Watching WalMart

[GoodWitch58]

Soon after I posted this morning, I did my morning meditation. Alan Cohen is a great friend of mine and a wonderful teacher. Here is whqt he had to say in his Daily Dose of Sanity for today:

[

September 28, 2010
A BIG CHUCK OF YOUR GRADE
What are we here for, if not to make life easier for each other?
Source Unknown

A college business student sat down to take his final exam, ten questions that would largely determine his grade. When he came to the last question, he could hardly believe his eyes: ?What is the name of the cleaning lady in this building?? Since he did not know her name, he challenged the teacher as to the validity of the question. The professor answered, ?If you intend to get anywhere in business, your success depends not just on spreadsheets, but on relationships?
Successful business leaders will tell you that you build your business by building relationships?which means you constantly ask, ?What can I give??
My friend Carla Gordon was a highly successful counselor. When I visited her home, she showed me the room where she did her sessions, mostly over the phone. Taped over the face of the telephone was a reminder note to herself: ?How can I help??
We are undergoing a major shake-up in the business and financial structure of our world. One of the reasons economics has gone awry is because individuals and corporations have allowed self-serving greed for money and power to overshadow integrity and care for people. When the bottom line of profits overshadows healthy relationships, corporations falter because they have lost heart.
Making money is an excellent goal to pursue. What many people do not realize that in the long run you make the most money by recognizing the people who make your business. So knowing the cleaning lady?s name is good for the business as well as the soul, and will always prove to be a significant part of your grade.

How might you build your success by acknowledging and supporting people more?

(From A Daily Dose of Sanity by Alan Cohen)

 

[scooterbug44]

I have to sort of agree w/ 30shopper on this one - there seem to be 2 distinct groups - those who will always be okay in the long run because they know how to work and aren't afraid to do it/aren't above certain jobs, and those who always have an excuse, someone to blame, and want someone to pay for their problems. (Shorter version - those with gumption and a work ethic and those without). And that second entitled and lazy group keeps getting bigger IMO.

There is no reason for a healthy/able to work person to be on unemployment for over a year. That is plenty of time of time to find a new job, start your own business, retrain, etc.

Childcare aside (that argument doesn't work if there are 2 parents and one can provide care), working (I don't know any job that only pays minimum wage - even McDonalds is $2-3 an hour above that) pays more than unemployment.

Unemployment benefits are not winning lotto tickets - that money has to come from somewhere and someone is paying for it - either the taxpayers or the businesses that now can't afford to hire you.

And yes, I have collected unemployment benefits - following both the spirit and letter of the rules - before finding work that paid less for doing something I didn't like as much. Welcome to reality.

 

[30ashopper]

A perfect example:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/us/26stimulus.html?_r=1&hp

It sounds really great at first, people who are unemployed get "jobs" subsidized by the government. However under normal conditions these jobs wouldn't exist. So all the government accomplishes in doing really is to push the inevitable down the road a year.

I wonder how many folks in this program might have attained real employment by now had the government avoided creating make work for them to do? Did the government really help these people over the long run, or did it hurt them?

 

[rtc]

Do you have an idea how much you paid in?

I'm presently unemployed. I'm 37. Until recently, I've had a job since I was 12. I've paid into the system since I was 16. So 20 years later I feel no guilt that I am collecting unemployment while I work out my next move. And I have an Iphone.

Just curious--how much do you think you have paid into the unemployment system over the 20 years

 

[Geo]

No clue. Why?

 

[rtc]

No clue. Why?

The employer pays it all. There is no direct cost to the employee.

 

[Geo]

The employer pays it all. There is no direct cost to the employee.

What's your point?

My performance has made every one of my employers a ton of money- a tiny portion of which they are required by law to pay into the unemployment system.

And when I was self employed I too paid into it.

 

[scooterbug44]

It's a bigger issue:

The Florida unemployment fund ran out of money in August 2009, so any payments made since then are from a federal loan - that has to be paid back and starts accruing interest in January of 2011.

More than 30 states have no money left in their unemployment funds and have borrowed more than $40 billion so they can keep making payments.

And it certainly didn't help that less the 20 states had the necessary reserves on hand pre-recession - preferring to keep taxes and fund payments low.

 

[Bob]

Yes, one shouldn't generalize, but seriously - if you are driving a car worth more a certain amount (like 50K) you shouldn't be eligible for some things.

You should sell the car or cancel the lease, and get one a fraction of its value so you can buy your own food.

how do you cancel a lease?

 

[Bob]

I have to sort of agree w/ 30shopper on this one - there seem to be 2 distinct groups - those who will always be okay in the long run because they know how to work and aren't afraid to do it/aren't above certain jobs, and those who always have an excuse, someone to blame, and want someone to pay for their problems. (Shorter version - those with gumption and a work ethic and those without). And that second entitled and lazy group keeps getting bigger IMO.

There is no reason for a healthy/able to work person to be on unemployment for over a year. That is plenty of time of time to find a new job, start your own business, retrain, etc.

Childcare aside (that argument doesn't work if there are 2 parents and one can provide care), working (I don't know any job that only pays minimum wage - even McDonalds is $2-3 an hour above that) pays more than unemployment.

Unemployment benefits are not winning lotto tickets - that money has to come from somewhere and someone is paying for it - either the taxpayers or the businesses that now can't afford to hire you.

And yes, I have collected unemployment benefits - following both the spirit and letter of the rules - before finding work that paid less for doing something I didn't like as much. Welcome to reality.

one year time limit based on what? your feelings?