So far, we haven't been affected by the recession. In fact, Austin in general hasn't been hit as hard as many other parts of the country. Whew
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Again, you have validated why I respect (and love) you so much.
This is spot on, the only thing that might need overcoming in this approach is the pride factor. Having to go back to school is sometimes seen as 'going back to square one' or some such.
It could even be practicality as part of pride. For instance, if you've been a machinist making a certain part for SUV construction in Detroit for 15 years, you've probably built up a fairly decent salary. Starting over as tech support for printers or a billing specialist for insurance probably isn't going to yield the kind of income you're used to. I mean, that's pride, but it's also practical "Can I still live in the same house if I totally change my career?" kind of stuff.
I think success in one career sometimes makes people feel trapped into continuing down that path, even if they'd rather (and their society would rather, for its own good) change to doing something else.
great post, I also have heard that vocational schools and community colleges are seeing an uptick in people coming back to school to train/learn new tasks and abilities in jobs they have not been familiar with before.
I am just pissed off royally though about our state here. California just approved a new budget that will be increasing our taxes significantly. I won't be surprised if we have another revolt much like what deposed Gray Davis previous to Arnold's term.
lol that was part of it indeed that led people to get mad at Davis but I think what really pissed off people here the most was the car tax. Heck, that's mostly what they recalled him for and then put Arnold in since he said he'd repeal it.
I worked in a smog shop back then as my part time job while in school and we often did registration for people (stickers and stuff) as a side service. They would pay us $5 on top of their registration car fee (all of it and $3, for electronic sending of the info, of the $5 we would charge went to the state or phone company, we only made $2 on it). I had people flipping out on me just because of the $5 simply because they were already pissed off the state was taking upwards $150 - 400 more of their money depending on the car they had.
(arguably created by people who stupidly signed on for more than they could afford, and the swindlers who enabled them)
I would agree, but reverse the order. I hold con artists more to blame than their patsies, though a "victim" to a con job is always more accountable than the victim of a straight up theft.
I've lost many thousands of dollars to this recession, because I was trying to sell a house in this market. My loans were reasonable, my pay adequate (though frozen for a year), and in fact I'm still solvent, though saddled with an unfortunate debt.
As for your proposal, I love it.
I think there would be a huge potential for abuse by unscrupulous or just plain unqualified schools, but it's a much better plan than flushing more money down the toilet that used to be our banking system.
No matter whom government money goes to, I'm sure those sources will find a way to scam more than their fair share. We've already seen it with the bankers. I guess it's a matter of who you'd rather be scammed by: construction subcontractors, or musty PhDs with leather elbows on their jackets.
I guess I should preface all this by saying that in general I am for infrastructure spending (which makes me an awful Libertarian), but I'd rather they wait until the economy settles (and/or we've resolved this costly war situation) to do it, instead of increasing our woeful national debt/deficit just when we can least afford to do so. I don't think infrastructure spending, in and of itself, is going to help the economy short-term, and it'd all be so much more palatable if it didn't come off as a hasty "omg we've got to do something because our constituents expect us to do something, else they'll figure out that we're totally useless" political solution.
I agree with you, Viv. I'd take it back a step, though. With the baby boomers about to retire, there are many professions that will soon face a severe shortage of trained workers. The skilled trades were already feeling the pinch before the recession hit. The economic downturn may postpone the problem as folks can't afford to retire early anymore, but it's no going away.
I don't know about the States, but in Canada we aren't managing our people very well. No one is out there telling people where they are needed. There are some professions still hurting for trained workers, like mine, for example (medical lab technologist, if anyone's interested.) Many people go back to school during a recession. Now is the perfect time to get the message out so they take the courses they need to be gainfully employed when things get better.
There are four full time jobs open at the lab. It's been four months and we haven't been able to fill them. It's really ridiculous that so many people are losing their jobs in some sectors while employers can't find qualified people in others.
Every once in a while you see something on MSN news or something about "10 ten growth professions," but that's about it for getting the word out on which professions are hurting for new members. Much as I enjoyed getting a liberal arts degree, I probably would have changed my major to something more useful if I'd known there was a need for more (insert professional title here)s.
Maybe this is something Obama's technology team could do... :)
It's certainly something that should be done. Everyone complains that no one really knows which professions will be important in the future but that's really just an excuse for not doing anything. I can't blame people. It's an enormous job. CNN, at least, is doing something
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This is spot on, the only thing that might need overcoming in this approach is the pride factor. Having to go back to school is sometimes seen as 'going back to square one' or some such.
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I think success in one career sometimes makes people feel trapped into continuing down that path, even if they'd rather (and their society would rather, for its own good) change to doing something else.
(smooch :)
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I am just pissed off royally though about our state here. California just approved a new budget that will be increasing our taxes significantly. I won't be surprised if we have another revolt much like what deposed Gray Davis previous to Arnold's term.
Reply
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I worked in a smog shop back then as my part time job while in school and we often did registration for people (stickers and stuff) as a side service. They would pay us $5 on top of their registration car fee (all of it and $3, for electronic sending of the info, of the $5 we would charge went to the state or phone company, we only made $2 on it). I had people flipping out on me just because of the $5 simply because they were already pissed off the state was taking upwards $150 - 400 more of their money depending on the car they had.
Reply
I would agree, but reverse the order. I hold con artists more to blame than their patsies, though a "victim" to a con job is always more accountable than the victim of a straight up theft.
I've lost many thousands of dollars to this recession, because I was trying to sell a house in this market. My loans were reasonable, my pay adequate (though frozen for a year), and in fact I'm still solvent, though saddled with an unfortunate debt.
As for your proposal, I love it.
I think there would be a huge potential for abuse by unscrupulous or just plain unqualified schools, but it's a much better plan than flushing more money down the toilet that used to be our banking system.
Reply
I guess I should preface all this by saying that in general I am for infrastructure spending (which makes me an awful Libertarian), but I'd rather they wait until the economy settles (and/or we've resolved this costly war situation) to do it, instead of increasing our woeful national debt/deficit just when we can least afford to do so. I don't think infrastructure spending, in and of itself, is going to help the economy short-term, and it'd all be so much more palatable if it didn't come off as a hasty "omg we've got to do something because our constituents expect us to do something, else they'll figure out that we're totally useless" political solution.
Reply
I don't know about the States, but in Canada we aren't managing our people very well. No one is out there telling people where they are needed. There are some professions still hurting for trained workers, like mine, for example (medical lab technologist, if anyone's interested.) Many people go back to school during a recession. Now is the perfect time to get the message out so they take the courses they need to be gainfully employed when things get better.
Reply
Reply
Maybe this is something Obama's technology team could do... :)
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Reply
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