Somehow, the Unemployed Became Invisible

[Beacool]

By CATHERINE RAMPELL
Published: July 9, 2011

Fourteen million, in round numbers — that is how many Americans are now officially out of work.

Word came Friday from the Labor Department that, despite all the optimistic talk of an economic recovery, unemployment is going up, not down. The jobless rate rose to 9.2 percent in June.

What gives? And where, if anywhere, is the outrage?

The United States is in the grips of its gravest jobs crisis since Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House. Lose your job, and it will take roughly nine months to find a new one. That is off the charts. Many Americans have simply given up.

But unless you’re one of those unhappy 14 million, you might not even notice the problem. The budget deficit, not jobs, has been dominating the conversation in Washington. Unlike the hard-pressed in, say, Greece or Spain, the jobless in America seem, well, subdued. The old fire has gone out.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/business/the-unemployed-somehow-became-invisible.html?_r=1

She's right. Where IS the outrage? In June I was visiting family in Spain, France and Belgium. In every major park in Spain there were sit-ins to demand jobs. France is well known for their protests and demonstrations. Every time I go there some group is protesting something. People in other countries don't just lie down and take it. Why are we so docile in the US? Is it because we are used to having a relatively healthy economy and don't know how to react?

;(

[OHdem10]

1. Neither party really represents the Working Class so just as

poor are offered a few crumbs to keep them voting,the
working class real needs are ignored. Both parties
have pledged their souls to Reagan's Free Market
Principles. At least the Leadership in both parties
do the Wall Street Two Step.

This sentence tells it all: Both Parties parrot
the line--The Private Sector creates jobs.

Therefore, we wait around until the Business
community moves. It does not matter the
Business Community is making money hand over
fist with their overseas companies and could
not care a whit about what happens here.

The Private Sector creates the jobs. Got
to get rid of those old failed FDR programs.

[Beacool]

2. You're probably right.

These Republicans AND Democrats that we have now are far different from the old guard. I think that only a few really care about the plight of the working class and the poor.

:(

[elocs]

3. Perhaps the answer is that this is not Spain, France, or Belgium.

We have different histories, different experiences, a different and diverse population that is much larger than any of those countries as well as a nation that extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

We have no history of reacting the way European countries commonly react. We are different so there is no reason to believe that this nation as a whole would do what European countries or any other do.

[Beacool]

4. I realize that we are different from Europe.

Still, this country has always had a fighting spirit. People even died fighting for civil rights in the 60s.

[Freddie Stubbs]

5. Do these protests actually work? Did the protests and general strike in Greece work?

[Beacool]

6. In Spain they appear to be working.

In Greece I don't know.

[Tutankhamun]

7. Most Americans get all or almost all of their news from TV.

Faux Noise is the #1 news channel in America. A large percentage of Americans believe high taxes, unions, "socalist" policies and "greedy public workers" are the problem.

Teabagger protests of two dozen Koch suckers get more media coverage in this country than, say, hundreds of thousands of protestors (at least) on the eve of Operation Endless Iraq War. It's a failure to understand very basic political, social and economic realities. This problem is exacerbated by a childlike trust in (mainly television) media that we develop as children.

Here's an exercise: try engaging random strangers in conversation. Steer the conversation towards the "news" of the day. Afghanistan, Casey Anthony, dog fashion shows, teabagger protests, it doesn't matter. Then, suggest the unthinkable by casually tossing this phrase into the friendly discussion: "You know what though? TV isn't really a very good source for news."

You heathen.

[Beacool]

10. It's not just Fox.

It's the people themselves. Most Americans don't care to be informed. They did a survey once and more people knew who the winner of American Idol was than the name of the US vice president. Just shameful.......

;(

[Tutankhamun]

11. If American Idol is still on, then everything must be ok.

"Nothing to worry about; the TV seems to be saying everything's ok, and the TV doesn't lie. After all, how could it? It provides visual proof of everything, so I always know the truth."

That's the conscious/subconscious mindset of a lot of Americans.

[Cali_Democrat]

8. K&R

[Beacool]

9. Thanks

:hi: