Unemployment Simulator 2018 video game

[YoDoug]

For all it's flaws, it' still the best system

I never said Capitalism has not shown to be the best economic system tried by humans, however, I'm far beyond parroting right wing talking points to dismiss actual discussion of the real state of capitalism today. Capitalism is great when when people generally have morals and are concerned about the betterment and future of society. Capitalism fails when it becomes an "eff everyone else, I'm going to get mine even if it means my children's future is screwed".

[Zoffen]

I think this is a really good question. It's a pretty complicated answer for sure. However, rather than "who", personally I'd change that word to "what".

World War II changed "us" in a lot of ways. One of the most significant and drastic ways is the "home". The "home" used to often be multi-generational, wife stayed at home and managed the affairs of it, and the husband went to work. Leave it to Beaver-ish if you will.

During the War, a great many men went off to war (and a significant number of women too), the women that remained stateside, their roles often expanded. They not only still had to care for and manage the "home", in many cases they had to make ends meet as well. Some went to work supporting the war effort, and others kept the day to day "things" of society that make the communities/world turn for lack of a better explanation rolling. Once the war was done and the men (and women) returned home, and returning to their former homemaker roles wasn't an option for one reason or another, or wasn't a desire. They either opted to become entrepreneurs (my Grandmother - dad's mom - fell into this category), or they chose to remain in the workforce in other ways. Some changed roles out of desire, and some out of necessity. With those changes come strain. With strain can come some really bad things.

Prior to the end of WWII, divorce was a pretty rare occurrence.  The "Per 1,000 People" stats are as follows;
1860 - ~.25
1900 - ~.75
1920 - ~1.5
1946 - ~4.25
1960 - ~2.25
1981 - ~5.25
1990 - ~4.75
2000 - ~4.0
2010 - ~3.75
2019 - ~2.75
2023 - ~2.4

With the blessing of the end of WWII, 1946 gave us the curse of the highest rates of divorce in US history. My Grandmother and my dad's dad... got divorced about a year after he returned from the war ... when she was pregnant with my dad... in 1944. As a child of divorce, I can attest to the negative, if not downright devastating impact it can have on children. The old adage "kids are resiliant" while true, does NOT mean they are immune to the effects of it and will emerge unaltered or undamaged. Oh contraire, they are FOREVER altered by that decision they had no voice in. Depending on when that divorce happens in their life it can affect them in different ways. Those effects are as varied as the individuals impacted. Things like difficulty in forming healthy relationships, difficulty in managing the hard parts of relationships, trust issues, substance abuse, etc... all potential symptoms of the devastation.

With the percentages of women working outside the home increasing dramatically since the end of WWII, more children being essentially raised by outsiders. In 1860 7.5% of mothers were in the workforce. In 2010... that number was at ~67%. 1980, according to historical data gave the largest single year increase in workforce participation by mothers at 12.6% YOY. In 1980, workforce percentage of mothers reached 52%. People can say all they want about "childcare outside the home being great for blah, blah, blah...", the fact of the matter is all things being equal, children are better off being cared for by a parent, followed closely by a close relative. It's just a fact.

Government intrusion into the home via. welfare has had an especially devastating impact on families, and african-american families have been exponentially affected more than other races... probably due in large part to their higher than average percentages in the poverty percentiles. Once a pillar of American society in family unit strength, now since the left's "War on Poverty" and it's trillions of dollars spent, what does that segment of american society have to show for it? The number of families with both parents in the home has flipped almost completely inverse I'm thinking it was 75% both and 25% single before the "war on poverty" to now ~75% single and 25% both. Regardless of the actual statistic, it IS that striking of a difference. Why you may ask? Well, the rules for welfare recipient benefits pretty much require single (ie., unmarried) households. Essentially the recipient would lose benefits if they married. Thank you LBJ... you racist piece of shit!

Back to the stay at home mom... I can speak authoritatively on this subject as my wife has been a stay at home mom since we married in 1994. It is possible to do today regardless of what the naysayers tell you. Is it easy? Heavens no. The sacrifices run deep and aren't always necessarily fun.
"Let's get that new car honey..." Negatory. You're going to drive that 10 year old vehicle that needs repairs often until it's dead. Hopefully you know know how to do routine car maintenance.
Oh, you want to go out to eat whenever you want? #NotSoMuch
Those new clothes you want... every year? #ThatAintHappeningEither The growing kids get the new stuff (if you're lucky), you'll wear those clothes until they have holes in them, then you'll use them when you work around the APARTMENT. We got a lot of clothes for the boys from used kids clothing stores in the early days (mid-late 90's). Then the clothes that were in still in good shape where passed down to the next one, and so on until they were no longer wearable.
You want steak? #YouWillEatChickenUntilYouGrowFeathersAndLikeIt #PastaToo #HamburgerHelperFTMFW
We often got food from the Church food pantry... NEVER from .gov ...
You're tired? STFU puss and get to your part time job and be a man! Nobody cares, work harder!
Oh, and don't forget to do your homoework because you want to get the most out of your night school classes... so hopefully you won't have to work two jobs your whole career. 

Personally, I was unemployed I think twice early in my career ( <5 years in IIRC ) and I applied for Unemployment exactly once in my career. Total time unemployed in ~35 years <4 weeks. It was one of the most dreadful experiences of my working career.

Bottom line, if we had it to do over again, we'd STILL have her stay home. I would still go to night school early in my career to advance as quickly up the income scale as humanly possible. I would still work the part time jobs. Took me ~8 or 9 years in the industry to reach the $100k mark. Dipped below that mark 2 years in the last ~26 years. It wasn't easy raising a family on a machinist, programmer, and young Applications Engineer's wages. And if I didn't have the wife I have, not sure I ever would have made it. I know for damn sure she is the cause for much of my success.

Both my wife and I are children of divorce and we vowed to make it work no matter what... and 1) NEVER even speak the "d" word, 2) not commit the ultimate of sins in a marriage; adultery or abuse, and 3) always work it out. Hasn't been easy. I am an only child which comes with it's own set of issues... many of which are not great traits... just ask my wife, but hey, we all have not so great traits. It's our duty to acknowledge our own issues and fix them... or at least never stop trying to fix them.

I could go on, but the bottom line is people's lives are shaped by their childhoods. That baby boomers' generation was marked by war, divorce, civil unrest, destruction of the family unit often at the hands of the very government that is charged with giving the family fertile "land" in which to grow.

That's my take, and no matter what, Capitalism at the end of the day is the ONLY economic mechanism that will allow people to rise from one economic strata to another. For all it's flaws, it' still the best system. @YoDoug if you don't think so, good, change careers, go back to farming and live the agrarian life where you can live free from the burdens of modern life. Ge that windmill cranking for your water well, get you some good strong draught horses because all that CNC tech, robotics technology, AI that you use on a daily basis... Capitalism gave that to you to do with what you will. Personally I'm appreciative of the system. It has served me and my family well. IDGAF how much money Pedo Gates is worth. That is of no concern to me. What is of concern to me? That I live in a system where I can be paid what I believe is a fair wage for the skills and services I provide to the employer I choose to partner with.

People don't like capitalism, cool. Move somewhere that is more to your liking. It's that easy. Or, maybe not, because some countries actually have standards for entry so maybe you'll meet them (I'd say your skills would be in demand anywhere you choose if I'm being honest).

Must be a slow day in the applications world....

[mowens]

Why does she still vote in my state I asked her?

As long as she is legally allowed to do it, it's none of your business.

[Zoffen]

As long as she is legally allowed to do it, it's none of your business.

This seems to prove my point even more.

If I'm legally allowed to "scam" people because I do it in a certain way, does that make it right?

[mowens]

Well, we must have fucked something up because we sure raised a bunch of whiners.

[YoDoug]

The elephant in the room that Republicans and especially Libertarians never want to talk about is the fact that capitalism rewards immoral and greedy business practice. Sure the "free market" will eventually equalize, but in the meantime those with money and power are rewarded with more money and power for immoral, deceptive, and greedy business practice. A greedy and immoral business owner will skimp, cut corners, be misleading, etc. and make more money. Eventually they will lose enough customers and competition will arise to challenge the business, but by then they have made enough to have all kinds of options for rebranding, starting anew business, retiring, etc. Then as these capitalists grow big enough, they can buy themselves Senators and Congressmen to make sure the law benefits their interests making a challenge even harder. Look at the CAD/CAM software industry. Investment groups buy up software, charge premiums for maintenance and annuals, add little investment, then suck out the money for a number of years until it loses enough value, then sell and find a new company to suck dry. This is modern capitalism.

[Smit]

Well, we must have fucked something up because we sure raised a bunch of whiners.

I think that's something we can ALL agree on! 

Well, maybe not all....

[Newbeeee™]

If I'm legally allowed to "scam" people because I do it in a certain way, does that make it right?

THAT, makes you a politician....

[CNCAppsJames]

The elephant in the room that Republicans and especially Libertarians never want to talk about is the fact that capitalism rewards immoral and greedy business practice. Sure the "free market" will eventually equalize, but in the meantime those with money and power are rewarded with more money and power for immoral, deceptive, and greedy business practice. A greedy and immoral business owner will skimp, cut corners, be misleading, etc. and make more money. Eventually they will lose enough customers and competition will arise to challenge the business, but by then they have made enough to have all kinds of options for rebranding, starting anew business, retiring, etc. Then as these capitalists grow big enough, they can buy themselves Senators and Congressmen to make sure the law benefits their interests making a challenge even harder. Look at the CAD/CAM software industry. Investment groups buy up software, charge premiums for maintenance and annuals, add little investment, then suck out the money for a number of years until it loses enough value, then sell and find a new company to suck dry. This is modern capitalism.

I'll ask the question again, with an outlook like yours how do you even make it out of bed in the morning without wanting to suck start your Glock? Seriously... I'd end it and get on with whatever is next. 

Not. A. Single. One. of those things you mentioned is new. Not. A. One. 

[CNCAppsJames]

Must be a slow day in the applications world....

If you knew how long it took to craft that... you'd be like "WTF dude... I would have given up on that post HOURS ago." 

 

Probably should have just ixnayed it... clearly @YoDoug is not long for this world. The sudden invention of... of... GREED is just too much for him to handle. 

Then again maybe he's just holding out for UBI.

 

[Newbeeee™]

suck start your Glock?

Bwahahahahahahahaha!!!!