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When (Inner-City) Men Won't Work
American Spectator ^ | May 17, 2012 | CHRISTOPHER ORLET

Posted on 05/17/2012 5:28:12 AM PDT by reaganaut1

It is a familiar sight here in the inner-city: young men in the prime of life aimlessly hanging out on stoops at midday, smoking and listening to hip hop music. Government statistics tell only half of the story. One in five American men does not work. It is worse in my hometown of St. Louis where the jobless rate for black men without a high school diploma reached 26 percent last year, and half of all students fail to graduate public high school. Needless to say, that is a lot of young men with nothing to do.

Many of these young layabouts find it unnecessary to work, save on those rare occasions when they need to make a fast buck. Unlike the middle-class suburbs or working class neighborhoods, it takes very few resources to get by in the ghetto. "You would be amazed at the number of persons you can cram into a small non-air-conditioned rental unit," a social worker friend tells me. Their expenses amount to little more than the clothes on their backs, bus tickets, cell phones and cigarettes. This easily can be earned by strolling down to the Temporary Labor Agency and putting in an honest day's work chopping ice or stacking brick, which leaves one free for the rest of the week. Others make a few bucks peddling dope or stealing pipe (a spray-painted sign on a nearby boarded-up building informs would-be thieves that they have already removed all the copper). A few ask for handouts. Many collect Supplemental Security Insurance for real or imagined disabilities.

Even if these aimless youth wanted to work, numerous factors militate against it. Foremost is the lack of good-paying, low-skill manufacturing jobs, the type of work that makes getting off the stoop worthwhile.

(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...


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To: reaganaut1

They won’t work but by God they will vote.


21 posted on 05/17/2012 6:22:46 AM PDT by AppyPappy (If you really want to annoy someone, point out something obvious that they are trying hard to ignore)
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To: MrB
They’re not hungry enough. 2 Thess 3:10 ...he who will not work, nor shall he eat Prov 16:26 A laborer’s appetite works to his advantage, because his hunger drives him on.

Right on - my tagline has been so for quite some time to demonstartae the Biblical truth that the lazy should not eat and that we need to ensure they are stigmatized for it. The WWJD crap they try to use to justify feeding the lazy is not substantiated in the Bible. If they are crippled and have to sit on a mat to beg, take care of them; if not, tell them they are a disgrace 9in a loving manner) and let them know - no-workee, no-eatee.

22 posted on 05/17/2012 6:32:17 AM PDT by trebb ("If a man will not work, he should not eat" From 2 Thes 3)
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To: chrisser
What prudent merchant will hazard his fortunes in any new branch of commerce when he knows not that his plans may be rendered unlawful before they can be executed?

-James Madison

I looked at starting a small engine repair shop with an eye toward diversifying into more of a handyman type thing but legal start up costs shut that idea down right from the get go. If I intend to have customers come to my home there's an extra insurance surcharge due to the fact that my street is unpaved. I also need to make sure that my garage, drive, sidewalk etc meet all state and federal safety regulations if I intend to have customers come to me. I live on a lake which means a whole new layer of regulations. The regulations alone would bury me before I ever got anywhere near licensing and taxation.

God forbid I ever did enough business to hire some help, that just takes it all to a whole new level.
23 posted on 05/17/2012 6:33:28 AM PDT by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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To: darth
The ex-cons normally MUST have a job as a condition of their parole. Their productivity is piddly compared to the hard working immigrants. Some of them turned out to be dangerous to the other workers so I laid them off.

As a foreman I preferred the parolees. They were there every day and would work all the overtime I could legally give them. What I got from the "immigrants" was this I don't speak english crap.
24 posted on 05/17/2012 6:39:03 AM PDT by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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To: reaganaut1

I’ve got news for everyone — it isn’t just “inner city” men. There are a lot of suburban white men — ages 20 to 40 and of all economic levels — who don’t believe that they are required to support themselves. I have family members in rural Texas — all white as a sheet — who live off disability. My 43 year old brother is an electrician who lays off 4 months a year and doesn’t work, and then looks for money from my poor old parents because he is “having a hard time” during those months. A good friend comes from Appalachian Tennessee and he just shakes his head in shame at how his family spends their time stealing cars and living off disability and scamming the system. This is not a “black” or “inner city” problem. The whole freakin country wants a handout or views scamming the system as a way of life.


25 posted on 05/17/2012 6:39:45 AM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard ("When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.")
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To: cripplecreek

Pero, puedo hablar Espanol.

I knew that studying Spanish for six years would come in handy. My father started me in the language early, but he mostly used it to cuss when he hit his thumb with a hammer.

Manufacturing in my city is dominated by immigrants. Most are from Mexico, but you will find a lot of Eastern Europeans, Vietnamese, etc. as well.

A couple of my ex-cons went straight, but the majority had a problem changing their drug dealing ways.


26 posted on 05/17/2012 6:45:50 AM PDT by darth
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To: Opinionated Blowhard
I’ve got news for everyone — it isn’t just “inner city” men.

True enough. Its not all as black and white as some would like it to be. We do need to cut the entitlements but we need to ease job creation for them to have alternatives. Otherwise we'll just create more democrats.
27 posted on 05/17/2012 6:48:40 AM PDT by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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To: IMR 4350
The left side of the employee bell curve is not motivated because 1) they always lose, and 2) they don't know why. They are amateurs playing against pros. Sports has already solved this problem: there are different leagues for different ages, sexes, school size, in other words sports is segregated by innate ability. If they play in the right league, they will win half the time rather than none of the time. Work leagues used to be provided by national borders and segregated populations and cultures. Turn places like Detroit into a reservation with controlled borders. Suddenly half the people on the left side of the bell curve become the right side of the new bell curve, and become respected and motivated contributors in their communities.
28 posted on 05/17/2012 6:49:12 AM PDT by Reeses
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To: Tax-chick

“The drive to earn a living has been crushed by handouts.”

Wrong. I work with this population and the ones with jobs are hateful about those without. Those without are hampered by addictions and the sickness around them.


29 posted on 05/17/2012 6:50:24 AM PDT by yldstrk ( My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: darth

No point in learning to speak spanish to people who simply refused to speak english despite knowing how.

As one of my American Hispanic co workers told me. “They speak english, just not to you” They spoke english to him because they saw him as “one of theirs”. He wasn’t, he was an American.


30 posted on 05/17/2012 6:53:25 AM PDT by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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To: yldstrk
Those without are hampered by addictions and the sickness around them.

That seems like a poetic way of saying "don't need to work to survive."

31 posted on 05/17/2012 6:55:42 AM PDT by Tax-chick (Remember our veterans, today and every day!)
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To: chrisser

And then you buy/lease a space. The electric company wants $500 just to connect you. The gas company wants $1000. Your utility bills are automatically higher because you have to pay “business rates”. Then you get to buy all kinds of insurance. Then you get to set up your credit card account and hyperventilate at the fees that come out of your nearly-empty pockets for someone using one of the “rewards cards”.

Hire some employees but don’t forget to purchase all of those stupid signs the government has decreed must be posted in specific locations and can ONLY be purchased through the government. If you’re really lucky, you’ll also get to be responsible for providing their health care coverage or be slapped with a fine.

Then, you get to spend around 20 hours/day trying to get your business off the ground, shunning any kind of a “normal” life. You’re going to miss out on your kids’ activities and family get-togethers and forget birthdays. There will barely be days off, let alone vacations of any kind.

If, after months or years of jumping through hoops and working your exhausted tail off, your business starts to take off, you’ll get to listen to irritated people proclaim, “Well, it must be NICE to own your own business! I sure wish I owned MY own business!”, and be labeled a greedy Republican for trying to keep a small percentage of the profits for yourself.

THE END


32 posted on 05/17/2012 6:58:08 AM PDT by nodumbblonde ("The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity." - Ayn Rand)
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To: Tax-chick

The thing that really sucks for black Americans without skills is that those low skill jobs are being done by hispanics who show up on time, and work very hard.

A business I am very familiar with that employs 100+ low skilled workers ($8 hour manual labor) is nearly 80% hispanic workers even though it is located near one of the largest black cities in America.

Not a fan of illegals or guest workers...but I am a fan of their work ethic.


33 posted on 05/17/2012 7:00:04 AM PDT by icwhatudo (This is not a choice between Romney&Reagan-Its between Romney & most radical leftist Pres in history)
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To: cripplecreek

The former owner of this company refused to try to speak any Spanish.

The Foreman spoke very limited English, so they had a bad communication problem.

When I took over I tried to issue all instructions in Spanish.

My Foreman must have felt challenged; he learned a lot more English. He once lamented to me that his son, who graduates tomorrow from a prestigious university, speaks Spanish poorly.

Now, we use both languages. Clear communication is essential to safety and quality.

I do not think of this as a right/wrong issue. I just adapt to the conditions that I encounter, and speaking Spanish has proven to be incredibly valuable.

I use the language frequently at restaurants and grocery stores. It brings a smile when I show respect for their culture.

That said, it is also clear that people who refuse to learn English limit their incomes and careers. I’m sure the younger generation will figure this out.


34 posted on 05/17/2012 7:13:11 AM PDT by darth
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To: darth

In my area there is a farmer’s market. The people running the cash register work from 6 am until 6 pm, rain or shine, 100 degrees or freezing. The men hauling in the vegetables work 16 hours a day under the same conditions.

The market has to hire a security guard to sit there all night to keep the layabouts from breaking in and stealing everything. Where does the layabout get the idea he has the right to steal from hard working, productive citizens?


35 posted on 05/17/2012 7:19:24 AM PDT by ladyjane
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To: Tax-chick

yeah?

You try working when you are addicted and surrounded by people smoking embalming fluid

That is the one problem with some conservatives, they think the underclass is a bunch of lazy bums and they are so frickin superior. You try making a life out of the broken morass at the bottom.


36 posted on 05/17/2012 7:21:03 AM PDT by yldstrk ( My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: yldstrk

Life is full of choices here in Amrica. A lot of fools keep making choices that lead them to bad outcomes. That is their choice. Those who make such choices shouldn’t expect others to save them from themselves...or to give them the results of their hard word and responsible choices. You made you bed...lie in it.


37 posted on 05/17/2012 7:36:47 AM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: yldstrk

Life is full of choices here in America. A lot of fools keep making choices that lead them to bad outcomes. That is their choice. Those who make such choices shouldn’t expect others to save them from themselves...or to give them the results of their hard word and responsible choices. You made you bed...lie in it.


38 posted on 05/17/2012 7:37:28 AM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: yldstrk
You try working when you are addicted and surrounded by people smoking embalming fluid

Myabe you can't, but you can get clean and/or move away from it. I know people that have done it.

39 posted on 05/17/2012 7:40:26 AM PDT by tacticalogic ("Oh, bother!" said Pooh, as he chambered his last round.)
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To: Reeses
You sound like you've been listening to too many “motivational” speakers.

They don't work because they don't have to work so they don't want to work.

Oh they will be more than happy to collect a paycheck, but they don't want to actually work. Actually having to work, Dat be slabery. Been there done that hundreds of times.

They don't want to show up on time, if they even show up at all. They were out late the night before and Da be tired. It's their right not to show up if they don't want to. Having to show up for the job, Dat be slabery.

If you hire them they don't work, you fire them and they collect unemployment.

40 posted on 05/17/2012 7:45:53 AM PDT by IMR 4350
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