Comments by "L.W. Paradis" (@l.w.paradis2108) on "Economist: SHOCK POLL Shows 93 Percent Of Americans Support Federal Jobs Program, Time To Deliver" video.

WPA People need WORK. They need JOBS. After six months out of the workforce, people cannot find new jobs. Prolonged unemployment is literally deadly.
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notimportant Really? He even employed artists and writers in the WPA. Temporary unemployment that lasts six to twelve months becomes permanent. You should read about what the WPA accomplished. It's beyond belief, really. People built skills to allow them to find jobs in the private sector, or start their own businesses, once the economy improved.
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@HonesteBroker Not true at all. Our labor force participation rate has not recovered since the 2008 crash. Unemployment numbers in the US are the least honest of any developed country for a reason. Unemployment kills, literally. People are incentivized to become addicted to various substances and collect disability. That's one "strategy."
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You compare that to WPA? When is the last time you opened a history book? No, not the one with the comics.
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@Panda_J1 Oh now I'm skerd.
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@Bash70 And have long-term unemployment turn into permanent unemployment? That sounds like a plan. Maybe their plan.
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@Bash70 Well, UBI combined with universal Medicare, yes. People would be free to start their own businesses or pursue employment in a field they really care about. Let's see what happens to those who are 12-18 months without a job -- or UBI, or insurance. What do you predict?
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@Bash70 I never suggested they'd be lazy. I suggested employers would discriminate against them and refuse to hire them. That's what employers do, usually.
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@Bash70 AMEN
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@Bash70 Well, that's another "plan" that takes no account of merit. Do you seriously believe that young people are generally well prepared for the workforce? That they're not is, of course, MOSTLY due to the actions (and inaction) of the prior generation, so I'm not defending older workers by any means. Reintroducing employment discrimination based on age isn't the solution. As for teaching, it has become a dangerous and emotionally exhausting job. Some form of protection is necessary, or else no teacher will be giving honest grades to anyone. I can't believe people don't realize that already. What do you think dissatisfied students do? Send threats online, defame online, make false reports to administrators, etc. As a start.
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@Bash70 The generation older than my own is starting to die out and I will be forlorn without them.
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@Bash70 Yes, you should be able to "hold on" to any job where you are doing an excellent job for as long as you are doing an excellent job. Every truly outstanding federal judge I know is older, and could have retired. The fact that they haven't is why you still have rights. (BTW, these judges were the appointees of both parties.) The best teacher I ever had in high school retired, got her Master's, and then taught English at community college well into her seventies. She was a gift to this world. Her influence on young people was indescribable.
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@Bash70 "Purge" . . . speaks volumes. Thanks.
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Engineered scarcity keeps you both scared and greedy. Those who have "must" believe they are doing something better than those who lack. Having opportunities for some, not all, feeds that mindset.
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Ha. She's an economist. She knows to look at Labor Force Participation, which has been a more accurate measure since the 2008 crash. Unemployment numbers are not accurate, not in the US.
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In fact, the participation rate looks as "high" as it does because those who join the military and those incarcerated are not counted as being in the labor force at all. And we have a big military, and a BIG incarceration rate.
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You're guaranteed to be hired if you meet eligibilty. It does not mean you get a check forever, no matter what happens later and no matter what you do. Opportunity should be available to all.
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