and where even in a good economy,things are tenuous. I write creatively but support myself by taking on assignments in the nonprofit sector (in a relatively poor state) where I make $80-$100/hour because writng skills are generally abysmal among the younger generation. However, my work is very stressful with tight deadlines, politics, personalities, etc. But that's life. So I don't understand the whining re underemployment--although in cities with more educated people there could be much more competition for the kind of work I do.

However, I feel for the family men and women who were industry mangers etc and had secure jobs and have been out of work.

Robert| 7.23.10 @ 6:12PM

I do find it interesting (to return to the column, for the nonce) that in the first installment, Ben Stein writes magisterially
'in my survey of the unemployed' and goes on to make sweeping generalizations.

When criticized, he redirects by claiming, 'oh, I was just talking about the chronically unemployed _whom I know personally_, and who, despite their character flaws, I am quite generous to, because I'm such a prince of a guy.'

Disingenous, or frantic CYA-ing? You be the judge.

ALHill| 7.23.10 @ 11:07PM

I was an expert on child rearing before I became a parent. Interesting comments here.
Although some have mentioned age discrimination, no one has said that they were passed over because their complextion was too fair. Or because they didn't Habla.
I have been unemployed for 18 months now. 18 long months of sending out resumes and rejection letters. I'm soon going to become one of those discouraged people who quit looking. What's the point, after all...I'm too old (55), too Caucasian, I don't plan on moving to North Dakota to seek employment, and now, thanks to Mr Stein, I understand that I am lazy and cranky. What's the use?
Maybe unemployment will hold out til I can collect Social Security. It will if Zero wins re-election, I bet!
Oh, and if you know of anyone who's hiring, please let me know!

Tenn Slim| 7.24.10 @ 10:07AM

Mr S.
Well said. Nothing more to add
Have a great day.
Semper Fi
We will prevail
end

Tim| 7.24.10 @ 11:20AM

Passions run high on this topic and well they should.

To Summarize, this is what I agree with:

Most folks are trying very hard to land good jobs that pay above the minimum wage.

There are not nearly enough non minimum wage jobs to go around.

No not everyone is lazy who is collecting unemployment.

Yes, some folks are riding out this storm on the Governmeent breast and on the back of unemployment extensions because it pays more than working in a Job that they could find in this crazy economy

The middle class is getting royally stiffed.

Good paying jobs are few and while the ratio may not be 1000 to 1 it's close by all statistics at Job Fairs and according to most company ER--Personell.

who you know or blow goes further to land a job now than it ever did in past decades.

and finally, to Jeffery's point,

If you land a good job in any structure, because of a close friend or church support group, you will have a 100 per cent chance of keeping that job regardless of how hard you work or if you are a total goof off, because now more than ever ,
"Blood is thicker than water"

This is especially true in all civil servise jobs, Gov Jobs, Union Jobs which by the way are the only jobs really available in this economy.

Non Union small and mid size Businesses are getting hosed and can't hire anyone........lest we forget.

Unemployed| 7.24.10 @ 8:54PM

In good times of days gone by if you had good work ethic, reasonable skills and a decent attitude you could pretty much be certain you could get and hold a job.

Today on the other hand having all of those traits are necessary but not sufficient conditions of employment. Today there are millions of talented, hard working and positive people out of work. There are roughly five times as many qualified applicants as job openings. You can even be an absolute super-star but fail to land a job. Today it is more about luck or getting the inside track. There is a massive and sustained mismatch between the supply of jobs and the demand for jobs.

At least the above goes for the private sector. All evidence proves that you can still get and keep a job in the public sector with neither work ethic, nor skills, nor a positive attitude.

Believer| 7.25.10 @ 12:29AM

What about the thousands of workers who work at jobs in the Grocery industry who have to get by on 25 hours a week because greedy employers dont want to pay any benifits? Here in California its hard to get lower paying jobs if your not hispanic, so the Whites and Blacks without any skills are forced to stand on the corners with a sign. So young people take my advise, Go into the Military, they pay decent now and you can get an education.

Tim| 7.26.10 @ 10:51AM

Believer,
It isn't just in the Grocery Business, the problem is that many industries have been forced to cut hours for their employees.

So while we are given this imaginary number of 9.5% unemployment the truth is that as we all know if we count up all the folks that are working less than Full-Time....the figure is more like 25-30%

While I am pro military, I also believe that only folks that believe in fighting for their country should go and not just those that can't find work and only want Uncle Sam to pay for their schooling .

Obviousely, if that were the case we would have a very small Army. So Iget your point!

More Articles by Ben Stein

More Articles From Special Report

Tornado Chasers

May 24, 2013 | Claire Healey

The Inoperative Jay Carney

May 23, 2013 | Jeffrey Lord

Disabling American Sovereignty

May 22, 2013 | Iain Murray & Geoffrey McLatchey

IRS Union Chief Stonewalls

May 21, 2013 | Jeffrey Lord

Obama and the IRS: The Smoking Gun?

May 20, 2013 | Jeffrey Lord

http://spectator.org/archives/2010/07/22/the-character-of-unemployment

ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Headlines

We Will Remember

Roger Kaplan|26 comments

Real Immigration Reform Requires Free Markets

Ross Kaminsky|79 comments

Enough With the Bipartisanship

Matt Purple|45 comments

The United States of El Norte

Larry Thornberry|59 comments

Vodka = Vodka = Vodka

Daniel J. Flynn|93 comments

Laying Down My Pen

Quin Hillyer

Tornado Chasers

Claire Healey|35 comments

The Chinese Waltz

George H. Wittman|2 comments

The Spectacle Blog

The Spectator’s Spectacular: May 18-May 25

Patrick Ryan | 10:45AM

Updated: NBC News: Holder Personally Approved Fox Reporter Warrant

Ross Kaminsky | 5.24.13

Felonious Attorney General?

Kaylin Bugos | 5.24.13

Did the Boy Scouts Cave to Pressure?

Claire Healey | 5.24.13

BBC World Survey Ranks Israel Near Bottom in Global Popularity

Aaron Goldstein | 5.24.13

Obamacare is a Big and Growing Problem for Democrats

Ross Kaminsky | 5.24.13

Stein on IRS Scandal

Patrick Ryan | 5.24.13

The Restricted Engine

Yogi Love | 5.24.13

SPONSORED LINKS

FLASHBACK TO: 1995

Clip of the Day

H/T to National Review Online

Most Popular Articles

#FreeKate? Movement to Normalize Pedophilia Finds Its Poster Girl

Robert Stacy McCain | 5.23.13

Obama and the IRS: The Smoking Gun?

Jeffrey Lord | 5.20.13

The Inoperative Jay Carney

Jeffrey Lord | 5.23.13

Holding AWOL Obama Accountable

Betsy McCaughey | 5.23.13

Obama's Imbroglios

R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. | 5.23.13

Lerner's Plea

Ray V. Hartwell | 5.23.13

Time to Go for the Kill

Peter Ferrara | 5.22.13

Laying Down My Pen

Quin Hillyer | 5.23.13

ADVERTISEMENT

Home |About |Contributors |Advertise |Donate |Privacy Policy |Contact

The American Spectator Foundation is the 501(c)(3) organization responsible for publishing The American Spectator magazine and training aspiring journalists who espouse traditional American values. Your contributions are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. Each donor receives a year-end summary of their giving for tax purposes.

Copyright 2013, The American Spectator. All rights reserved.