Category: 01 Poverty

Posted on

Eagle: 100 Million Americans Without Jobs

01 Poverty, 03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Commerce, Corruption, General Accountability Office, Government, Office of Management and Budget
300 Million Talons...

100 Million Americans Without Jobs

by Gekko

The national unemployment rate gets lots of attention, and lately more attention has been paid to the workforce participation rate since more Americans have given up looking for a job, but we can also see that an astounding 100 million Americans don’t have jobs.

Specifically, these are people who are part of the civilian over-16 non-institutional population who are either unemployed or not part of the workforce. According to the April jobs report, the number of jobless American stood at 100.9 million.

That’s an all-time record and it’s an increase of 26.2 million over the last 12 years. It’s as if we absorbed the entire adult population of Canada and not a single person had a job.

The numbers are staggering. The jobs-to-population ratio peaked 12 years ago. If we were to have the same ratio today, we would need 15.3 million more jobs, or 23.7 million fewer people.

(Note: The chart above is the Civilian Over-16 Non-Institutional Population minus the seasonally adjusted Civilian Workforce.)

Source

Phi Beta Iota:  As a number, that is almost precisely half the eligible voters in the USA.

Posted on

Mini-Me: Greek Banks Run, IOUs New Drachma–Five Different Economies Running Side by Side in Greece

01 Poverty, 03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corruption, Government
Who? Mini-Me?

Huh?

Greeks Bank Run; Lines Form at ATMs; Nearly $1 Billion Withdrawn in Past Week

Without a government for the last eleven days, and amid mainstream discussion of a Euro Zone exit, the Greek people are realizing that the economic and political system as they know it is rapidly descending into chaos.

With massive jobless rates that have forced many into bartering to survive, and facing credit destruction across the entirety of the country that has led to shortages of critical supplies like life saving medicines, those with any money left at national banks are taking the desperate step of withdrawing as much of their savings as they can from a banking system on its last leg.

This is what it looks like when a populace plagued with uncertainty finally loses trust in the credibility of their country’s leadership and financial system.

Continue reading “Mini-Me: Greek Banks Run, IOUs New Drachma–Five Different Economies Running Side by Side in Greece”

Posted on

Eagle: Extremist Groups Grow Fast – While Angry Often Armed Non-Extremists Ponder Their Options

01 Poverty, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, Civil Society, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence
300 Million Talons...

Southern Poverty Law Center Report: As Election Season Heats Up, Extremist Groups at Record Levels

The American radical right grew explosively in 2011, a third consecutive year of extraordinary growth that has swelled the ranks of extremist groups to record levels, according to a report issued today by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The rise was led by a stunning expansion of the antigovernment “Patriot” movement.

“The dramatic expansion of the radical right is the result of our country's changing racial demographics, the increased pace of globalization, and our economic woes,” said Mark Potok, senior fellow at the SPLC and editor of the new report.

“For many extremists, President Obama is the new symbol of all that's wrong with the country – the Kenyan president, the secret Muslim who is causing our country's decline,” Potok said. “The election season's overheated political rhetoric is adding fuel to the fire. The more polarized the political scene, the more people at the extremes.”

Many Americans are enraged by what they see as America's decline, and opportunistic politicians have done their best to stoke those fears and demonize President Obama in the process. For some, the prospect of four more years under the country's first black president also is an infuriating reminder that non-Hispanic whites will lose their majority in this country by 2050.

Continue reading “Eagle: Extremist Groups Grow Fast – While Angry Often Armed Non-Extremists Ponder Their Options”

Posted on

Koko: 22% US Children in Poverty… + Poverty RECAP

01 Poverty, 06 Family, 09 Justice, 11 Society
Koko

Koko sign: Sad.

As seniors climb from poverty, young fall in

By Marisol Bello

USA TODAY, 15 February 2012

EXTRACT:

Nationally, official Census numbers show 9% of seniors in poverty. Among children, 22% — 15.6 million — live in poverty.

. . . . . . .

A 2011 analysis by the Urban Institute, a public policy and research center, found public spending per child was $11,300 over the course of a year. The spending included federal and state programs for education, health such as Medicaid and nutrition, social services and housing. The report said some of those programs are being cut as states wrestle with dwindling budgets. By comparison, public spending on seniors was about $24,800 per person, mostly in federal funding for Social Security and Medicare.

Read full story.

Phi Beta Iota:  The US Budget is not based on a coherent strategic model, on a national strategy, or even on any fundamentals such as save the children, preserve the water.  How a nation treats its children can be a reasonable predictor of the future of that nation.

See Also:

Continue reading “Koko: 22% US Children in Poverty… + Poverty RECAP”

Posted on

John Robb: Collapse of the Western Financial “System”

01 Poverty, 03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 11 Society, Budgets & Funding, Commerce, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government, Misinformation & Propaganda, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests
John Robb

Here's a scenario from William Buiter (the chief economist at Citi) on what could happen if the EU collapses:

Disorderly sovereign defaults and eurozone exits by all five periphery states would drag down not just the European banking system but also the north Atlantic financial system and the internationally exposed parts of the rest of the global banking system. The resulting financial crisis would trigger a global depression that would last for years, with GDP likely falling by more than 10 per cent and unemployment in the West reaching 20 per cent or more. Emerging markets would be dragged down too.

I have a couple of additions to William's scenario:

  • We are seeing crisis and depression scenarios like this with regularity now.  They are all presented as being on the cusp of occurring.  It should be very clear to everyone by now, that something fundamental is wrong with the global system and the crisis de jour is just its symptom.  Nobody “in charge” seems to be able to diagnose the real problems with our system.
  • The solutions being proposed are either a) more confidence (through bailouts) and b) more confidence (through more deficit spending).  In other words:  the problem is merely psychological and all you and I need to do is take some anti-depressants to eradicate any lingering pessimism (why worry, let's party!).  In short: there aren't any real solutions being offered.
  • None of the bad actors that profit from the behavior that led us into this crisis, either in government or in the financial sector, are held to account.  The moral hazard here is so vast, it can (and likely will) swallow the current economic system.

WIM:  What does it Mean?

It's very simple.  It is almost a certainty that a global economic depression is on its way and there is absolutely nothing you or I can do to stop it (a ballot box solution now would be as effective as replacing the Captain of the Titanic after the ship hit the iceberg).  So, what can you and I do?  We can take control of our environment.  Our objective is to build or buy access to a community that has the resilience to not only help us survive a global depression, but thrive during it.  A resilient community that:

  • Negates the impact of inevitable supply disruptions, rationing, and price spikes.
  • Protects you from the political violence that will erupt (mobs and police states).
  • Has a functional local economy that has the potential to network with other functional local economies.