Most Americans do not have "good jobs".....

Unions are unAmerican? Okay, then so is their right to assemble and conduct business in a collective fashion. I think the supreme court has already held that as being perfectly legal. If companies have the right to wage-rape their workers, expose them to all kinds of dangers, deny them time with their families and work them into an early grave, then unions have the right to make it so they can't. THAT, my friend, is America and democracy itself in action, of nothing else......people collectively taking shit into their own hands when they're unhappy with the powers that be.

I didn't graduate college, I don't kiss ass and I make $90 an hour. Take your miserable IT job, your hard work ethic and your fucking ego and shove it up your ass. YOU look in the mirror at your deadbeat, weary, face and know why you're unhappy. I'm certainly not defined by my occupation or the wage I earn and no one here is either.

If i made over 20 bucks a hr. i wouldn't be home beating off to some pic's online......Oh andi would also be a Member of WbW...

I had a good job, back in 94'

Interesting views. I do believe hard work pays off, and that does include getting an education and trying to pay for it. The only point I will make is I know people who make only like 12$ to 14$ an hour and own their home and have decent cars without being in debt other than thier home. With that point made, it really does depend on what part of America you live in. I own my own company, and it is a struggle sometimes. Only in America can you own your company and make as much as you want with hard work.

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Originally posted by wow10inches

again, take out a mirror look in it and ask yourself...what can I change that will get me that high paying job...its as simple as that.
As for the union....your fucking crazy if you think that they are a good thing. its crime what they try and do to people.
FUCK UNIONS

Dude, you are a complete jackass. I make more than you, with a company car, all the benefits you could want, and 5 weeks of vacation...oh, and I'm 28. I came from a standard small town, middle class family so everything I have accomplished, I did on my own. BUT, not everyone is as fortunate to get the breaks I got and circumstance can dictate opportunities. Use your fukn head before you say stupid things like 'get a degree'. You think most people choose to work for $16/hour and that everyone can just get a degree?? Tell me genius, how is he supposed to pay for a degree when he has a full time job and is just getting by at $16/hour? But then again, you are in IT, and like 95% of the people in IT, you are book smart, and street retarded.

Thread is dead to me...started out with a good enquiry, but you had to be a cunt and ruined it.

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Originally posted by thechamp31

I came from a standard small town, middle class family so everything I have accomplished, I did on my own. BUT, not everyone is as fortunate to get the breaks I got and circumstance can dictate opportunities.

Man, it must be something else to contradict yourself in two consecutive sentences. I am tired of hearing people talk about those who got breaks. I worked my ass off with no degree to get where I am. I ain't rich but for where I live, I make almost double what the standard family of four makes.

Minimum wage laws are why $15 isn't enough anymore. Everytime the minimum wage is raised, people within double that amount get a pay cut. It sucks to be at minimum, work hard for 3-4 years to get above it, only to see all of the new people make exactly what you do because the government decided they didn't make enough.

Unions served a purpose at one time, and sometimes still do, but you only have to look at the fact that non-union car makers in the US are a lot stronger than union ones to realize what unions have become.

Have to agree with Rockn. Unions have become antiquated and useless.

You can thank those same unions for alot of jobs going overseas.

I got outta the Army in '94

and I had to stay over seas to get a good job. when that job started to suck i made my own company. yes, i could have created a good company in the US, but i would have never been this successful.

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Originally posted by wow10inches

Thank you Demigod...point made.

i dont know why but everytime i see this i laugh

Fuck you, Slappy. You're a lyin' ass fuck who does not make $90 an hour. Just what the fuck do you expect us to believe you do, anyhow?

Opps sorry, this is America... I will Just go back to the UK.

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Originally posted by Jeff613

Unions are unAmerican? Okay, then so is their right to assemble and conduct business in a collective fashion. I think the supreme court has already held that as being perfectly legal. If companies have the right to wage-rape their workers, expose them to all kinds of dangers, deny them time with their families and work them into an early grave, then unions have the right to make it so they can't. THAT, my friend, is America and democracy itself in action, of nothing else......people collectively taking shit into their own hands when they're unhappy with the powers that be.

Let's analyze what you said point by point shall we?
1. Unions should be able to assemble but that's not what they're doing. They're blocking business by not allowing replacements to enter premise's. They are threatening replacements and they are blocking shipping. These were not allowed by the Supreme court and are clearly un-American.
2. Companies don't force people to take the wage they give them or to accept dangers and less time with families. Workers make that choice by taking a job that puts them in that position. Vote with your feet and leave such a job.
3. Collectively taking "shit" into your own hands is great as long as your "shit" doesn not interfere with the rights of the other guys "shit". Telling someone how much they have to pay you or threatening them with violence is indeed interfering with anothers rights. If a union wants to camp out front on public property and wave their silly signs then by all means blaze away.

One persons freedoms end where anothers begins. There is no right to work, spend time with your family, have a vacation, receive benefits or anything else except the right to get the deal you freely agreed to.

Not that I wouldn't love to really get into this conversation but I'll go off the orginal post.

I read another good book on this topic, "Generation Debt" by Anya Kamenetz. One of the points she made in the book was that a few decades ago one could work for the summer, give or take a few months, and have enough to pay thier way through college, working part time during parts of the rest of the year for extras or spring break.

I'd need to see some concrete stats before I can definitively believe that most Americans work in shit-end jobs. I'd tend to agree, though, as I worked in a hellhole for five and a half years before finally landing a great job. I worked my ass off and was persistent in my search for a new job (3...long...fucking...years) and it paid off in the end. Moral? Work hard, persevere, be patient and don't slip. Also, I'm not going to dispute that working in a restaurant or some other blue-collar work isn't hard work, it IS. I worked in Bob fucking Evans for a couple of years while I was going to school. Did a summer job at UPS unloading trucks (and lost 20 pounds, best way to lose weight, if you ask me). The difference between those jobs and working in IT or some white-collar profession is SKILL. It's not hard to learn how to feed people in a restaurant, but learning how to run a business and run it well is a whole different animal. Oh, I know there's tons of assholes who are CEO's and shouldn't be. You know why? I learned it ain't WHAT you know, but WHO you know that gets you the cushy jobs. 9 times out of 10, the people who have terrific jobs got the job because they know someone who knows someone else that's hiring. I'm proud to say I'm one of the few who fucking EARNED the job.

Bottom line here? If you don't like your job, then fucking do something about it. The key thing to remember is to never quit in your pursuit. Want an inspiration? Watch "Pursuit of Happyness" with Will Smith. Extreme case, but it proves my point.

Pursuit of happyness was a great movie. Guy got some hand outs but, at least in the movie, they were last ditch ones. I know for a fact you can go through college on a nothing wage. When I went I played college football, worked at Arby's during lunch time, was a bouncer after football practice and when football season was not going I worked in an Iron Foundry called Midland Iron Works. My wife worked two jobs, yep we were married and had a kid, She worked at Arby's during the early day and at LaSenorita as a waitress during dinner. We worked our ass's off and did so because we wanted to be married, which meant no help from mom and dads. We did all this on $3.35 an hour in the mid 80's. I got out of college and started making more money in my field of study and all was much better. People saying that they "can't" go to college and work make me giggle. The correct word is not "can't" but "won't". The wife and I only ever had two children though as we couldn't afford to pay for everyone else's too.

Amen, brother. It's all about hard work, and most people just don't want to do it. They don't realize that the reward that awaits is the result of that hard work.

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Originally posted by kevinbennet

Pursuit of happyness was a great movie. Guy got some hand outs but, at least in the movie, they were last ditch ones. I know for a fact you can go through college on a nothing wage. When I went I played college football, worked at Arby's during lunch time, was a bouncer after football practice and when football season was not going I worked in an Iron Foundry called Midland Iron Works. My wife worked two jobs, yep we were married and had a kid, She worked at Arby's during the early day and at LaSenorita as a waitress during dinner. We worked our ass's off and did so because we wanted to be married, which meant no help from mom and dads. We did all this on $3.35 an hour in the mid 80's. I got out of college and started making more money in my field of study and all was much better. People saying that they "can't" go to college and work make me giggle. The correct word is not "can't" but "won't". The wife and I only ever had two children though as we couldn't afford to pay for everyone else's too.

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Originally posted by Latino

how about all you people dragging facts out of thin, air produce some references or proof of your assumptions?? otherwise without them youre doing just that....assuming. Which is not worth me keeping this thread open for

Assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups.

I sell Mercedes-Benz in Tampa, the money is good and you get to test drive on courses

The way I got a good job was,hard work,education,training,and passing the certifications exams.