Hi, Ray, If you have a moment, could you say more about the seven cycles you mention, and what they are?
Many thanks, Lawry On Sep 21, 2010, at 2:12 PM, Ray Harrell wrote: > The system doesn’t work. God! I’m beginning to sound like a Swiss Gypsy. > But why in the dickens can’t anyone get this? > > > > The system cut out it’s eyes, poked holes in its ears then stuck a burning > coal up its nose and Art went away in favor of commercial trinkets and trash > perceptivity. All for a buck and now it doesn’t know how to look nor > where. > > > > We have a story about a pretty boy with perfect feathers on his headdress, > but a lousy forester, who coyote tricked into giving away his eyes for flower > eyes which could see through anything and spot the game, but then the > flowers wilted and he was blind. > > > > But what the hell. Just some dumb Indian story right? Certainly not Jevons > or even Scottish. But let’s be clear. Numbers are not metaphor. They > are contractile reductions to a singularity. You can’t expect growth from > a singularity without an explosion. Metaphor on the other hand is the > perfect modality for examining systems. Anyone ever heard or read the > European guys named George Lakoff or Robert Sternberg, or Robert Frank? > > > > Meanwhile British Columbia, the most liberal and green of all of the > provinces, is going to destroy a sacred lake and a tradition of thousands of > years just for a buck. Go figure. > > > > Will the little brothers ever learn? That’s why they got kicked out of the > garden in the first place. Even their Bible, New Testament, Korans and > books of Mormon tells the story but they refused to admit that that Adam’s > big brother was left behind to care for the garden. Their metaphor is > that the garden has to collapse in order for humans to advance. (The tree of > “knowledge?” But it was just the tree of sex and violence and technology as > a substitute for the development of the human instrument. A recipe for > human laziness and the idle rich.) > > > > Last night I read a prophecy from my old teacher. I hadn’t read it before. > He said that the world of the present had already been dreamed and that the > human spirit world had collapsed in the dream and the material world would > soon follow in a great cleansing to make way for the next life and age. He > also said that it probably would be another species. The Creator had > completed the seven cycles with this species and they failed to measure up. > > > > REH > > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Arthur Cordell > Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2010 12:41 PM > To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION' > Subject: [Futurework] Unemployed Over 50, Fears of Never Working Again > > > > September 19, 2010 NY Times > > For the Unemployed Over 50, Fears of Never Working Again > > By MOTOKO RICH > > VASHON ISLAND, Wash. — Patricia Reid is not in her 70s, an age when many > Americans continue to work. She is not even in her 60s. She is just 57. > > But four years after losing her job she cannot, in her darkest moments, > escape a nagging thought: she may never work again. > > College educated, with a degree in business administration, she is > experienced, having worked for two decades as an internal auditor and analyst > at Boeing before losing that job. > > But that does not seem to matter, not for her and not for a growing number of > people in their 50s and 60s who desperately want or need to work to pay for > retirement and who are starting to worry that they may be discarded from the > work force — forever. > > Since the economic collapse, there are not enough jobs being created for the > population as a whole, much less for those in the twilight of their careers. > > Of the 14.9 million unemployed, more than 2.2 million are 55 or older. Nearly > half of them have been unemployed six months or longer, according to the > Labor Department. The unemployment rate in the group — 7.3 percent — is at a > record, more than double what it was at the beginning of the latest recession. > > After other recent downturns, older people who lost jobs fretted about how > long it would take to return to the work force and worried that they might > never recover their former incomes. But today, because it will take years to > absorb the giant pool of unemployed at the economy’s recent pace, many of > these older people may simply age out of the labor force before their luck > changes. > > For Ms. Reid, it has been four years of hunting — without a single job offer. > She buzzes energetically as she describes the countless applications she has > lobbed through the Internet, as well as the online courses she is taking to > burnish her software skills. > > Still, when she is pressed, her can-do spirit falters. > > “There are these fears in the background, and they are suppressed,” said Ms. > Reid, who is now selling some of her jewelry and clothes online and is late > on some credit card payments. “I have had nightmares about becoming a bag > lady,” she said. “It could happen to anyone. So many people are so close to > it, and they don’t even realize it.” > > Being unemployed at any age can be crushing. But older workers suspect their > résumés often get shoved aside in favor of those from younger workers. Others > discover that their job-seeking skills — as well as some technical skills > sought by employers — are rusty after years of working for the same company. > > Many had in fact anticipated working past conventional retirement ages to > gird themselves financially for longer life spans, expensive health care and > reduced pension guarantees. > > The most recent recession has increased the need to extend working life. Home > values, often a family’s most important asset, have been battered. Stock > portfolios are only now starting to recover. According to a Gallup poll in > April, more than a third of people not yet retired plan to work beyond age > 65, compared with just 12 percent in 1995. > > Older workers who lose their jobs could pose a policy problem if they lose > their ability to be self-sufficient. “That’s what we should be worrying > about,” said Carl E. Van Horn, professor of public policy and director of the > John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University, > “what it means to this class of the new unemployables, people who have been > cast adrift at a very vulnerable part of their career and their life.” > > Forced early retirement imposes an intense financial strain, particularly for > those at lower incomes. The recession and its aftermath have already pushed > down some older workers. In figures released last week by the Census Bureau, > the poverty rate among those 55 to 64 increased to 9.4 percent in 2009, from > 8.6 percent in 2007. > > But even middle-class people who might skate by on savings or a spouse’s > income are jarred by an abrupt end to working life and to a secure retirement. > > “That’s what I spent my whole life in pursuit of, was security,” Ms. Reid > said. “Until the last few years, I felt very secure in my job.” > > As an auditor, Ms. Reid loved figuring out the kinks in a manufacturing or > parts delivery process. But after more than 20 years of commuting across > Puget Sound to Boeing, Ms. Reid was exhausted when she was let go from her > $80,000-a-year job. > > Stunned and depressed, she sent out résumés, but figured she had a little > time to recover. So she took vacations to Turkey and Thailand with her > husband, who is a home repairman. She sought chiropractic treatments for a > neck injury and helped nurse a priest dying of cancer. > > Most of her days now are spent in front of a laptop, holed up in a lighthouse > garret atop the house that her husband, Denny Mielock, built in the 1990s on > a breathtaking piece of property overlooking the sound. > > As she browses the job listings that clog her e-mail in-box, she refuses to > give in to her fears. “If I let myself think like that all the time,” she > said, “I could not even bear getting out of bed in the morning.” > > With her husband’s home repair business pummeled by the housing downturn, the > bills are mounting. Although the couple do not have a mortgage on their > 3,000-square-foot house, they pay close to $7,000 a year in property taxes. > The roof is leaking. Their utility bills can be $300 a month in the winter, > even though they often keep the thermostat turned down to 50 degrees. > > They could try to sell their home, but given the depressed housing market, > they are reluctant. > > “We are circling the drain here, and I am bailing like hell,” said Ms. Reid, > emitting an incongruous cackle, as if laughter is the only response to her > plight. “But the boat is still sinking.” > > It is not just the finances that have destabilized her life. > > Her husband worries that she isolates herself and that she does not socialize > enough. “We’ve both been hard workers our whole lives,” said Mr. Mielock, 59. > Ms. Reid sometimes rose just after 3 a.m. to make the hourlong commute to > Boeing’s data center in Bellevue and attended night school to earn a master’s > in management information systems. > > “A job is more than a job, you know,” Mr. Mielock said. “It’s where you fit > in society.” > > Here in the greater Seattle area, a fifth of those claiming extended > unemployment benefits are 55 and older. > > To help seniors polish their job-seeking skills, WorkSource, a local > consortium of government and nonprofit groups, recently began offering > seminars. On a recent morning, 14 people gathered in a windowless conference > room at a local community college to get tips on how to age-proof their > résumés and deflect questions about being overqualified. > > Motivational posters hung on one wall, bearing slogans like “Failure is the > path of least persistence.” > > Using PowerPoint slides, Liz Howland, the chipper but no-nonsense session > leader, projected some common myths about older job-seekers on a screen: > “Older workers are less capable of evaluating information, making decisions > and problem-solving” or “Older workers are rigid and inflexible and have > trouble adapting to change.” > > Ms. Howland, 61, ticked off the reasons those statements were inaccurate. But > a clear undercurrent of anxiety ran through the room. “Is it really true that > if you have the energy and the passion that they will overlook the age > factor?” asked a 61-year-old man who had been laid off from a furniture maker > last October. > > Gallows humor reigned. As Ms. Howland — who suggested that applicants remove > any dates older than 15 years from their résumé — advised the group on how to > finesse interview questions like “When did you have the job that helped you > develop that skill?” one out-of-work journalist deadpanned: “How about > ‘during the 20th century?’ ” > > During a break, Anne Richard, who declined to give her age, confessed she was > afraid she would not be able to work again after losing her contract as a > house director at a University of Washington sorority in June. Although she > had 20 years of experience as an office clerk in Chattanooga, Tenn., she > feared her technology skills had fallen behind. > > “I don’t feel like I can compete with kids who have been on computers all > their lives,” said Ms. Richard, who was sleeping on the couch of a couple she > had met at church and contemplating imminent homelessness. > > Older people who lose their jobs take longer to find work. In August, the > average time unemployed for those 55 and older was slightly more than 39 > weeks, according to the Labor Department, the longest of any age group. That > is much worse than in August 1983, also after a deep recession, when someone > unemployed in that age group spent an average of 27.5 weeks finding work. > > At this year’s pace of an average of 82,000 new jobs a month, it will take at > least eight more years to create the 8 million positions lost during the > recession. And that does not even allow for population growth. > > Advocates for the elderly worry that younger people are more likely to fill > the new jobs as well. > > “I do think the longer someone is out of work, the more employers are going > to question why it is that someone hasn’t been able to find work,” said Sara > Rix, senior strategic policy adviser at AARP, the lobbying group for seniors. > “Their skills have atrophied for one thing, and technology changes so rapidly > that even if nothing happened to the skills that you have, they may become > increasingly less relevant to the jobs that are becoming available.” > > In four years of job hunting, Ms. Reid has discovered that she is no longer > technologically proficient. In one of a handful of interviews she has > secured, for an auditing position at the Port of Seattle, she learned that > the job required skills in PeopleSoft, financial software she had never used. > She assumes that deficiency cost her the job. > > Ms. Reid is still five years away from being eligible for Social Security. > But even then, she would be drawing early, which reduces monthly payments. > Taking Social Security at 62 means a retiree would receive a 25 percent lower > monthly payout than if she worked until 66. > > Ms. Reid is in some ways luckier than others. Boeing paid her a six-month > severance, and she has health care benefits that cover her and her husband > for $40 a month. > > And she admits some regrets: she had a $180,000 balance in her 401(k) > account, and paid $80,000 in penalties and taxes when she cashed it out > early. She did not rein in her expenses right away. And now, her $500-a-week > unemployment benefits have been exhausted. > > She has since cut back, forgoing Nordstrom shopping sprees and theater > subscriptions, but also cutting out red meat at home and putting off home > repairs. > > In order to qualify for accounting posts, she is taking an online training > course in QuickBooks, a popular accounting software used by small businesses. > She recently signed up for a tax course at an H&R Block tax preparation > office in Seattle. > > And she is plugging ahead with her current plan: to send out 600 applications > to accounting firms in the area, offering her services for the next tax > season. Eventually, she wants to open her own business. > > With odd jobs and her husband’s — albeit shriveled — earnings, she could > stagger along. For now, she stitches together an income by gardening for > neighbors, helping fellow church members with their computers, and > participating in Internet surveys for as little as $5 apiece. > > “You don’t necessarily have to go through the door,” Ms. Reid said. “You can > go around it and go under it. I can be very creative. I think that I will > eventually manage to pull this together.” > > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
_______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
