BoatShoes wrote:
Let's suppose we have John Q. Public who has only a high school education and cannot afford college and does not see the value in taking on debt for a bachelor's degree as he fears a jobless recovery will render his degree not worth the debt burden.
IOW, he made a choice to listen to the chicken-littles of the world, and chose not to pursue an education.
He does not live in an area that offers public transportation but does not have an automobile. He lives within walking distance of a local plaza that has some retail establishments and a couple bars and restaurants. His best opportunity to earn the most amount of money would be at a decently popular bar called Shakey's and he can earn tips. His other choice of employment is either at a Dollar General or a Kmart...both of which are offering the 7.25$ minimum wage. Because times are tough, none of the places are offering full time work.
John Q. wears his nicest suit that was donated to him by his local church and applies for all three jobs and manages to get offered all three. Shakey, the man who owns "Shakey's" tells John Q. "You know, I allow smoking in my bar so the air will be pretty cloudy and smell like cig smoke during your shifts"
John Q., despite making the choice earlier not to continue his education at this time, is a pretty bright guy (other than listening to people more determined to make excuses than make their way). He realizes, for example, that nothing is forever, and that breathing second-hand smoke for a short period of time is extremely unlikely to cause long-term health problems. He takes the job at "Shakey's".
From day one, the owner of "Shakey's" notices that John isn't your typical employee. He shows up on time, he's never idle, he is wonderful with the customers, and he takes an interest in the business side of the operation, reading all of the trade magazines that the owner receives.
One day, the owner says to John, "John, I've decided to open an additional unit, and I'd like you to be the assistant manager". John accepts.
Page forward a few years. After continuing to shine at Shakey's, John accepts a similar position at "Flakey's", a competitive brand. Working for "Flakey's" has two advantages. One, they have chosen as company policy for their units to be smoke-free, and two, it's a larger company with greater opportunity.
Page forward to present. John, who along the way corrected the mistake of listening to the "you can't" types, has obtained his business degree and is working on his MBA while continuing his work as area manager at "Flakey's".
John Q. Public, as many, many Americans are, is in a particularly constrained economic world. He is free to choose but not between many real, pragmatic, and flourishing choices.
In a word, nonsense. In three, bull fucking shit.
This whole idea of...start his own bar or move away from family and current obligations to find this bar somewhere else...just is so far away from the real confines and constraints around real life everyday choices that it is crazy.
Actually it happens multiple times every day. Or perhaps I am just imagining the part of life where I grow up in Sticksville, Ohio in a house smaller than a double-wide, and end up in North Carolina, of all places, making a decent living and providing a score or so of pretty good jobs in the economy. In spite of the arrogance tag applied to me by another poster in this thread, I do not possess the ego required to believe myself all that special. If I can make my way in the world, I'm pretty sure most everyone can.
The world you want is written about in the Lord of the Flies; where life is nasty, brutish and short.
My world seems to me to be quite a bit brighter than yours. Yours appears to be a place where one has no control over their life, and and success appears impossible. If it isn't impossible, those determined to make it so continue to tell people that it is, hoping that a lie told enough times becomes the truth.
:huh: :s 