Lessons From Wisconsin

It has also occurred to me that I at least need to re-think some of my conclusions regarding how to get along in these times. Much of what I have advocated here has been along the lines of evading the powers that have wrought so much havoc in the lives of so many by presenting a smaller target. Read more [...]
Share

The Zen of Stuff

My spouse and I have moved several times in our married life and each time it happens I am stunned by how much stuff has accumulated. This is a common thing. We've helped friends to move and they express similar dismay at how many things seem to have wormed their way into their lives. Generally, they don't view this as a good thing Read more [...]
Share

If You Just Lost Your Job

Psychologists will tell you that starting a new job is a highly stressful event, even if it's something you wanted. Change can be like that. So it's not hard to imagine how stressful it is if you just lost your job. Read more [...]
Share

How Many Americans are Really Unemployed?

This is yet another reason why the Cheddar Rebellion in Wisconsin and elsewhere is so important. These jobs have gone away as the direct result of corporate excess enabled by the destruction of unions and deregulation. If we want to have jobs and restore the middle class, that's where the fight will be, and it has to be won. Read more [...]
Share

Lessons From Wisconsin and Elsewhere

But the whole argument over unions and the accusation that unionized public employees make more money than their private sector counterparts (they don't), or that unions created the economic collapse we see happening around us (they didn't) masks what I think it a basic philosophical difference or, perhaps more accurately, a mythical difference. Read more [...]
Share

The Diversified Skills Portfolio

Skills are capital, but the market does not always recognize them as such. Indeed, the ability of the market to make use of skills found among us seems to be getting worse, not better. Even when people go back to school to learn some new subject or skill or trade, too many of them find that the market can't find them a job as promised or, the job they do find is too little to support them. Read more [...]
Share

The Age of the Generalist?

Some conversations with a few friends recently has prompted me to give this some thought with respect to the unemployment crisis. Our modern society has more and narrower specializations than at any time in history. That argues that because of our highly specialized job descriptions, losing that job to overseas outsourcing or other cause means that more people have to adapt because the few jobs that are left don't make the best use of one's specialty. It's downright uncivilized. Read more [...]
Share