Evangelion

Didn't ignore them at all. I simply pointed out that he'd got lucky. Which he did.

Plenty of other people spend all their lives trying to climb up the socioeconomic ladder, but never succeed in being anything more than "the working poor." They make no progress, regardless of how hard they work.

That's real life, mate. We're not in the '50s anymore. Or hadn't you noticed?

Monty agrees with me. That's the point.

As previously noted, simply working hard does not guarantee success. You do need a certain element of luck - which he definitely had.

Never said anything of the kind. Care to watch me burn another straw man?

Bring it on.

Evangelion

No I don't. That's a lie. Why don't you try reading what I write?

Welcome to Strawmanville, where every day is a strawman day!

beyelzu

there you go.'


lamma was a victim of circumstance according to you. and you have a history of blaming shit on the gov.


so you going to prove that I am a liar in spite of the evidence?


or you want to recant now?


and also, I just read a post where someone argued that bush is trying to destroy the middle class.

Evangelion

Context, context, context, little man.

Read this, from my previous post:

• I was referring specifically to his business venture - the failure of which he ascribed to others.
  
  Hence: victim of circumstances.

You're trying to extend this comment beyond its context. That won't wash.

So you're still not reading what I write? Gee, why am I not surprised?

Get with the programme.

It's not my post, so get out of my face.

Evangelion

Earth to Lamma: this is the 21st Century. It's not the '50s. It's not the '70s. It's a very different world altogether. People are getting laid off in droves. Boeing. Enron. 200,000 jobs lost from the steel industry, thanks to your country's unsconscionable tariffs on steel. (Nice footshot, BTW.) And the Bureau of Labour Statistics says that about 240,000 jobs were lost (across all industries) last November.

Are we starting to see a pattern here? Oh, I think so.

I wish you lived in Australia. You'd learn pretty soon that hustlers aren't welcome here. People want honest workers with a good attitude, not some cheeseball trying to wriggle into a job he's not qualified for, just to make a few bucks.

Now, here's a few facts for your consideration...

At the time I was born, my father had three part time jobs and was also putting himself through technical college. Later he was forced to prune those three jobs down to one. We managed. It was difficult, but we managed.

He worked flat out in order to send my twin brother and I to a private school when we turned 5. He didn't have to do this, but he wanted us to have the best he could provide. By this time, two more children had been added to the family. The financial pressure on my parents was considerable. My father attempted suicide when my younger brother was born. Later, he was diagnosed manic depressive. (Bipolar disorder.)

Three years later (when I was 8 years old) we moved to the other side of the country, where my father had been offered a job as a lab technician (the profession for which he had studied.) He worked hard, and was respected for it. He was on a rotating shift, which made life very difficult for us all. He had a record for safety, being regularly awarded with certificates for tens of thousands of hours without an accident.

He was an extremely well-educated man who worked his backside off until he finally shot himself at the age of 41, but we we never rose any higher than "working class." I don't blame anybody. Life's just like that. Sometimes you get a good roll, sometimes the dice fly off the table. For every day that you worked hard, there'll be a situation where nothing seems to go right and you can't do anything about it.

Years later, I looked for work while I was at university. I picked grapes for a vineyard. I delivered pizzas. I worked as a builder's labourer. I worked for the tax office. I did private tutoring. I worked for two months (unpaid) as a teacher's aide in my old private school. Later, they gave me a part time (paid) position for the whole of the next year. At the end of the year, they decided that they couldn't keep me on anymore, so off I went looking for more work.

Eventually, I found myself a government job. I had to drop out of uni to take it on. (Just as well, since I was out of money anyway.) Four years later, I still have that job and I still look for extra work. I do a little temping on the side. My last temp job was at a bank. I hope to find something new pretty soon, and in the meantime I've got my regular job to cover the mortgage and keep the cash trickling through my account. I have my own house and my own car, but I don't have a lot of money. Can't say I didn't work for what I do have, though - and I don't blame anybody else for my current situation.

So please, don't preach to me about working hard. I've been there, done that and continue to do so.

And no, it doesn't guarantee you a good life, nor will any amount of job-searching guarantee that you'll find one.

Gurdur

Weird.

Either
you've been paying money to loan sharks and other Mafia instead of to the IRS
or
you seem to have a peculiar perceptual process.

The IRS usually go through the court system rather thn sticking guns straight off up your nostrils; and if you dislike the law of your land, show some gumption, for heaven's sakes, man, show some backbone and change countries.
Emigration from the USA is not illegal.

LymanLover

This is my first wayne's world impression, and it's all for you:


:notworthy:

Evangelion

Heh, thanks mate. Really appreciate it.

Evangelion

Time to share the love with Gurdur... :notworthy

Hubble head

This is one of the best threads I've stumbled across here in a long time.

This is my account from the days of GW the 1st and I really, really feel for the kids looking at paying for their own schooling now because I honestly have no clue how I made it through back then on my own.

I was one of those kids whose parents could not afford to pay for one dime of my college education so I resorted to what was available to get through school back then (besides selling drugs). I knew this long before I graduated and had, after joining the reserves out of HS, enough for my first year if I could find a decent PT job. Now most all those jobs in that small sized college town are filled by non-college aged Mexicans. I have nothing against them wanting a better life too but it is what it is. Work is 10x's harder to find today for a college kid.

I found a job that didn't complain about my reserve obligations working from 4-8 in the morning and even though they had to shut off my meal card a few times for getting behind on a 500.00 school emergency loan I dragged myself through my first year. That was 1989.

After serving in the War Over Oil 1, I finished school on loans, jobs and scholarships that I was now more eligible for.

Upon graduating, I found myself looking at another shitty republican inspired economy in 1993. Not having the ability to go live with my parents or float off a fat check from grandma after college left me accepting the first sweatshop offer someone made for 17k a year.

I have been unable to leave that (sales) field and would sell my kidney for money to return for a science degree. Right now I am not much better off than I was then, if not worse.

My younger sister by three years was not as lucky. She couldn't get into the military for a health reason and ended up not making it past the 2nd year for financial reasons. She is smarter than me and would have no problem getting a degree if the money was there. Now she hates her job as an hourly wage phone jockey job so much she would sell a kidney to return to school too.

The sad thing is, class warfare is here and going on right underneath the doublespeak and GW the 2nd LOVES it.

I always said "you will work harder, longer hours with less security under the republicans" to my friends and they would laugh at me. FUCK THEM now. As they hang onto their jobs by a shoestring they still seem to find a way to blame it on Clinton.

Not sure who really is to blame although the sudden sell off and bursting of the "bubble" days after GW came in seemed highly suspicious.

If we can't educate our youth any better we shouldn't be surprised when they pick up weapons and turn on a society of old "have's" either. History has shown it only a matter of time down this road before we see 10x's more domestic terrorism than foreign.