Tag Archives: unemployment

Political Rants

Bad gig.

There’s been a lot of crowing about how great the economy is now, with low unemployment, marginally rising wages, etc. (Sure, only 20,000 jobs were gained last month, but what the hell … rich people are making a lot of money, and that brings the average up.) Every administration takes any opportunity to exaggerate their accomplishments, but this claim of “full employment” is frankly laughable and doesn’t hold up to even the slightest scrutiny. What lurks behind the seemingly strong job numbers is the fact that many, many of these “jobs” are not really jobs at all. I’m referring to the vaunted “Gig Economy”, which currently employs about 36% of all American workers – a staggering statistic.

Unemployed

This isn’t a Trump-only thing – the gig phenomenon really got going under Obama, and they presented these “jobs” and part-time employment as evidence of their success, just as the current administration does (though with a bit less verve). Anyone who has worked as a contractor knows what total bullshit this is. As one who worked in the original “gig economy” – the music industry – I can tell you that, aside from the amount of effort involved, it’s the furthest thing from having a real job that you can get.  You have no security. You receive no benefits. If you get sick, it’s your hard luck. You are, in large measure, perpetually unemployed, always scraping for the next gig. Sure, some people thrive in this type of arrangement, but most struggle with very little reward.

This is great news for business owners who use contractors of various descriptions. Contractors cost a lot less than employees. There are few enforceable responsibilities employers have toward informal workers. And particularly with these app-driven companies like Uber, etc., when one gigger doesn’t work out, there are many more ready to take his or her place. That makes it hard to organize, hard to demand better wages or working conditions. In short, these are not jobs; they are contracts, and as such, ones in which all of the obligations point one way – toward the gig worker. This is why wages have remained pretty much flat for a very long stretch, though there has been some small upward movement this past quarter.

All of you gig workers out there: you have my sympathy. You deserve better than this type of “full employment”, as do we all.

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

New year, old news.

This year is starting out very much like the last one ended. Here are a few of the ways I’m thinking of.

Conflict in Syria. Juan Cole reports that 2013 may have been the bloodiest year thus far in Syria, with an estimated 73,000 killed in the ongoing civil war, and more than 130,000 since the conflict started. This ongoing disaster is, in many ways, a regional conflict with a Syrian focus, as one representative of the International Crisis Committee put it recently. The only solution, it seems, is for the warring parties to say “enough”, to agree to some means of saving what’s left of their country, even if it means Assad remains in power. That would be a hard pill for many to swallow, but what is the alternative? As Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United States put their ample resources into fighting a proxy war with Iran, the Syrian people are caught in the middle. Six million refugees and no end in sight. Time to push the extremists aside and sue for peace.

Oil BoomEnergy refugees. While talking heads praise the fracking-fueled resurgence of America’s energy sector, people in places like Casselton ND are paying the price, driven from their homes in the middle of winter by the dramatic derailment and explosion of a sludge-oil train laden with fracking chemicals. This is the latest in a series of toxic spills as the country hurriedly ramps up production of the last-century fuels that are destroying our atmosphere in pursuit of short-sighted economic growth. Once again, it’s all about jobs, jobs, jobs … if by that we mean, profits, profits, profits for the oil and gas industries and the corporations that support them.

Unemployment. The long-term unemployed are playing without a net this new year, thanks to a useless Congress intent on blaming the victims in a financial crisis they helped create and have bent over backwards working to prolong. I’d say the chances are close to nil that the House will pass an extension when they return to what’s euphemistically referred to as “work” in their little world, but miracles happen … particularly if you call to complain.

I’ll continue this noxious list next week. Stay tuned.

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

Let’s make a deal.

There are few things in life more certain than eventual bipartisan agreement on screwing large swaths of our fellow citizens. While I’m glad there won’t be a repeat of the government shutdown / debt ceiling self-immolation ritual, this pattern of gradually ratcheting up the austerity gets very tiresome after two or three cycles. This time, the unemployed get thrown under the bus. What a great way to save money – take food out of the mouths of people who have been down on their luck for more than a year. Freaking 7% unemployment and they’re acting like the jobless are just plain lazy. That’s a truly criminal level of ignorance on the part of elected officials.

One thing, though. Let’s dispense with this notion that the Republicans are somehow against raising taxes. This has been thoroughly debunked since the House went red three years ago. Even before they took office, they killed the “Making Work Pay” tax credit, costing families like mine another $800 a year. Just last year they canceled the payroll tax holiday – another hike. Thanks, Mr. Boehner. This year, it’s a “fee” on air travel. Not something I take personally, but still … a tax by any other name.

And yet they still cling to this label, and the corporate media repeats the myth because it’s the simple thing to do, the path of least resistance. We are supposed to see the disagreements between the parties as a clash of equivalent versions of extremism, when the positions Democrats stake out in this decade are almost identical, save marriage equality, to those held by the Republicans fifteen to twenty years ago. They were conservative then. Democrats, by and large, are conservative now. Republicans are now driven by their hard right, which is more delusional than ever. This week, their leaders chose not to take their lead, but the path they are cutting is a highly conservative one, an extension of the austerity narrative, and one that will keep our economy in stasis for the foreseeable future.

Well, no shut down. Something to give one cheer for. Then it’s back to work.

luv u,

jp