4th Generation Atheist

So I finish up with work today and go to visit friends while they finish up their work. So what do I hear? That due to state budget cuts, my friends, who are both students, may be losing their jobs over the summer. We all know who is to blame for this, and it isn't my friends, who are hard workers guilty of nothing other than trying to stay in school and improve themselves (note: this apparently is now illegal. Young people take note! Quit school and get little slave-jobs in some big shot's office, you're not going to be allowed to get anywhere!) The one says he's likely to keep his job, tho others in his department are getting cut permanently; the other thinks it likely he'll have no earnings over the summer, and he's not sure about the fall either. If money isn't coming, his degree is in danger. And this announcement didn't come down the pike until today. Final exams are now over, and most summer work has been snapped up already. The friend in worse trouble is in the physics department, which didn't hear of its troubles at all until today, when summer has already started at the school in question.

Get the picture? Under our current gov't, society has no need of young people with brains. It needs waiters, clerical nobodies, warehouse workers, shoeshine people and the like. Brains are not in the budget. Butt-lickers are. Wasn't there a term for jobs like that? Being in sciences I don't remember all the social-studies terms, but I still recognize the category. I've spent the better part of my life fighting to stay out of it myself, and it's not like I was born into poverty. What about those that are? What about the people coming of age today?

Anyone thinking of coming to the Land of Opportunity, you might want to reconsider. The Xn theocracy that the admin is working for is a hell of a lot more likely when no one can complete an education and everyone is so economically desperate they'll believe in rescue by UFO if it gives them a sense of escape. Economic recovery? You can bet the Confederates will work their asses off to prevent it.

This rant has been brought to you by the letters G and A and the number 4. Thank you for your time.

Jesus Tap-Dancin' Christ

You in Minnesota? Sounds like Pawlenty and the Republican assholes work.

Doubting Didymus

Its nice to see my own countries shit put into perspective. How difficult is it to emigrate from america these days?

Pyrrho

There is no difficulty in leaving (if one has a passport and a ticket to somewhere); the difficulty is in getting into another country worth living in, and to be able to live there.

Years ago, I was interested in a job in New Zealand, and, in order to apply for the job, I had to apply for residency there (I was not trying to change citizenship; I was just interested in the particular job). The requirements to be allowed to move to New Zealand and work there are extremely difficult to meet (or at least they were a few years ago). They factor in many things, like age, the amount of money you have, the amount of education you have, and, of course, they want you to have a job lined up before they agree to let you in, and they don't want you taking a job away from a citizen. I did not get the job, and, as usual, the reason why is unknown to me, though they would certainly have favored someone from New Zealand over me if our qualifications were equal or nearly so.

As a practical matter, emigrating is not a realistic option for most people.

Dark Jedi

For immigration, it also depends on the need for your skills.

From what I have been able to get from the NZ and AU governments, I am not needed, but my wife as a Veterinarian specialized in livestock (when she graduates) is very welcome.

They are even nice enough to let me, the dead weight, tag along with her.

Born Free

Sorry about your friends 4th generation that's crap.

Dark Jedi it's the same with US immigration, it's very difficult to get into America legally. As a Brit I can't even apply for the green card lottery, we're not allowed. As an Irish citizen I can so I'll have to do the applying, make sure I'm married so partner can tag along and this is if we have enough money in the future in the first place.

A lot of countries are the same in their approach to immigrants.

B34RZ0R

"Jesus Tap-Dancin' Christ You in Minnesota? Sounds like Pawlenty and the Republican assholes work. "

Hey I too am stuck in this repubic-hair idiot state.. I cant believe when we are SUPPOSEDLY facing this HUGE 4-point-whatthefuck deficit we are currently repairing every road that runs through the cities and applying for hundreds of millions of dollars for MORE repairs!

Its good to see that what is important ISNT education or paying our teachers but carrying guns and expanding hwy62! Oh and dont even get me started on the RETARD RAIL project that is going to be a total waste of time and money .. I say bomb the tracks! BASTARDS .. then I see people who have lawn signs that say shit like "willing to pay for a better Minnesota"

YOU BACKASSWARD FUKWRENCHES NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE MISAPROPRIATION OF FUNDS THAT IS GOING ON IN OUR STATE... AND LOOK AT WHERE OUR STATE IS ON THE NATIONAL SCALE OF TAX BURDEN!!!!!!

just to state it I do not fallow a left wing or right wing party message - agenda etc'

Oh yeah that totally sux 4th Generation, my significant other works at the U of M and quite a few of the people she knows are getting skrewed out of their jobs! Though I dont know that you are from MN .. but my guess with big brothers hand crushing middle america right now this is going on all over.

IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP AND TAKE BACK OUR VOTES AND OUR MONEY... TELL THEM NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bear

Ultimate Atheist

And all this time I thought I was one of the few people being held down by the man. All through school we were told how we could do anything we wanted and be anything we wanted with hard work and dedication. What happened to that promise? I've worked my ass off and I'm barely better off than when I was a pizza delivery guy putting myself through school.

I had great grades in school. I got out of highschool without ever getting a grade lower than a B and Bs were pretty rare too. I tried hard to go to a state college after getting out of highschool and all the schools I applied for were really excited by my grades but when it came down to it I was too poor to pay for school on my own and had too much money to get any financial aid.

Education isn't a priority in this country. Things have really gone down the drain in the last 200 years or so. The government is supposed to be a fair representation of the people. Regular guys like me or any of you are supposed to be running the country. How can rich oil tycoons and and other people that have never had to live in poverty or even as middle class citizens possibly know what is best for the majority of Americans? This country should be run by people that have actually had to live with some of the policies that are screwed up. Rich people are the minority. Why do they get to run things? It seems like all the things that people came here to get away from are just slowly starting to infect us as they did the places we came from.

Things will only get worse. With our country's lovely foreign policy we'll be lucky if this country even exists 50 years from now. All great powers fall eventually and its getting to the point where this one is rapidly going down the drain. Unfortunately for Americans that realize this there's no place to run. So just quit complaining and get back to work. We need your taxes so our President and his pals can live a better life while they work hard to decide what freedoms to take away from you next.

Welcome to America. We've killed most of the Braves. Now we'll take care of this "Land of the Free" B.S.

Rushianbeing

Yer preachin to the choir...
I live in rural upper East Tennessee, and work for a children's welfare agency, advocating for abused and neglected children in the juvenile courts. Most of my male teenagers have been permanently expelled from school, and the SECOND they get kicked out, they are swarmed upon by military recruiters. There is very little effort to change this scenario, very little support from the feds, because that's just what they want-lots of poor, desperate people who will GLADLY join the military, with no education, and be cannon fodder for W's theocracy.

In other words, the Bush Administration NEEDS the poverty-stricken lower class.

We've got TONS of federal and state money for bullshit programs like "abstinence first" and "stay married to an asshole and we'll keep you on welfare", but none for actual, real education. These kids have given up. They know they aren't going to college. They know all the adults that talk to them are full of shit and just trying to make themselves feel better. The're smarter than all of us, and they're hopeless. Pretty shitty.

Ultimate Atheist

The really bad thing is that a lot of people realize how screwed up things are but can't do anything about it. I keep having people tell me to get out there and vote. That changes nothing. It usually comes down to picking the lesser evil. The only candidates that make it to the final elections are the ones that have pals in high places. They're corrupt before they even get to that point. Candidates who truly want to change things get pushed aside.

I remember watching a documentary or something from the last presidential election where one of the candidates was talking about how his family was poor and he had to work his way up and that now finally he hoped to have a chance to try to clean things up and do what was right for all people in America. His interview was cut short and then he was never heard from again. He would show up to debates and other events and would be told that they didn't have room for him or that he simply was not welcome there. In the end though it really doesn't matter. I could be President and it wouldn't matter. The country is too big and their are too many corrupt, rich, white guys running things that not even a decent President could really clean things up. Like I said, things will just keep getting worse.