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Unemployment Benefits are Becoming a Dependence Problem
American Thinker ^ | 12/29/2012 | Neil Snyder

Posted on 12/29/2012 10:14:17 AM PST by SeekAndFind

Imagine that you meet a young woman and after introductions, you ask, "What do you do?"

"I'm unemployed," she says.

"That's too bad. I hope you find a job soon."

Nothing unusual so far, but the conversation is about to take an interesting turn.

"I'm not looking for a job. Being unemployed is what I do."

The look on your face shows your bewilderment. What on earth is she talking about?

Welcome to the new United States of America, the Obama model that you voted to give another chance even though he didn't earn it. Yesterday, he said,

"So if we don't see an agreement between the two leaders in the Senate, I expect a bill to go on the floor-and I have asked Senator Reid to do this-put a bill on the floor that makes sure that taxes on middle class families don't go up, that unemployment insurance is still available for 2 million people, and that lays the groundwork then for additional deficit reduction and economic growth steps that we can take in the New Year."

I suppose that if you have never had to earn a living you wonder why anyone should have to. That's the problem with freebees. People who get them never learn to appreciate the importance of being able to take care of themselves. They think that their mere existence is their contribution to society.

Several years ago, I read a study about unintentionally creating dependence, and one of its findings made a lasting impression on me. The study concluded that when parents continue giving their children money after they should be taking care of themselves, it destroys their interest in ever becoming independent. The most shocking finding to me was how little money it takes to destroy their initiative.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: dependence; unemployment
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To: Nowhere Man

Good luck to you and your new employment.


21 posted on 12/29/2012 12:58:27 PM PST by kitkat
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To: SeekAndFind

My brother-in-law has been trying to get his 26 year-old son-in-law to get a job for almost ten years. He has a paper route that pays $200/month. “If I work any more than that they start deducting from my food stamps.” I asked him how the kid finances his obvious alcoholism and meth habit. “He breaks in to peoples homes to finance those.” That’s going to be somewhat of a hardship now that his latest B&E has landed him an ankle bracelet... And I guess that’s the end of his paper route, too.


22 posted on 12/29/2012 1:17:46 PM PST by FredZarguna (2.9979 times ten to the eight meters per second: not just a good idea, it's The Law.)
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To: SeekAndFind

The LAW OF EFFECT shows us that you generally receive more of the behavior that you reward and less of the behavior that you punish. If you punish people for working by putting high taxes on them, you will have fewer people working. If you reward people with unemployment for not working, you will have fewer people working.


23 posted on 12/29/2012 1:23:20 PM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: FredZarguna

Yes, yes, I read you the first time. You didn’t need to post this 6 times or more.


24 posted on 12/29/2012 1:23:33 PM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: Free Vulcan
I know a homeless guy who has been collecting unemployment for over 2 years. This is on top of social security disability, food stamps and an obama phone. He gets all this because he's a 55 year old drug addict. It is crazy to think this is sustainable. People like him have no incentive to find a job when it won't pay as much as the nanny state.
25 posted on 12/29/2012 1:26:12 PM PST by peeps36 (America is being destroyed by filthy traitors in the political establishment)
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To: TADSLOS; Gaffer; Kickass Conservative

You got that right. I hit post exactly ONCE, got a 500 internal server error and was knocked offline. When I got back on, it had been posted six times. (There’s another one right before this.) Going on 15 years here, and these last three months have to be the worst by far.


26 posted on 12/29/2012 1:26:18 PM PST by FredZarguna (2.9979 times ten to the eight meters per second: not just a good idea, it's The Law.)
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To: Nowhere Man

I was laid off last October 30, and now I have just started collecting unemployment. Your right, for the first 3 or so weeks it is like a vacation, however now I’m getting bored. I want to work not just sit home and collect, yet jobs are hard to come by.

I just applied with my county and the pay is way better than I was working for the bank. I don’t want to get my hopes high just praying so I can get back on my feet. Unemployment is ok but eventually like you said it is hard to survive on it financially. My severance package that I got is getting low so now I have no choice but to cash out my 401K which is like 7900.00 in it.

Like I say I hope I get that job with the county however I hate to pay & join the union, but at least I can survive since I am on my own. I have no one to lean on except myself. Congrats on your new job Nowhere =)


27 posted on 12/29/2012 1:29:15 PM PST by Patriot Babe
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To: SeekAndFind

Tell John Robinson, not me.


28 posted on 12/29/2012 1:29:15 PM PST by FredZarguna (2.9979 times ten to the eight meters per second: not just a good idea, it's The Law.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Lack of manufacturing and regulations against private property rights (real property) caused the dependence problem. Get ready to join them. At least 20-30 million or so layoffs and many more “haircuts” (pensions) to go. Only a few of the most left-thinking rich will continue with cash flow from Uncle Samantha.

Have fun. Enjoy the slide.


29 posted on 12/29/2012 2:25:52 PM PST by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of rotten politics smelled around the planet.)
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To: kearnyirish2
He must ba treat to live next door to...

Based on the stories, he's a complete liability in the neighborhood, but not for the reasons your quote would suggest. His neighbors really don't have anything to steal, and most are of the same sort as he (and my niece.)

30 posted on 12/29/2012 4:40:47 PM PST by FredZarguna (2.9979 times ten to the eight meters per second: not just a good idea, it's The Law.)
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To: SeekAndFind

I was a teller at a bank, in early 2010, and one day one of our customers came in and was chatting with the manager. The manager asked how his daughter was doing, and the customer said she’d been laid off from her job. The manager said that was too bad, and the customer said that she was getting unemployment benefits that were almost what she’d made before, so she wasn’t even bothering looking for another job. She just hung out doing what she wanted to do, but getting paid for it, so her Dad figured she’d continue to be unemployed as long as the benefits continued.


31 posted on 12/29/2012 5:00:31 PM PST by SuziQ
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To: TADSLOS; John Robinson
Pretty darned good when you post to an FR thread.

Yep. And this is something new. John?

32 posted on 12/30/2012 9:40:58 AM PST by upchuck (America's at an awkward stage. Too late to work within the system, too early to shoot the bastards.)
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To: SeekAndFind

I’ve mentioned here before that I’m a volunteer triage interviewer for a local food/clothing bank.

A very common response when I ask an interviewee, “Do you have a job,” is, “Don’t need a job, I got unemployment.” Or, the alternative, “Don’t need a job, I got unemployment and I applied for SSI.”

It is interesting that, of all the dependency encouraging programs at his disposal, nobama always talks about extending unemployment “benefits.”

God, help our country, please?


33 posted on 12/30/2012 10:09:19 AM PST by upchuck (America's at an awkward stage. Too late to work within the system, too early to shoot the bastards.)
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To: FredZarguna

“His neighbors really don’t have anything to steal, and most are of the same sort as he (and my niece.)”

Sounds like an interesting place; sorry your niece is involved.


34 posted on 12/30/2012 1:54:34 PM PST by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic war against white males (and therefore white families).)
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To: kearnyirish2
Whenever I hear the argument that homosexuality must be genetic and cannot be a choice, because "Who would choose to be like that?" I remind the people making the argument that this is essentially an "argument" against any kind of behavior that society regards as deviant; Who would choose to be an alcholic? A drug addict? A compulsive gambler? A child molester? A wife-beater? A bank robber? A murderer? Fat? Lazy? [insert any deadly sin here.]

The answer is: millions of people choose these things, and re-choose them every single day. My niece is a junkie. She has chosen to be a junkie, and she re-chooses to be a junkie every day. This is the nature of evil.

If prayer could help her, she would have been clean long ago.

35 posted on 12/30/2012 11:14:31 PM PST by FredZarguna (Cryin' won't help ya, prayin' won't do ya no good. When the levee breaks, momma you got to move.)
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To: upchuck
“Don’t need a job, I got unemployment and I applied for SSI.”

How about this one, which I got at the prison from some of my relatives' (mentioned elsewhere on this thread) companions: "I'm getting SSI, and when I get out, my lawyer is getting me an additional bonus settlement, because I was denied SSI for the same disability from 2007 to 2010."

God helps those who help themselves.

36 posted on 12/30/2012 11:19:56 PM PST by FredZarguna (Cryin' won't help ya, prayin' won't do ya no good. When the levee breaks, momma you got to move.)
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To: SeekAndFind

States have cut unemployment to 52 weeks. They have no money to pay longer than that.


37 posted on 12/30/2012 11:26:46 PM PST by <1/1,000,000th%
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To: FredZarguna

I understand your take on it. Chemical addiction is physical as well as mental, and tough to break. Millions of addicts stopped making any choices a long time ago...


38 posted on 12/31/2012 9:20:27 AM PST by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic war against white males (and therefore white families).)
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To: kearnyirish2
Sorry, but I don't agree. I was addicted to tobacco for 25 years. I understand how addiction modifies the dopamine reward system. I also understand that choice has been involved. My niece has been imprisoned twice for several months. Forced and extended detox was part of her sentencing.

Even if that were not so, there are millions of addicts who quit on their own. They quit because even in great extremity, we are free actors with free will. The choice to remain an addict vs. the choice quit and stay sober is easy.

A difficult choice doesn't mean free will is no longer involved.

39 posted on 12/31/2012 10:54:56 AM PST by FredZarguna (Cryin' won't help ya, prayin' won't do ya no good. When the levee breaks, momma you got to move.)
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To: FredZarguna

Congratulations on quitting; I’ve tried unsuccessfully for some time. The number of addicts who quit are dwarfed by the number who never can; free will plays a role, but it often requires more (faith, medication, etc.).


40 posted on 01/01/2013 7:53:20 AM PST by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic war against white males (and therefore white families).)
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