The Great Recession

You know…..life is tough sometimes, even if you are mentally on vacation.

Lots of my friends are having tough times dealing with elderly parents, bad health, lack of work, and general insecurity.

No one I know has an old fashioned 9 to 5 job anymore unless they work for some government agency. And most of them “retired” after 20 years on a pension. Can you imagine that? 20 years of work and a lifetime of income?  

The risk today has shifted back to the worker….just like it was before unions and big cities. You better have a real skill that people will buy. Companies don’t want to assume risk... so you have too, to make a living.

Now some people thrive in this environment like me, and others fail. The ones that fail make me sad. I know some of them closely and I try to help. But they fail in this economic food chain, and there is not much I can do to intervene. I have to survive.

Still it causes me worry. 


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6 comments:

Unknown said...

The whole concept of having a "job" didn't come around until the Industrial Revolution.

Before that, everyone's "job" was surviving; doing whatever it took to get food on the table and simply stay alive.

Those were the days when everyone was good at something that contributed to the overall wellfare of everyone else: the blacksmith, the carpenter, the dressmaker, the shepherd.

My point is that we as a people have gotten away from the concept of self-sufficient surviving, and instead we need a "job".

I am not casting stones. All of my life I have worked at "jobs".

But I would like to think that if the whole shebang goes down the tubes I could trade my carpentry services somehow for something else, then trade that for food, or something else, and somehow survive.

Self-suffiency is the key...not a "job".

terri said...

Can Phrankie just run the country?

Yes, we're in some scary times. I try to always remember the difference between the things I need and the things I like to have. It will be important to make the distinction if I find myself out of a job.

Rock Chef said...

Yes, these are "interesting" times, and I believe that things are actually far worse than any governments are willing to admit...

Reggie Hunnicutt said...

Completely agree Phfrankie. May I call you Phfrank?

Judy said...

Interesting Post and I enjoyed Phrankie's thoughts too!

Unknown said...

wReggie: No. Not yet.