The American Spectator : Recession Diary

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Recession Diary

By Ben Stein on 9.9.10 @ 6:08AM

The wages of sin on a Labor Day weekend.

Sunday
Now, this is almost funny but not really. It's Labor Day weekend. I am up in Sandpoint with my wife and my pal, Phil DeMuth. I am feeling extremely unwell and have been since I got back from the American Legion Convention in Milwaukee on Wednesday. I was a speaker there and privileged to introduce Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to the convention for a speech on Iraq, Afghanistan, and defense policy (a superb speech) and also privileged to speak of my own gratitude to these fine men and women.

But just before I left, Phil facetiously told me I should be careful not to get Legionnaire's Disease. The joke, although it's not really funny, is that now I have a vicious pulmonary disorder that's tearing me to pieces and as I read on line about Legionnaire's Disease, the symptoms are painfully similar.

I do not in the slightest blame the Legion for this, but the hotel was a bit suspect.

Anyway, yesterday I should have stayed in bed all day but I didn't. Instead, I idiotically took some people on a long ride down a very choppy Pendoreille River to get a dreadful meal, enlightened only by an adorable young singer named Joanie who appeared at our table and sang her little heart out. By the time I got back I felt 99% dead.

Well, now it's Sunday and I am having lunch with five local people who bid for lunch with me at a charity auction and won.

These are five simply great people and what they are telling me is making my head spin.

One of the guests is a woman who does psychiatric social work with kids in bad situations in Bonner County. These are the children of meth addicts, alcoholics, and so forth. Her stories of tiny tots left to fend for themselves while their parents go on long benders are heart breaking -- but then she got to the part that made my jaw drop.

"What's really making it worse," she said, "is this 99 week thing. Now that people who are unemployed can get paid for doing nothing for almost two years, some of them just stay high as long as they can and don't do anything else."

"An unintended consequence," said I, "of compassion."

"Yes," she said, "but a consequence for sure."

The man sitting next to me, who used to run a large sawmill near Coeur d'Alene, had another story to tell.

"We had a heck of a time getting workers even at the peak of the boom," he said. "No one wanted to work. No local people wanted to work unless they were already there. The Mexicans would come and work all day but the whites just would not work. Now, they can't get work even if they want it and a lot of them don't even want it. They just want to be paid to do nothing."

It was all very discouraging. On the other hand, these were some of the most interesting, pleasant men and women I have ever met in my life. I don't think I have ever had this interesting a conversation in Los Angeles.

But by the time it was over, I was burning up. I went back to our condo for a nap, felt worse. My wife said she felt terrible, too. So, we dragged Phil along and went to the Bonner General Hospital emergency room a few blocks away. They treated us great. Flawlessly. They gave us medicines, wished us well, and off we went to go home and die.

Tuesday
Wifey and I spent all of Labor Day resting. Sleeping. E mailing, more sleeping. Listening to Warren Buffett's trains roar by. Then a modest dinner at the Trinity Café and then back to sleep.

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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 (89) | Leave a comment

Shamus| 9.9.10 @ 6:29AM

Ben gets sick, eats dinner, and receives propositions.

vtwin| 9.9.10 @ 9:10AM

“I went toWal-Mart [where upon I saw a] very old man, at least in his 80s… applying for a job.”
“A woman who…had recently done some…work for me … asked for more money…I could not give her more. She might be the fifth or sixth woman I know who has, in recent times…become a call girl…in the absence of a well paid career.”

No, no it’s a parable. And the moral of the story is:

To survive in this Reagan/Bush supply-side economy of tax cuts for the wealthy, free trade … you should expect to be f**ked well into your eighties.

JohnD| 9.9.10 @ 9:33AM

Vtwin, we are living in the Obama economy of extended unemployment benefits to those who do not work, and threats and pending tax hikes for those who do.

Interesting that in this Obama economy the woman Ben speaks of contemplates tax free criminal activity rather than working. Didn't Obama's ACORN help facilitate that type of activity?

A Bush-Reagan supply side economy would incentivize honest work.

Redstateboy| 9.9.10 @ 9:50AM

I was going to say... LOL!! it's Vtwin... our resident Agent-Provature.... either that or a flaming Liber-ul suffering from BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome)

TR| 9.9.10 @ 2:23PM

I guess that I didn't realize that the tax cuts were only for the wealthy. I am far from wealthy but the I got a tax cut too. Oh yeah, I forget, to a envious loser like vtwin, anyone who has EARNED money through hard work and good decisions must forfeit that money to losers like him. To a wealth envy moron like vtwin, money is not earned, it is "distributed". The more postings I read from this brain damaged motorcycle wannabe, the more evident it becomes that liberals are severly deranged, and their jealousy poses a threat to the hard working people that support the welfare cases that would rather collect their 99 weeks of MY MONEY than to get off their duffs and work.
Money is earned you idiot. Central control of the economy leads to what happened in the Soviet Union, to Cuba (where the govt. pays everyone $20 a month, and "gives" them their shelter and food. Vtwin, if you dislike the very system that gives you a forum to spout your idiocy, why not just leave and move to China or Cuba? They would embrace your lunatic ideology, of course you would shortly end up in a concentration camp the moment you started bitching at them like you bitch on these posts.
You are a loser.

Nobammy Bin Lyin| 9.10.10 @ 11:33PM

Well, you got the bitch part right. He's not vtwin, she's vtwink, twin's alter bitch. She keeps all the lads happy down at the bathhouse. That's why she spews so much crap. It collects in her mouth from all the helmet polishing.

mzk1| 9.13.10 @ 7:34PM

Actually, I got a tax "cut" from Obama when I didn't have to pay any taxes. One day I may actually see the money. I sent the IRS a letter explaining that I had to figure two different ways, both in their favor. They ignored it, ran it though the computer, and increased my refund. So I got a chack, which I cannot cash, except it was lost. And then I realized I have to file a Maryland non-resident, late, and will have to pay. I figure I earned the money with all of the hours I had to figure out my income, and the time I spent with the IRS. I'm not done yet, either.

Amanda G.| 9.10.10 @ 10:30AM

Five or six women have told Stein that they would have to become call girls?

Obviously, Ben Stein associates with very low class, immoral women. No surprise here.

I do not know a single female who would consider becoming a "call girl" to support her lavish, materialistic life.

Ben, please stop contributing your little blathers. You reveal so much of yourself when you do, and you become less attractive with each reading.

Nobammy Bin Lyin| 9.10.10 @ 11:37PM

I think they start considering it after 99 weeks of free drugs. You'd be surprised what a crack whore will do for a hit.

Todd Powers| 9.12.10 @ 1:55PM

I wouldn't.

Todd Powers| 9.12.10 @ 1:54PM

Go easy on Ben, for he is not alone in the call girl circuit. I'm a small business man in the boondocks and I get my share of offers from surprising places. And it is to keep up a lavish (comparatively speaking) lifestyle that is unearned.

Ben mentioned that she was the ex-girlfriend of two wealthy men. Read between the lines. In my mind she already is a call girl, just more selective.

Steve A| 9.9.10 @ 9:47AM

Wow V, you are a genius. So your point is that Reaganomics destroyed all of the economic momentum of those great Carter years?? Get a grip.

Redstateboy| 9.9.10 @ 9:48AM

LOL>> it's

vtwin| 9.9.10 @ 11:57AM

“Its” is the possessive form of "it."
What article is that – its Ben’s article?

It's is a contraction of "it is."
What do you think of Ben’s article – it’s a parable?

Anyone disagree?

Philip Isett| 9.9.10 @ 6:31PM

What article is that? It's Ben's article. Both examples are "it is."

Eric Cartman| 9.10.10 @ 8:23AM

Bingo! vtwin thought and thought and was almost correct about standard English.

"Its Ben's article" he wrote smugly! He should have kept on the couch under his vtwin Snuggly. Vroom, vroom!

Nobammy Bin Lyin| 9.10.10 @ 11:40PM

There's no fool like an arrogant fool.

Eric Cartman with the I M Gang| 9.9.10 @ 10:06AM

Hey everybody! Its us again, The Imagination Movers! I'm Smitty here with Eric, Scott, Dave and Rich! We're here to see whose imagination and ideas are moving us today! Hey look! It's vtwin again! Hey, Smitty, remember last time? vtwin sucked at thinking and imagination! Yeah, Smitty, he couldn't think his way out of a wet paper bag! Okay, Eric, Scott, just calm down- it's always right to give the mentally challenged another chance! Why, to let them suck again?! They may not have been thinking well that day, Eric. They suck, I tell ya! Now, now.

Okay, yeah I guess you're right Smitty. But if he screws it up again, I'm gunna hit him with a 2 x 4 with a nail in the end of it! Okay Dave, but you have to give me first whack! Okay, Eric.

Okay vtwin, here's your chance! Think vtwin, think! Think of a good point to make! Vroom, vroom, vtwin! You da man, vtwin! Yeah, c'mon vtwin, you can do it! Don't let Eric hit you with a 2 x 4! Think real hard! Come up with a great point! Yeah vtwin, don't let them think you're just a shit-for brains! THINK VTWIN, THINK! THINK, VTWIN THINK! Shhhhhhh! He's about to say something real smart, everyone! C'mon vtwin! Say it! Show us you can do it!

"To survive in this Reagan/Bush supply-side economy of tax cuts for the wealthy, free trade … you should expect to be f**ked well into your eighties."

Ahhhh, not again! More worn out Liberal bullshit, this time from the 80s?! Yeah vtwin, you suck at thinking! And your imagination is as dry as Nancy Pelosi's crotch! And economics, vtwin - you really don't know shit, do ya?! Yeah, just another union mouthpiece who is breaking the budgets of every state while sitting on their asses at the DMV! Or ruining the car companies! Yeah! Grab your 2 x 4s boys!

Freddy| 9.9.10 @ 11:26AM

Cartman, your posts just make my day. But my stomach hurts now from laughing so hard. Thanks bud =)

Cabermon| 9.9.10 @ 1:23PM

"vtwin" is in as much primary imbalance as a Harley-Davidson V-Twin engine. The difference is that the Harley's exhaust sounds good!

vtwin| 9.9.10 @ 1:25PM

Come on Eric, five imaginary males friends with large phallic like objects in their hands and they all want to “whack” me. What is this some kind of homosexual fantasy you’re playing out here on TAS? Please send your momma.

TR| 9.9.10 @ 2:27PM

Only a latent homosexual like vtwin would think a stick is a phallic symbol. Just go ahead and come out of the closet vtwin. It's OK. We cannot think any less of you being a homosexual than we already do knowing you are a brain damaged liberal.

Eric Cartman| 9.9.10 @ 3:27PM

WOW, vtwin! Fantasizing about me and the Imagination Movers, heh? (Do you also fantasize about Handy Manny?) And likening our male members to 2 x 4s! I take it all back - you have quite an imagination! A sick, twisted, gay fantasy imagination, but you fit in with the Pelosi crowd real well! Guess that comes from all your leather wearing biker pals, heh? But you still suck at thinking, tough, I mean, how long did it take you to come up with that pathetic response? Man! How dumb!

Has anyone noticed vtwin's mistake in his it's vs. its thinkfest?

vtwin| 9.9.10 @ 3:52PM

Note: Eric’s creative originality appears to drop considerably when his sexual orientation is questioned. Resorts to "It's Not Me, It's You" type responses.

Eric Cartman| 9.9.10 @ 4:16PM

And he thought and thought, but all poor vtwin could come up with was this pathetic response. He thought mightily, straining his over -taxed brain cell, only to squeeze out this small brain turd:

Note: Eric’s creative originality appears to drop considerably when his sexual orientation is questioned. Resorts to "It's Not Me, It's You" type responses."

But then he redoubled his efforts to impress us all!
He huffed and he puffed and he sat up real tall!
But then he sputtered and muttered because his brain was two sizes too small!

And then he thought and he thought and said, "I know! I'll correct someone's it's vs its phrase then be ready for the brawl!" I'll make them squirm and sweat, maybe even crawl.

But alas that also failed him as he sputtered merrily on, writing more gibberish and acting like a moron.

Poor vtwin, a bumbler is he. He thinks like all foolish liberals that doctor visits should be free. And food should be purchased for him and his family.

But it is said if you stand quite still and listen very hard, you can hear him laughing at his being a retard.

Uncle Hilarity| 9.10.10 @ 3:45PM

Eric Cartman,

Your posts are usually riddled with spelling, grammar and punctuation errors. As an example of just one, a comma should precede boys in your last sentence.

Eric Cartman| 9.12.10 @ 8:51PM

I'll have to write that down on a 3x5 card and file it under "Usage and Grammar" then put it in a 3x5 box that I will take from my 3x5 box file. Then wipe dust the 3x5 cards and box 3 times and place it back in the upper right hand corner of my 3x5 box file and then wipe and dust my 3x5 box file 4 times and then lock that 3x5 box file carefully in my 3x5 box file safe and then wipe and dust the entire safe and contents 5 times and then lock the 3x5 box file safe. After I will vacuum the rug around the 3x5 box file safe 6 times for good measure. I'm so glad you brought that up.

JUJU| 9.9.10 @ 11:35AM

Vtwin, you couldn't be more wrong, wrong, wrong. We have become a country of lazy, whiners, that are ungrateful for the blessings of this wonderful nation. We want the lifestyle our parents had after they worked for it for 40 years, but we want it NOW. We live on credit card debt so we can live beyond our means..... And it's been encouraged by Hollywood, a spendthrift Congress and a media that lost it's journalistic integrity. We need to refind our morals and work ethic and put this country back together with the help of Almighty God who we kicked out of our schools, home and laws.

ShortNSweet| 9.10.10 @ 9:50AM

Amen! Amen! You said it perfectly, Juju! God bless you.

Jeff Lee| 9.9.10 @ 2:09PM

The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.

--Matthew 26:11

Tex Expatriate| 9.9.10 @ 2:56PM

I suppose you believe you're pretty cute, with the Reagen/Bush supply-side crack. The fact is, what we have is a worsening depression caused---just like the last one was caused---by marxist economic prescriptions. All of America is getting f**ked by them.

Alan Brooks| 9.9.10 @ 7:11PM

Vtwin, please don't blame Reagan, if nothing else he bankrupted the Soviet Empire, an empire which with its invasion of Afghanistan had become as imperialitic as any in history.
His one mistake was backing Bush in '88, he could have said, "my successor should be a man of integrity such as Kemp-- not a dynasty-seeker like Bush".
But Reagan was swayed by myopic counsel that urged him to support Bush, in a misguided attempt to further the legacy.

Victors by their victory can be undone.

Tim| 9.9.10 @ 2:41PM

"Ben gets sick, eats dinner, and receives propositions."

Heh.

Alan Brooks| 9.9.10 @ 7:19PM

Vtwin,
Reagan couldn't have known that after he helped end the Cold War-- or if you think the Cold War has not ended, then Reagan's administration at least facilitated the demise of the Warsaw Pact-- his successors would be lapdogs.
Please don't blame Reagan for the fizzled Bush dynasty, our worst enemies often appear as allies; Reagan made the one big mistake of trusting the clueless Bush
-- when he had no reason to trust him.

SeattleBruce| 9.11.10 @ 11:19PM

"Reagan made the one big mistake of trusting the clueless Bush
-- when he had no reason to trust him."

Exactly. Bush Sr. called Reagan a Conservative extremist. Nuff said.

SeattleBruce| 9.11.10 @ 11:17PM

Cliff Notes? ;)

bluecollarbytes| 9.9.10 @ 6:59AM

I 'celebrated' Labor Day by working (my choice), thankful for work even if I created my own job. Over the last 10 years or so I've noticed more older customers going back to work as their nest eggs shrink. They work where they can and are accepted, doing whatever they need to survive.

A 'work ethic' is now praised by some, while others consider it the domain of chumps. Not so long ago folks simply worked because that was what humans do on this earth to live. Whether there was 'praise' or not, there was 'work' and plenty of it just to put food on the table.

Fear of hunger and no roof overhead is a powerful motivation, unless govt institutionalizes the non-productive.

Alan Brooks| 9.9.10 @ 11:17PM

buut STILL, you want the state to help YOUR people.

The jig is up.

Appleby| 9.9.10 @ 7:22AM

On the one hand, the movies make the profession of high priced whore look glamorous, exciting and sure to lead to a wealthy marriage, so why wouldnt a girl put out for pay? (In truth it is more likely to lead to addiction, depression, disease and a horrible death alone.)

On the other hand, a girl who has spent all her life having sex with strangers to prove her *equality* with men might just as well be paid for it, right?

As far as work ethic goes, I see almost none in my workmates under the age of 40, and none at all save for aspiring race car drivers and other sportsmen, in those under 30. What surprises me the most is the number of young women looking for what we used to call *a meal ticket* -- not a stay-at-home mom type lifestyle, which several of my young relatives chose because they love homemaking and children -- but a working husband who will support them so they can stay home and *pursue their interests* which seem mainly to be shopping and gossip. Lots of these young and not so young women have extensive requirements and checklists, and they do not include the all important Dun & Bradstreet report to confirm that any of the stuff their Meal Ticket assures them is actually true.

There are days I sit at the table at work and wonder if I really did grow up on another planet.

Seek| 9.9.10 @ 11:43AM

Young women don't seek wealthy Mr. Right because of movies; they do it because it's in their genes. Nothing new here. The "trend" of which you write is about 250,000 years old.

Appleby| 9.9.10 @ 12:12PM

Used to be that young girls did this because it was their only option save life as a virtual slave, or so they thought. At age 25 I checked into this hypothesis myself and discovered that there are far worse things than living alone, and one of them is listening to a wealthy man drone on and on about his ex-wife and kids and his business....

Today, where women have the choice to be anything they want to be, choosing a sugar daddy is not "in their genes" any more than marriage to Pa Ingalls used to be; it is a lifestyle choice, and like high-priced whore, a choice falsely made to seem glamorous by the movies.

ShortNSweet| 9.10.10 @ 10:03AM

Where do you guys live?!?!? Where I live most of the women I know are moms and dads...working 40 hours a week, and making every ball game, and parent teacher conference, and where's the real dad? God only knows. He's out there screwing around all day, doing drugs, and drinking until he can't sit up much less stand up, and don't even mention helping pay the bills for those kids he's made and then quickly abandoned! Puh-lease! I know more women who are better care-givers, and providers and "men", than men that are real "men"! Don't put me in that group you just described. I was one of those women who did it all - AND Succeeded without a sticking man! Those statements are so offensive to me.

ShortNSweet| 9.10.10 @ 12:19PM

P.S. - I realize the generalizations you have made...and in some cases are true, but most doesn't fit the bill......We do live in a society of whiners and wannabe free-loaders, welfare and the likes has started this trend....but not every woman or even most women are gold diggers. I have a suggestion. Split this slab of land down the middle, and lets put the ones willing to work and fend for themselves on one side, and those who aren't on the other........Just a thought.

mzk1| 9.13.10 @ 7:43PM

Um, and how were the babies born? Were they all married women whose husbands abandoned them, or rape victims? Somehow I doubt it.

If they produced kids without a husband, then no matter what saints they are, they have potentially hurt their kids. (And note that men don't have the same opportunity.)

Eric Cartman| 9.9.10 @ 7:54AM

I dunno, Ben - seems like a great profession. I might join your friend, although on the male side of the business. Call it something like, "The Fred Garvin Dating Service" - franchises available.

I might be a little old, but that only opens new opportunities. For example, getting Depends to come out with the Levi Bluejeans style Adult diapers - like the baby ones. Sexy! American Chopper Scooter Chairs! Hey Baby, jump on! Watch the colostomy bag, would ya! Candy necklace Viagra! Vroom! Vroom!

The franchise would supply all this and much more! Gold bling! All the satin wide collar shirts you can wear in a week! Lotions and ointments for dry skin - with Aloe! All the Oppo Hernia Trusses (double sided) you need! And white shoes for that elderly gentleman on -the-go look!

THis in itself might revive the economy.

Eric Cartman| 9.9.10 @ 8:30AM

There was a time, Ben, I would have thought that this was a sign of the decline of America. But no more! Your friend has inspired me. She has a better stimulus package that Obummer has! I mean, whats better than a stimulus that REALLY stimulates! I say go for it! It's the new age of Obama! So all you AARP members, contact me for franchise information. Those with two new hips go to the front of the line!

Our founder: http://media.photobucket.com/image/fred garvin/dino195/FredGarvin.jpg

Eric Cartman| 9.9.10 @ 8:32AM

Whoops! Try this one: http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thes.....in_304.jpg

Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 9.9.10 @ 8:07AM

The lame and lazy are everywhere. While they collect government checks they stand with buckets ready at many stop lights in the Washington, D.C. area just working their angle all made possible by a benevolent public. No good deed goes unpunished.

In the meantime if a lady had been the paramour of one wealthy man and then another, she already was a call girl.

JOAN FROM SANDPOINT| 9.9.10 @ 11:14AM

My thought exactly. I believe the phrase is "now we're just talking price"

Melvin| 9.9.10 @ 8:16AM

There was a time that I thought I was man enough to be on my own in the beginning of newly found independence. I was fortunate enough to have a very dear friend who took this miserable stray in because I refused to go home and admit defeat to my parents, and give them satisfaction of, "We told you so."
I worked the night crew at a local supermarket that was the forerunner of Walmart before Walmart was Walmart. I must admit that in order to survive I consumed dairy products that were expired and opened up by customers who changed their minds.
Cheese was at the top of my list, because yogurt just didn't cut it while I was stocking the refers in the store's dairy section.
I rode this old motorcycle with expired loaves of bread, and peanut butter that would turn into breakfast after getting off work at 6:00 AM.
One day while sitting at the kitchen table eating the trillionth peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the apartment that I was sharing, I thought to myself this independence thing really sucks, it looked so easy when I was at home.
But I still refused to go home to my parents and beg. I was starting to get into trouble with minor stuff with the authorities because work had slowed down with Jimmy Carter's malaise, which gave me way too much time to get into mischief.
Back then a person was looked upon like a pariah if they accepted government assistance, this is when government handed out government cheese, sugar, flour, and rice.
Even though I was stopped up with cheese and peanut butter I sure as hell didn't want a damn thing from the government, or at least without me working for it.
During 1979 Iran invaded our embassy, and I wanted to throttle every living Iranian that I could get my paws on because Jimmy hadn't the gumption to do it. Hence, the Marine Corps beckoned to me, because that bunch sure as hell never gave up at anything they embarked upon.
Thirty-five years later, one wife of twenty-eight years, three kids, four grandchildren, and one Walker Hound that loves to hog the bed I still haven't give up. Even now while I turn into a grumpy curmudgeon I would shovel dog squeeze to provide for my wife and I, and the lazy dog.
I guess what this personal diatribe equates to is. Never ever give up on yourself or on your country, never compromise your principles, and don't give an inch when faced with adversity.
That is what being an American is all about. This American ethic has been diluted by the touchy feelies in our government run school who think its OK to be a victim and government will make the boo boo all better. Well that message is a load of horse squeeze.
Maybe this Country needs some of us old geezers, need to be Walmart door greeters and tell those who walk in, "Hello welcome to Walmart and pull up those damn trousers, shut that cat-walling kid, and take that damn ball-cap off that you have on backwards, that makes you look like a fool, and have a great day."

Sam Vaughn| 9.9.10 @ 8:26AM

Can't agree more. "the tough get going when the going get's tough" another favorite of mine,,, "quit whining and get to work"

Redstateboy| 9.9.10 @ 9:56AM

Accepting Food Stamps..? in my family...? You just don't do. It's Not an option. What's sad is so is so many accept it

scotchieguy| 9.9.10 @ 8:01PM

No, it has become fashionable to accept the handouts. Who would have ever thunk it?

JamesR| 9.9.10 @ 10:16AM

My Dad (Ret. Marine,survivor of Tinian and Saipan) always made me walk fast. One day I asked why and he said because you will always get where your going first. This generation of wanna haves and need to haves makes me sick. The Big "O" should be ashamed of what he has done.

Renee| 9.10.10 @ 8:32PM

Excellent post, Appleby, thanks! Your Walmart greeting cracked me up!

Alan| 9.9.10 @ 8:48AM

My band plays gigs at weddings, bars, and corporate parties. It’s a great little window on the economy and culture, with musicians ranging from twenties to fifties in age.

First the good news: there are some young men willing to bust a gut doing eight hours of hard driving, moving heavy gear, playing your guts out for hours, and driving home in the middle of the night – all for about $150, before gas, food, and practice time. The bad news: their level of commitment is the exception among their peers. These musicians really personally own this business in their gut to make it work on slender margins.

More bad news: the youngsters and their peers have been trained to show entrepreneurism for socially-approved, “give-back-to-the-community” activities (like music, arts, organizing the soup line), but to have a bad entitlement attitude toward those day-job companies they want to work for. They speak disparagingly, even while expecting job offers with good pay and non-strenuous work.

Worse, the twenty-somethings have been drilled to turn freedom on its head by avoiding unapproved conflict. Band practice is hampered because the young guys completely freak out at the kind of normal mutual criticism that the old guys take for granted, that is the natural work of band musicians sharpening each other. To them, freedom of speech means the opposite: everyone is entitled to never feel uncomfortable, to always feel good about himself no matter how piss-poor a job he did that day, and anyone who substantially criticizes another has committed a serious faux paus.

But how can you run a band, or a marriage, or a company, or a country, if people can’t understand real love, i.e. relationships whose commitment is deeper than the conflicts we must face together to get where we’re going? If you want people to truly learn to love each other, commitment through painful honesty is the way (e.g. like Dr. King was painfully, lovingly honest with us all). If you want to permanently divide people and incite hatred, train them to police their own speech for unapproved conflict.

The Leninists have trained people to cripple their own natural, healthy personal critical impulses and replace them with unhealthy, socially-approved, fake critical impulses. This negates personal freedom. The purpose of this crippling is to train people to be ruled. But the side effects are undermined relationships, marriages, companies, and nations.

Melvin| 9.9.10 @ 9:15AM

Alan, remember the movie, Midnight Express about the young tourists who gets caught in Turkey trying to smuggle heroin? There was one portion of the movie where all the prisoners were down in the prison dungeon all walking around a huge pillar in the same direction, and the reason was that is the way it has always been done. The main character of the film goes into the dungeon as sees the mass of humanity all walking in a circle and he decides to walk in the opposite direction and the mass of humanity goes ballistic trying to tell him, "No, no you can't walk this way, and physically tried to turn him around."
Thats what we Americans need to do Allan. We have always walked against the status quo and conventional thinking.
As individuals we have always walked by the drum beat of our own drums.
To hell with Barrack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Richard Daley and everyone else who says, "You need to conform." "Conform to this," is my reply.
Alan by your post I salute you, as a young man with fellow like thinkers who busts their butts, in their dreams of finding success. You will find success sometimes not in where you think you'll find it, but with your attitude you'll find it, because it is there just waiting for you to find it.
"Always walk against the flow, because you have the freedom to do it."

Redstateboy| 9.9.10 @ 1:41PM

"The purpose of this crippling is to train people to be ruled. But the side effects are undermined relationships, marriages, companies, and nations."

Sadly... isn't that their plan.. ain't that right Vtwin?

scotchieguy| 9.9.10 @ 8:10PM

You are a musician too? Tough gig, now, though. Toughest part isn't the crappy work-ethic, it is the left -wing misinformed political BS they all seem to have. It is just accepted that all of us lefty musicians would vote for Obama--hey, who could possibly be against being pro-choice? That is the ticket--abortion--good, Reagan--bad, corporate CEO's--evil, greedy and Nazi-like, Obama--Messiah-like...on it goes...it is a tough gig. Not to mention, I am really getting sick of classic rock/top 40...would rather play Allman Bros...ah, sucks to become a curmudgeon.

Glen H| 9.9.10 @ 9:04AM

So, Ben knows "five or six" women that will have to turn to prostitution? This really brings it all home. The economy is so bad that he is forced to share his stable of hookers with the general population. Oh, the humanity!

vtwin| 9.9.10 @ 9:25AM

Or, maybe his wife an outsourcer!

Steve A| 9.9.10 @ 10:07AM

Hey V, You oughta know, you probably have to pay to "get some" anyway.

joli| 9.9.10 @ 12:08PM

Dude, seriously? Do you have any personal knowledge of Ben Stein or his wife that would justify a personal attack of this nature? Or are you just a liberal troll who... oh wait, it's you, vtwin. Asked and answered.

greghawk| 9.10.10 @ 4:14AM

VTWIN voted for the current Administration. He/she/it has to wear that badge for the remainder of his/her/its life

Richard| 9.9.10 @ 9:32AM

Of course, whores and bums have always been with us but now they are government supported. And there has always been drug addicts. Our era is reminescent of the degenerate period prior to the advent of the Victorian era. People decided that enough was enough and a moral re-awakening followed. This period of moral resurgence lasted until the 1960's. It is interesting to follow the illegitimate birth data which began rising in 1962 after a century of low illegitimate birth rates.

Joe Schmuckatelli| 9.9.10 @ 10:10PM

Well, actually, the Victorian era's moral revival featured massive institutional prostitution.

owyheewine| 9.9.10 @ 9:39AM

Note to the proofreader: Pend Orielle is 2 words.

Dustoff| 9.9.10 @ 10:01AM

Hey V, this is what O-bummer has given us.
______________________________
ASHINGTON (Reuters) - Projected U.S. economic growth for the rest of this year and next was revised down for a third month in a row by a panel of about 50 economists.

The latest Blue Chip Economic Indicators report on Thursday said the weaker outlook for second-half 2010 growth stemmed from lower expectations for consumer spending, business investment and private construction.
_________________
I'll take Reagan any day over this fool.

bubba| 9.9.10 @ 10:20AM

Where would young people learn a good work ethic and morals from, not at school from a bunch of government union workers. Trash TV sure isn't going to teach them morals or a good work ethic.

Under Reagan this country became a nation of vultures preying on the real working class, get an education was get training in how to swindle and cheat the working class sooner than do an honest days work.

The working class caught on and sys why bother killing themselves for chump change while being played off against third world labor, might as well work the system and bag it because busting their butts just means being targets for the swindlers and unmotivated to suck off of.

Dustoff| 9.9.10 @ 11:30AM

Well bubba, if you care to check.

Under Clinton this country became a nation of vultures preying on the real working class,
Clinton's people went to jail more than anyone else and his minions are still causing trouble even today.

Bubba| 9.9.10 @ 3:27PM

More like they just got better at picking the bones of the dead blue collar workers under clinton. Just because the laws caught up with a few near the top didn't change the mentality in the country that has existed for decades right threw the Reagan years, Clinton years and into the housing bubble.

Not much difference between busted white collar criminals and ones that manage to get away with their scams because it wasn't against some law yet to burn people. Finding a legal loophole to burn people isn't making an honest buck, it's just ripping people off and getting away with it. The $800,000 a year CA Mayor is an example of legally being able to steal, lots more just like him have robbed CA residents blind and people just like them have done it in the business world also.

Lots of boomers and people older than them with no morals to do the right thing, they will burn anyone anytime they can.

Bob K.| 9.9.10 @ 10:27AM

Ben,
I too feel sorry for that 80 year old man who was re applying for a minimum wage job at Wal-Mart on one of their computers located, ironically, next to the Restroom. One wonders why they don't have them inside of the rest rooms where the applicants could also help clean up the place!

I suggest that the next time you see someone else doing this in Wal-Mart you tell them to take a trip to Bentonville, Ark., home of more Millionaires per capita than any place in the USA and plead their case there. A Coxey's Army of individuals parading to that place would be a great idea for Labor Day in 2011. Just before the 10th anniversary of 9/11!

You, as an economist, should know that a large portion of the money that you spend in a Wal-Mart is first skimmed off by these executives; then a small portion is given as minimum wages to their employees and the remainder is then sent in bulk to China.

I hope you are feeling better soon. Please mull these thoughts over as you celebrate the Holy Days.

Dennis Bergendorf| 9.9.10 @ 10:38AM

Perhaps vtwin can enlighten us on exactly how making our employers pay higher taxes will help us. Or help the economy in general.

Steve A| 9.9.10 @ 10:42AM

Hey Dennis, You may as well get a pillow out & get comfy while you wait on a direct response from our boy vtwin to your question. He has no game when it comes down to it.

Sheila| 9.9.10 @ 11:15AM

Why the surprise that people prefer to sit on their backsides (or lay on their backs) and receive 99 weeks of unemployment rather than perform honest labor? Even back in the '30s, the Brits found that with unemployment so high, the Welsh miners would rather stay home than work. There's nothing new under the sun. Decline and fall.

JP| 9.9.10 @ 12:05PM

My father who will be 77 in a few months is still employed as a tool and die maker. He told me for years that he was always the youngest person in his shop. Few if any younger people ever considered that trade due to the insistence by our public schools that college is the only path.

So now, even in this recession my father's skills are in high demand, as all of his peers are retired, and the younger die makers left the trade due to outsourcing.

Appleby| 9.9.10 @ 12:20PM

We had to force Mama to retire at 80; she was a Wal-Mart greeter and really enjoyed the chance to meet people every day. The Wal-Mart she worked in was off the major highway that the Snowbirds take from Quebec, and she not only met all the local people, but a large number of people from "up north" and found it a pleasant diversion from being home in a town of 1800 looking after Daddy. But eventually the stress got too much for her between home and work, and she agreed to retire.

Wal-Mart was always very good to her both in paying her a decent salary, trying to promote her (she didn't want to be promoted because she'd have to use computers), providing a good medical plan to supplement Medicare, and giving her time off when she had to rush to the hospital with Daddy, which became increasingly frequent. Our family has no complaints about Wal-Mart.

John Smith| 9.9.10 @ 2:15PM

Why is this doofus allowed to pollute this website?

See Ben Stein revealed:

Google "Peter Schiff was right" on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I0QN-FYkpw

Tim| 9.9.10 @ 2:45PM

Poignant and morose.

gary siebel| 9.9.10 @ 3:47PM

There is nothing wrong with being a ho' so long as she is selective of her clientele, and maintains "safe sex." You have no doubt gazed lustfully upon one or more ho's at one time or another, as have most men.
I researched the matter thoroughly in regards to the A.G.'s attack on Craig's List. My results are posted at:
http://garysiebel.blogspot.com/

The Practical Philosopher| 9.9.10 @ 4:28PM

I think the worst part of all of the above is that the government still continues to depress the economy with it policies and destroy any job creation for all Americans.
All of this right before the Nov elections. It will be a political tidal wave. I wonder what the political spin will be after that occurs?

http://pracphilosblog.wordpres.....omy-works/

Ralph Novy| 9.9.10 @ 5:47PM

Mr. Stein:

Jeez. Read what you wrote.

How self-indulgent, don't you think?

And THIS attitude is what is supposed to buoy the "free market" to success?

Think about it.

I don't think so. Speaking as a "pee-on" I know what "trickle down" means.

Still.....I mean you no ill -- unless you refuse to at least TRY to empathize with your fellow humans.

I've rambled a bit, but, if you've actually read this, I believe you've gotten the point, eh?

Cheers.

Ralph Novy
Hillsboro, Wisconsin

BackToBasics| 9.10.10 @ 12:25AM

This is a tough choice but I'd almost rather see WalMart give the job to a young person. How are the young 16 -25 year olds going to learn that working is good for you if they are passed over because ertirement-age people take the jobs instead?

alf| 9.10.10 @ 1:37PM

My wife shops each week at the local Walmart, and continues to be amazed and impressed with the Greeter, a lady that will be 90 years old in about a month. She is proud of her job, and works a full shift every week. Don't feel sorry for her, she'd be bored to be sitting around the house waiting for the reaper. She has also told my wife that she'd be able to survive without her paycheck because of the lessons learned through living in hard times in years past.
Maybe, just maybe, retirement is just a new fangled invention that doesn't co-incide with the plans of freedom-loving people. On that note, I recently embarked on a new business venture that will save taxpayers money, create jobs, help preserve the environment, and bring me the satisfaction of knowing that I'm capable of being useful to this country even though I lost a small fortune in the stock market, have been retired over ten years, and have celebrated my 75th birthday. What a great country we have, we just have to rid ourselves of the parasites that suck the life blood out of the worker bees in our society. So, politicians and bureaucrats slopping at the public trough, get out and get a REAL JOB, your days are numbered.

Todd Powers| 9.12.10 @ 2:44PM

Although I've never hired Mexicans and I'm in a different industry, I could've said that line. A while back Ben wrote an article stating that those now unemployed were so because of either missing a lot work or intolerable to be around or work with. That is what the sawmill owner, and I, have to deal with. When someone in their early 20's comes in wanting a job and tells me that she's worked at 4 or 5 places already, I tell her, "No, thanks, but I'll probably have to replace you to." They're eyes pop when I say this, because they're surprised to hear it. I tell them there is a reason why you're not working at so many places that are still open for business. Sooner or later, unemployment benefits will dry up and these people, who only a desperate person will hire right now, will be faced with the cold hard reality that they've got only themselves to blame.

QuietPro| 9.22.10 @ 8:52AM

Ben-

I take issue with you giving kudos to the man who owned a Mill business and began insulting "white" workers and giving praise to his "Mexicans" First, his stereotyping helps no one at all. Next, I'll bet my next paycheck that at least half, if not most of his workers are in fact, illegals. Hence he is one of the many business owners contributing to the awful illegal immigration problem in this country; all in the name of increasing his own profits. Don't praise people like this, Ben. He is no "Captain of Industry". He is part of the problems of this country; not it's solutions.