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Plenty of jobs, lazy Americans just don't want them
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Fox's John Stossel.
Some people look at our 8.1 percent unemployment rate and say, there aren't enough jobs out there. But others say there are plenty, Americans just aren't willing to do them. One of those people is John Stossel, host of "Stossel" on the Fox Business Network.
Stossel did a Fox News special called "Out of Work," where he argues that there are plenty of jobs in the United States, Americans aren't willing to take them. He points the blame on a more-than-generous government safety net.
"We've taught people that in some cases it's easier to be dependent, and you're a sucker if you pound the pavement and work at one of those tough minimum wage jobs," he told host Jeremy Hobson.
Listen to the interview above to hear from Stossel about why he thinks both the "help wanted index" and the unemployment numbers are higher than ever now.
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"It doesn't take intellectuals or elites to understand it."
hahah! I love this argument. "this one anecdote makes sense to me, so it must be truer than all that "data" and "actual probabilities" that the elites rely on.
sorry dude. a story of a few instances is not proof of the situation for a country of 300 million people. you can find a story to support ANY argument. but what is ACTUALLY going on requires a TINY bit of "elite" thought or research.
I can't believe you gave John Strossel an unchecked plug of his misguided opinion. I can't believe you gave the Republican Propoganda Machine (FOX News) an unchecked plug of the Unwritten Republican Platform.
I challenge MM, Strossel or Fox News to back up the statements Strossel made with facts. Are there a handful of people out there who freeload off the system? Sure. Is it the norm? No. Should this handful of people serve as a repudiation of Government backed social services? No. Are they proof that poverty is a by-product of Capitalism? Yes. If you can make a maximum of $275 per week not working or bust your hump in a dead end job, then those with little pride will freeload... but has Strossel ever tried to live off of $275 a week?
To say I am offended does not begin to express my outrage at this article. Stossel is so misinformed it is not even funny. He did not do *ANY* research for this sanctimonious trash. He seems to think people can actually survive on unemployment benefits and that they have a choice on whether to get another job. I live in Texas. 1. The unemployment benefits are based on your earnings for the last 5 quarters -- if you were unemployed for any of that time, you are already screwed. 2. The benefits are ~50% of your usual wages **but** and this is very, very important, the maximum benefit is $426/week. So, if you make more than $~21.20/hour (~$44,304/year) you get $426 a week (and a maximum of $5538 for a year!). To qualify for any of this, you must be actively looking for work and it must be documented. To qualify for any other benefits like food stamps, you must either have a job, be in training for a job, or actively looking for a job. They do not GIVE you government benefits. You have to qualify for them, and then continue to qualify for them.
I was making more than that in 2002 (~$44,304/year), so my benefits were less than 25% of my usual wages. Try living a whole year on what you make in one quarter. I was over 55, so I have been forced to take a job that pays LESS than a job I had in June of 1980! But more than what I had been making between 2002-2007.
Stossel thinks unemployed people are lazy? Try being 55+ years old and working for a professional dog handler just for a roof over your head (room and board)! Or working in a pet store lifting 50lb bags of feed and cleaning up after animals for $7.00 hour. Or working 11pm-6am as a PBX operator in a hospital for less then $10.00/hour.
I have had to sacrifice a lot in the last 10 years and I am insulted that Stossel thinks I'm lazy because I got unemployment benefits. I am insulted that he thinks getting benefits kept me from looking for a job. Most of all, I am insulted that he thinks I was not willing to take a lower wage!
Have him go back and ask those small business owners in NYC if they would hire a person without experience in the work they offer *but* has a college degree and has over 20 years experience in a well-paid profession. Will they hire someone who has been unemployed/underemployed for 6 months or more? Will they hire someone over 55? Will they hire a woman over 55? I am all of those things.
At least I don't have another barrier to employment, a criminal record. All criminal records are not the same. It is one thing to spend a year in jail 15 years ago for a marijuana possession charge. It is another thing to be convicted for a serious offense against people or property (rape, murder, burglary, armed robbery, etc.) Did any of those Wall Street thugs get a criminal record for stealing millions of dollars? Hell, no! They got a bonus!
We all know life is not fair. It is unfair because of things beyond control of any person. BUT 'unfair' does not describe what has happened to the 99% in the last 20+ years.
Stossel's next assignment is to learn what barriers to employment are. I hope his research goes beyond asking a few local small business owners what they are. The next assignment after that is to compare the distribution of wealth among the 5 wealthiest economies. I don't think his small business owners can help him much on that.
Did Stossel go to college? If so, did he take a course in Statistics and Probabilities? Did he pass? I doubt anyone in Fox 'news' has passed a college-level class in Statistics and Probabilities.
Bottom line, Stossel is reinforcing stereotypes that add additional barriers to employment! I used to respect his reports. Never again. If I see his byline or hear his voice, he is tuned out.
i was happily listening to your show when the interview with stossel began. i heard that he worked for fox, the so-called news machine; but i also thought, well, APM wants to be "balanced", so i'll listen to this as objectively as i can. but one minute into the interview, if i didn't know better i would have been convinced that fox bought APM. what stossel said was extremely condescending -- but his tone of voice put him lower than low on the teeter-totter of balanced media. and i think, no i stongly feel, that MM let him off too easily. let him peddle his book on his fox show and book tours. i won't even begin to tell you the stories of my so-called "lazy" family, friends, and neighbors. please don't have anyone like stossel on again, or at the very least ask that anyone to keep the snottiness off of his or her voice. thanks. now i can go back to being happy.
Stossel makes it sound all so easy. what a jerk. i think there are life forces starting at birth that just does not make success or even getting by as easy as he makes it sound. I know enough people who struggle to know this for a fact stossel has nothing to say on this subject that he knows anything about
Wow, what a biased segment. How about a rational, moderate voice as a counterbalance to Stossel's regurgitation of right-wing inaccurate, misleading and oversimplifying talking points? Great points raised in earlier comments. Would appreciate a more responsible approach from Marketplace in the future.
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