A Note On The Jobs Crisis

Cutter's Log - Stardate 2102.21.80
Current Song - Come As You Are (Nirvana)

Just a small note on what's being called a "jobs crisis."

I am hearing of more and more people needing to work two or more jobs (the hourly-type) in order to keep things afloat. 60 hours, 70 hours, 80 hours and even more than that; when the standard work week totals at 40 hours. Remember when it was possible to get by with 40 hours/week?

The total number of jobs has gone down, and whatever jobs remain are being taken by more and more people that already have a job ON TOP of that. This leads to more and more jobless people.

It makes me wonder why people need to be working 80 hours a week. Why are they in such dire need of money? One thing's for sure, the cost of living is going up and much faster than job growth.

But what puzzles me the most is needing to work so many hours in order to achieve personal satisfation.

This is, of course, met with the reaction, "Well, some of us have bills to pay."

It makes me wonder what other things you are spending your money on outside of bills. You can't be "already cut to the bone" and still smoke a pack of cigarettes a day. Perhaps your choices need re-thinking, rather than changing the structure to make things work your way.

Don't believe me? Try living like a pauper for a week, or two weeks, or even a month. Don't spend so much on discretionary spending, and see if you find yourself complaining when the time comes.

More on this later.