I am one of the "parasites" on unemployment benefit who is draining your income

reply to post by AwakeinNM


None are the problem! Well maybe those who refuse to pay in. If we did not carry the weight of others could you imagine what this country would be like? Shanty towns and landscapes not unlike those seen in Lagos, Mumbai and similar places. The social services make this country what it is. Without them large portions of the populous would be living in the dirt. Put two and two together to envision the mess it would bring upon us.

You are just paying for your continued way of life, not really supporting bums. Get over it without the social services even a hard working man like yourself may find himself living in squalor.

You should all watch the show called "Welcome To Lagos" and envision what the USA would be like without the Social Services.




[edit on 23-7-2010 by Donkey_Dean]

I got layed off,within a week I lost my place that I was living,and about 3 weeks later my dog died.

I miss my dog more than anything else,I can always get another job and a place to live,but he is irreplaceable.

Too many people live too far beyond their means to be helped by being paid unemployment,and it is really too bad.

try to figure out what a consumer is,and try not to be any more of one than you have to be....

Everything can be fixed,but you have to be willing to lose everything to starve the parasite that is draining your life-blood away.

Unemployment isn't what's destroying this country,it's not welfare mama's either,it's the too big to fails,those who take money from you to allow you to do anything,the purchasing of privileges is just one thing that is destroying this country,by skimming away our hard earned money right off the top before we can do anything.

Oh yeah!,and lets not forget about "corporate welfare".....a big biggie big un.

Most importantly though,make the best of a bad situation,you have all kinds of free time now to do things you couldn't before....

reply to post by AwakeinNM

I have found that a lot of people who believe themselves to be paying into things,don't pay much in comparison to what they consume,what they waste.

Arrogant consumer attitudes are everywhere......and really,why would anyone work if they didn't have to?,there are lots more fun things to do if you live within your means,which almost NONE of you are willing to do.

Some of The poorest people live like kings compared to regular people in other countries.

Damned Moo Cow Consumer Sheep Everywhere!.

The more you take from a man,the freer he becomes,that's why they try to keep you slurping up that goo in the trough.

Most of you are less than nothing.

Originally posted by antonia
reply to post by Sararainmaker

 

Unemployment is a tax. There is no account with your name on it with that finite amount of money. Those who pay unemployment taxes now support those on unemployment. Not trying to pick at you, just saying you are wrong.
*snip*

Please note I stated that this is as most people see it.

It is also the way the Unemployment office WANTS people to see it when they apply. My husband has been on it before, They show you the money you qualify for... that you "earned" while paying in.

Social security is the same way, again a tax, (your money goes to others) that they want you to see as a 401(k) plan or something.

reply to post by slinkey10

I did career development,the job I aced my training for was all filled up when I finished.

I'm glad the G.I. Bill paid for it,or I would have been a victim of the "Education Payback Scam",that so many fall for in this world.

Like a college grad working at McD's to pay back school loans......

A lot of things have to change before they get better,but how the heck do ya figure out what to change?.

Maybe if people stopped taking more than they give back would help.

You know you do,you know it.



[edit on 23-7-2010 by chiponbothshoulders]

[edit on 23-7-2010 by chiponbothshoulders]

Originally posted by nivekronnoco
reply to post by Sararainmaker

 

Actually only the bourgeois children of the rich are 'angry' over this extension.The millions of people who have been held hostage by the repugnicans and their masters in the House of Saud are thrilled to be able to feed their children.

Where I live, I am surrounded by these people. (think "Real Housewives of O.C. kind-of place)

I have worked hard since I was 15 years old, and have taken many of the jobs that no one else wants. When I got married, I thought it was great! We lived in an apartment, paid rent and had plenty of money to spare. I decided to take a year off and get a lot of things in my life sorted out and under control that I never had time to do in the past. It was great! While I had taken this time off, the housing market started collapsing. My husband and I couldn't resist and we bought a condo for cheap, and I started looking for work. A year later my husband lost his job and got ill all within a week. He was able to collect unemployment, however I, who had been looking for a job for over a year, was not. We were in trouble. I had to ask my parents for money to help us out. It was only luck that I was able to pick up a job at a doctors office filing records part time, and my husband was able to pick up some contract work... I was able to leap from that job to the one I am in now, and things are much better!

Things are much more stable now in our household, but I DO understand that unemployment can and will help people who need it...

People are just mad that there are people out there, like my former neighbor, who used their benefits to sit and do drugs, not even pay their rent and are not looking for work... and our government has no way to weed them out from the mix of people who really ARE looking for work, and trying their best to get back on their feet.

Originally posted by Muckster
reply to post by Kingalbrect79

 

Thanks for your kind words... I guess i have a similar problem... i kind of feel like a "jack of all trades master of none"

I've done a little of this, little of that... and therefore don’t seem best suited to any one particular role... Even my IT management role (which at the time seemed like a great idea) now seems to have done nothing more than deskill me technically.

I am sure you are correct though... it will all work out in the end... good luck with your own search Bro

Peace

I was in a similar position a few years ago - I'd worked various jobs, little of this and a little of that - a variety of experience. I found myself out of work in '97 struggling to get a job. I did some voluntary work to show that I wasn't just idling but I still struggled. I figured I'd get myself some better qualifications so I went to Uni as a mature student - four years out and an MAHons later (and a lot of debt) and I was back on the dole - that just seemed to make it harder in a way as although I was more able to apply for higher paying positions, I'd effectively priced myself out of a lot of jobs. It took three more years for me to get my foot back in the door. To be fair, it might not have been quite so hard but that I can't drive, however..

After all this I would say the following:
You just have to keep slogging away at it.

Towards the end I did get a bit wiser - I found it helpful to keep about half a dozen different CVs on the PC, all tailored to highlight different aspects of my experience and qualifications ready for different types of job and so that I could quickly tweak them here and there to tailor them for each application. Every so often I would try the scattergun approach - go online and fire out applications for every job I could find that I could reasonably try for. The most important thing is, I think, that you absolutely must try to keep your spirits up and maintain some level of enthusiasm because empoyers do pick up on that.

I wish you the best of luck.

Peace
J

reply to post by Muckster


I was in the same position last year. It was so depressing going to sign on every two weeks, which after a few months turned into every week.

What got me though, was that Ive never been out of work since I left school nearly 20 years ago, paid my national insurance all my working life, and generally contributed to society. When I was made redundant it seemed society couldn't care less.

I was on 450 pounds a week which just about, along with my wifes wages, covered our mortgage, bills, car, kids, food etc. When I got laid off it went down to 60 pounds a week! How the hell does the government expect to survive a family to survive on that?

How do they justify such a steep drop in income? Especially to those who have paid taxes all their adult lives.

I might have some biz ideas - for people who live in the US Great Lakes Region (I'm in Chi) - that perhaps others might be interested in. I'll get to that.

Let me tell you what I did, first.

I worked in heavy manufacturing, I studied mechanical engineering in school. I also have excess math and physics - have close to MS in math. I figured out one time - school "hours" wise - that if you consider full time to be 3, 4 classes per semester - the amount of math I have amounts to close to 4 years of full time math. Math all day every day for 3,4 years straight. Can you imagine it?

I did not do it all at once though. I have basically been in school my entire life.

But I like school and am pretty good at it. I tried to get in mfg. as soon as I could - drafting, customer service, etc, and 'work my way up' too.

I got into this - in fact I think I was still in eng. school when NAFTA hit. There still was US mfg. though - I got to watch the whole thing collapse. Interesting in a morbid sort of way.

And I got better jobs because I would work for less. I don't believe I ever took a job away from anyone - or was any sort of a 'scab'. One job I had - the guy cracked up - this is extreme high stress work - he stood up on his chair and started screaming - I can't take it anymore!

High stress, you cannot make mistakes. Shizz can blow up if you are not careful.

And they push you to produce. And it was all swirling the drain. You wanna talk about mental illness and drug usage? - unreal. I know so many people who died from booze, drugs, stress - I'm saying 30, 40 year old people, OK?

Remember all those workplace shootings in the 90s? Consider how many took place at manufacturing plants. There were more people "Going Postal" in mfg. than in the Post Office.

HIGH stress.

I don't miss it. Why I think of this is - having gone in young like I said - I remember some of the "Old School" businesses. Then this new management style gradually crept it - now I don't know much about 'business' per se - but I could see things going very wrong. And the 'old timers' told me things, and how things 'used to be done'.

There was not this top heavy free spending management. And not so much bureaucracy, paperwork, etc.

And if you would look at EU mfg - OK the Germans were always tops in machines, then to some extent Japan and Korea. Japan came to the US, studied our factories, saw the inefficiencies, then did their own better. Now how embarrassing is that? And this was before the current economy or NAFTA.

Germany and Japan were already beyond us. But did we take a lesson? No - we brought in a bunch of MBAs who barely squeaked by in some TV biz school and who believe biz is about golf and BSing.

Someone who knows more of biz mgmt and what changed in the 80s, 90s, can probably articulate this idea better than I can.

But I feel I know *enough* about general biz to start my own. I do believe manufacturing could still work in the US if it were based on different economic models.

But - back to my orig though - I am thinking of going into the construction biz. I have some areas picked out that are up and coming. I do know some things of RE also.
Don't get me started on that

I am also thinking - "green" construction, looking for grants and deals and municipalities offering tax deals and whatnot.

I am still in the research stage of this.

But I foresee within the next 4-6 months moving forward with these ideas. My biz would need - biz people, accounting, construction workers, etc.

As I said I'm in Chi and looking at stuff in this general area. Open to suggestions also.

Another idea for all - I am trying to learn more for my above plans and I figure - there's plenty of knowledge on the net and in the library rather than pay money for school. School is good for some things but not all.

I'm very DIY and always had to hustle in my obscure work.

reply to post by Muckster


I know how you feel, although my situation is different.

I am not physically disabled to the point where I cannot walk or life small amounts of weight, but I have bipolar, insomnia, anxiety, OCD, ADD, as well as horrible migraines which occur in clusters most the time and make it hard to focus, permanent lower back pain as well as scoliosis, and permanent neck pain as well.

I even still worked manual labor with these issues, and let me tell you the insomnia alone (not sleeping for days on end and having to work 8-12hrs in the sun all day) can ruin a job. I had to quit a job (the last one I had a while back) because I was unable to sleep correctly and do my job - I had to open the store, and do a lot of lifting as well it was very hard when you haven't slept for multiple days or have just gotten to sleep RIGHT before I had to get up for work.

Some of you will say "Oh I could tough that out, you're ridiculous" well you know what? Putting yourself in my shoes means nothing to me because you have no idea what I've been through and how horrible it is to be in the situation I am in.

The difference between me and the OP is that I am getting disability - although I have not finished the process yet I have a lawyer finishing it as we speak.

Do I deserve the little amount of money I will get? I believe so considering I am in a lot of dept because of not being able to work.

And even worse off, is that I was going to say screw the disability but my doctor signed some paper saying I cannot work for at least a year, but I tried to find a job anyway.

I live outside Philly, PA and right now everyone is either lucky to still have there jobs, able to actually find a job opening, or they are getting fired or unable to even get an interview.

I've had multiple interviews with a company (4 of them) was told I was hired, and then they call me to tell me that they no longer needed me because they hired too many people.

I've even tried looking for manual labor jobs right now, which would put me in a lot of pain (I've done roofing, landscaping etc. and it's very painful for me to bend down and up especially holding weight) and yet everyone I call is laying people off mainly because they simply cannot afford to keep these people employed. We have had a heat wave for a little while now and and there has been little rain therefore no rain=no grass to be cut so landscaping is out of the question. Roofing? I've tried every place within the distance I can get too for work and have not gotten a job even with experience.

My point is, there are a lot of people who are not sucking your money away because they're lazy; people need money to survive. Do you know how much I'll probably be getting once I get my disability? About $200~ every 2 weeks, meaning just enough to buy food. I will not even be able to pay off my debts. Only way I can get money (2x the amount per every 2 weeks) is if I go on welfare, and that is a whole other story...

Anyway, think what you want of myself and the OP and others like people in our positions - mine is different yes but I don't think it's wrong, I need to survive and live off something, don't we all?

reply to post by Whiffer Nippets


I'm in Chicago myself, when you said construction I though no way, but then I read the whole green thing and said ok that's better. I used to work for construction companies doing the Masonry restoration, I quit to go to truck driving school. Truck driving isn't all it's cut out to be, the companies rip off the drivers BIG TIME. I wanted to get back into construction, but alot of Unions got so many people off work, a great deal of companies only have the foremans as the work crew. I'm willing to work for your company once you get it going. For now, gonna drive a truck, just got to wait for the paper work and what not. I can't collect unemployment because I was getting paid straight check, when it came to doing my income taxes I owed the gov 2 G's. i didn't have 2 G's. Uncle sam is gonna be looking for me lol.

Originally posted by chiponbothshoulders
reply to post by AwakeinNM

 

Some of The poorest people live like kings compared to regular people in other countries.

yes, i agree.
your most poorest people will be kings comparated with regular people working in Mexico par example, or ecuador, bolivia, or choose any country in africa.

In all these countries there is not benefit programs, unemployement secures and the health social program is just a joke, they dont have even aspirins in rural locations!

when you are over 35 years age you are almost dead because at that age you dont exist for society or the government. To get a job in these circumstance is almost imposible. If you are unemployed you are alone in the path and nobody cares about it.
A lot of this unemployed people commits suicide because they dont want to live like a dog in the street ( of course a dog of these countries because dogs in usa are living like kings too)
Another of them ends working for gansters, narcos, protitution etc because they need the money.
All this is reflection of our corrupted and insensible world, this humanity is really living wrong.


Its the reason of people migrating (illegaly) to other countries to get better life expectatives.

I was the perfect worker in one of these countries until i was dismissed because of the economic crisis, i was paying a lot ot taxes, but that was never for benefit of most poor people than me, It was for the political machine. Its a insult the opulence in which they live while people lives in extreme poverty.

I dont like USA and his government but I think...

usa citizens are lucky to have a protection mechanism for the unemployed and the poorest people and at least part of his government committed to enforcing these regulations.


both sides unemployed people and people paying the benefit program taxes must be responsible and act with conscience.


-

reply to post by Muckster


Good luck with the job hunting mate

Your not a parasite, if you want to know what a parasite is, then look
Here.....www.dailymail.co.uk...
The guy in that story epitomises everything that is wrong with our social security system.

[edit on 23/7/2010 by Argyll]

[edit on 23/7/2010 by Argyll]

reply to post by Copperflower


What a nice post. I think you should be applauded and rewarded.

You are clearly a Service to others.

Bravo!

I understand the OP's frustration but unfortunately most people I meet on unemployment, welfare/medical assistance, and social security disability ARE abusing it. This includes friends, family, and patients of my practice. I don't know if my area of Pennsylvania is an exception, but I would say eight or nine out of ten people I have met that are on those programs do not NEED to be on them. I would imagine this isn't isolated to my area because I doubt the stigma of leeches would be based off an offending population of 5-10%. It is definitely more the majority.

Here are two anecdotes.
My friend worked at a web design company selling contracts. The company was downsizing. I asked him if he was putting his applications out there to get things moving. He replied "No. I'll just wait till they let me go and collect unemployment for as long as I can and then look later." Did I mention he has a bachelors degree in psychology? I will just say his plan is now in action. This is just an example of what I see a lot of.

I also had a brand new patient come into my office last week wanting me to complete forms for him to obtain disability so he can get on welfare and medical assistance because he had a heart attack in April. To make a long story short, he purposefully has not followed-up with doctors since the heart attack, has refused to take his medications, and hasn't worked since 2001 because it was too hard to find a job THAT HE WANTED. He was also a veteran and knew full well that if he applied for benefits, he would have health care provided to him with payments based on his income but he didn't want to go that route. He admitted he wanted the benefits of disability. Of course I couldn't comply with his request.

I have hundreds of tales of abuse by all types of people through worker compensation, welfare/medical assistance, social security disability, and unemployment... and unfortunately, this has jaded me. I find myself sometimes expecting to see a faker/manipulator when I see a patient requesting disability forms instead of being objective.

Sadly, too, I have met many people that truly require disability benefits but are unable to get it or delayed because of those people that are manipulating the system. My friend was paralyzed in a car accident and has 3 children and it took her 6 months until she could get medical assistance (not disability... MEDICAL ASSISTANCE). She is a single mom with 3 kids and they took that long to help her. It's so telling that her case worker told her off the record that if "her last name were Rodriguez she would have no problem." And I can tell you reverse racism is alive and well in the American welfare system.
I will meet 3 patients a week that have moved to the US within 2 months from the Dominican Republic or Ecuador, etc and already have welfare, food assistance, medical assistance, etc. What's also sad is they give us their alternate addresses as being in New York or New Jersey (so you better believe they are getting that state's assistance benefits, too).

So from my experiences seeing/meeting about 120 people per week and seeing the abuse of the system way more often then the legitimate use, these generalizations you quote are more accurate than false. I am sorry for your situation and hope things turn around soon. I fear though, that as long as people still want "something for nothing" this issue will continue to plague many countries. And don't get me started on lawsuits in America!...

Originally posted by Muckster
I've seen many people lately refer to those on Benefits as "lazy drop outs" and "bums"

I've seen many people crying about how social security is a parasite that feeds off of their hard work...

I've seen people threaten to leave the jobs and join the people on social so that, they too, can have the "easy" life.

I find this really upsetting... you people have no idea what you are talking about...

For 20 years i have worked... Spent time working as a builder, a chef, worked in a warehouse, and eventually ended up in IT. I have NEVER had problems finding work and have an excellent CV (Resume)

However, last year i was made redundant...

No problem, i thought, i will soon find work even in the current environment... I am skilled, have experience as a manager, good references etc... Easy!!

I had paid into a mortgage protection scheme... i received a semi decent payout from work... should be ok...

For the first four months i didn’t even sign on... thought i could go it alone, using my redundancy and savings, I didn’t want to be a drain on the system...

In just less than a year of searching i have had just 3 interviews... Every month moves my bank account deeper into the red... The money received from my redundancy is long gone... Every month i have the usual arguments with my mortgage protect people... Their payments are ALWAYS late...

"Sorry sir, but we need this form counter signed by a manager from the job centre"

"sorry sir, but we have lost you form"

"sorry sir, but we have not received any letter"

etc...

Every day i sit at my PC and send off applications, make phone calls, contact potential employees...

I have not limited myself to IT Management roles (although i did at first)

Do you realise how demoralising and depressing it is for a man who was manager 25 people and commanded a salary of almost 40K a year to be rejected for jobs on minimum wage?

I have put the word out to friends that i am available for employment and asked that they make me aware of any positions, that may be available, but they have all said the same thing...

"of course i will mate, but my company is losing people at the moment"

And the thing that really gets me?? The jobs i cannot apply for because of ridiculous changes made to legislation requiring licensing and training!!!

I wanted to apply for a job as a Gardner... but needed a sprayers license.

www.pesticides-safety-training.co.uk...


Then i thought i could do a bit of minicabing to make ends meat... but no... i need a PCO license which costs £298...

www.tfl.gov.uk...

Then thought about maybe doing some security work... but this time it’s a SIA licence at around £135

www.get-licensed.co.uk...

This is a joke.... I know how to spray plants... it’s not rockets science... and even if i didn’t it is something you could show someone in less than 10 minutes.

I know how to drive.... i know how to get from point A to point B... While i understand that cab drivers need to be regulated to prevent sex offenders and criminals taking advantage of the public... Should it REALLY cost £298 to get registered???
And i know how to stand on a door and look out for bad guys...

These are all jobs where you could be given on the job training with little fuss and maybe spend £10 or £20 pounds on a licence...

When you working, £135 doesn’t sound like a lot of money... But for me it’s the difference between feeding my kids or watching them starve...

I have even asked the jobcentre if they could help with the cost for one or more of these licences... The answer? No!!

A friend of mine who work in HR has told me that the last job they had available received 300 applications for 1 position... They received so many that they didn’t even look at most of them... simply picked 10 at random and chose from there!!!

Being on Social is demoralising... it makes me feel less of a man, that i cannot feed my family and have to go cap-in-hand to the government for help...

But without it, myself and my family would be on the streets starving. This last year has humbled me and forced me to look at things differently.

Sure... you get your social drop outs in the dole queue... I’ve seen the long termers who have no intention of working...

But i also see a hell of a lot of similar people to myself trying to explain what they have done to search for work to a spotty teenager behind a desk, who has your family’s welfare in his hands, and not long been out of school.

For those of you who think social security is nothing but a drain on your precious incomes... try and spare a thought for people like me... and in turn i will spare a thought for you, and hope you never have to experience it personally in order to learn this life lesson!

Peace





[edit on 23-7-2010 by Muckster]

Minorities have been made redundant for hundreds of years.

Tell us all, why should we care about your problems?

reply to post by Copperflower


What a fantastic place the world would be if everyone thought as you do

Thank You

i'm just wondering.... if all the jobs have been farmed out to china, can't we just hire each other?

reply to post by keepithush


u2u me three things that each of your kids need. Be very specific and I will try to supply.

You will need to give me a name and address.

No agenda, just want to help you as you sound worse off than me.

reply to post by Muckster


I feel the pain mate. Of course there are wasters and scumbags on the dole and they give those of us who actually need it a bad name.

It is deeply demoralising to be on benefits, i hate every second of it. My ill health means i have no choice but it really, completely and utterly sucks. When people post threads or comments about all people on beneftis being lazy i get deeply angry.

Keep at it and i wish you the best of luck in finding a job.