Job seekers listen to a presentation at the Colorado Hospital Association health care career fair in Denver April 9, 2013. Rick Wilking/Reuters
MSNBC: Nearly half of all Americans support job guarantee
Nearly half of all Americans would be in favor of a universal government job creation program, according to a poll commissioned by the Huffington Post. Out of nearly 1,000 polled respondents, 47% would either somewhat support or strongly support “a law guaranteeing a job to every American adult, with the government providing jobs for people who can’t find employment in the private.”
The Huffington Post commissioned the poll in response to a January 3 Rolling Stone piece called “Five Economic Reforms Millennials Should Be Fighting For.” The article, written by freelance journalist Jesse Myerson, suggested that millennials should demand “guaranteed work for everybody,” funded by the federal government.
Read more ....
Update: 46% Favor Government Guaranteed Jobs for All (Rasmussen Reports)
WNU Editor: A few years ago I commented on this blog a poll that was done in the province of Quebec (Canada) that asked the same question but to young adults between 18 - 25 (In case no one knows, I live in Quebec). Close to 80% believe it is the duty of the government to give a guarantee government job, and to pay full pension benefits when the person retires at 55. But the poll went further than what the Huffington Post and Rasmussen are asking in their polls .... and that is "how was all of this going to be paid". The answers were predictable and one that I will never forget .... tax the rich, tax medium to large businesses, and definitely tax big conglomerates. And I am sure that if given the same question for today's polls, the respondents would be saying the same thing. Sighhhh .... this is what they are teaching in American schools today .... at least for those who can read .... 65% of Public School 8th Graders Not Proficient in Reading; 67% Not Proficient in Math (CNS).
You readily dismiss what is popular vote by indicating how ill prepared the population is and yet support a Trumpian election that proclaims the unwashed masses as being the heart of populism, the voice of the people. In sum: a contradiction to fit your views
ReplyDeleteFred,
ReplyDeleteActually the contrary.
These polls are an excellent indicator on what is the sentiment in both Quebec and the U.S..
Conservative support in Quebec is around 20%, 80% for the more liberal/socialist parties. No surprises there.
And the Rasmussen and Huffington polls are IMHO an indicator on what is the mood of the U.S. and current views on what should be the role of government .... hence the split in the U.S. which is translated poltiically with a slight majority favoring Democrats.
The problem is how will all of this be paid .... in short .... basic economics is not the priority when it comes to education. And that is what I am pointing out.
Agree with you, wnu. Fred is still in fighting mode because he gets to discuss bposter posts all the time ;)
ReplyDeleteOn the topic. I can understand it. Americans want to work and achieve. They are not what I'd call lazy. There are bums in every society, but I'd argue you find them less often in the US. But I've noticed a trend among recent college graduates that are extremely sensitive towards capitalistic thought. Not in a bad-hearted way, nor in an uneducated way, but in a stubborn way that you often expect ahead of the next social revolution. It might be something good, or it might be something sinister engineered by Russian spies who infiltrated Bernie's team to talk free job and free money for everyone. Who knows. Bposter, what are your thoughts on Russians doing something sinister all day long? :)) but honestly I don't blame them. College education debt broke credit card debt records three years ago. If you study today it's like playing Russian roulette (again those Russians!! ;)..and on top you have income inequality so large today that even IF you happen to be among the 1% who become a millionaire, a millionaire today is like having 100,000 ten years ago because you still can't afford the life style you get to see every day. And that's before the threat of automation, nuclear warfare, terrorism, gender redefinition, role redefinition, family collapse, bees dying, sea life collapse, and - Trump.
So yeah. .understandably Americans want guaranteed jobs because of all the things going on, the panic it creates, and the lack of a social welfare net that catches you. Being poor in Europe sucks. Being poor in the US is a near death sentence. You die decades earlier. In Europe not so much. Even in Asia - mostly due to still stronger families- even the poor old get by
Also...in a country with so many weapons you better have jobs for all or many. If everyone starts taking crack and shoot up it gets downhill quickly. Bismarck also introduced social welfare to bring about social peace. There's a clear and strong connection. If man or woman cannot find a job despite trying, and if they have medical bills (which can be huge in the US), you have no choice but die or try. West coast ya'll ;)
DeleteFred here not concerned with Poster since Poster not concerned with anything that does not deal with Russia
ReplyDelete1. Rasmussen is the most unreliable of all polls, leaning heavily rightward.
2. that nearly 50 of public would like guaranteed work is ok if unrealistic...a guaranteed yearly income might in theory be possible but not giving jobs to an entire population
3. those nations we call welfare states seem able to combine capitalism with addressing social needs for its citizens, so that education, medical needs, etc are available for the entire population
4. it is much easier to impose some sorts of social orders and constraints in a nation such as China, that seems to use what might be called State Capitalism...the state dictates how things are to be done..by contrast more democratic nations get caught up in endless debates between contending parties, forces, and either do little, nothing, or make compromises that make no one very happy
Fred, agreed. But European states can do it because they spend less on healthcare, and military actually. .those are the big ticket items in your country. Spending priorities that emphasise internal peace (European model) are not necessarily bad, ..one might argue they are good even (as I would), but it's difficult to be a super power which requires external controllable" peace" (dominance in favorable outcomes involving no peace scenarios, ie armed conflict) and internal peace at crazy high costs. In the US you pay 10x more for medicine and earn only twice as much on average and live slightly shorter. But your military is pretty damn good and you need it because you've got adversaries like Russia, iran and China that all want to replace you as #1 (haters! Lol) and what you stand for. Being #1 isn't easy. ..especially not if many of the western countries are really not contributing as much as they should to defend your position and our shared values. But the US also often overreaches in military missions and has way too many bases around the world (hey if it works it works but what are the costs of all this?)... and These endless conflicts and military industrial complex and shadowy secret services make Europeans nervous. ...right now half of America is in McCarthyism/hate on everything Russian-mode (Democrats) and half-neocon-gunslinging-trumploving-EU-NATO and UN-bashing (republicans). I get both sides :) best is though you give up the party system and replace it with something better. .something more American. . Like American gladiators where congress members and senators fight it out for cheers and corporate sponsorship and broadcasted everywhere with billions to be made and people watching all the time. Oh wait, that's exactly what you have.
DeleteFred is in "fighting mode" because he is unable to come up with valid arguments to support his positions. Then he must try and desparately discredit me with cute name calling. If he had valid points to make, he would not need to be in "fighting mode."
ReplyDeleteAnon (3rd post),
Your second paragraph is essentially spot on. As an American, I've observed the same things. As to the Russians doing anything sinister, I can't attest to that. Until our government started needlessly meddling in their affairs and needlessly provoking them they didn't seem to have much interest in us. The last paragraph nails it.
Fred,
Actually I comment quite regularly on a number of things here. Perhaps you missed it. With that said this is a blog about wars. Russia is our most dangerous enemy. As such, posts concerning Russia probably do get more of my attention.
Points 2, 3, and 4 seem essentially spot on. As for Rassmussen, I would need to study their track record.
Rasmussen never ever in sync with the five or so major polls. Never
ReplyDeleteSuicidal.
ReplyDeleteThe Rasmussen poll is in sync with the poll that Huffington Post had commission on this very subject. That is why I included both of them in this post. They are similar .... and the Huffington Post is not a conservative web site.
ReplyDeleteAs for a guarantee income .... I live across the river from an Indian reservation where everyone does not only pay tax, butd because of subsidies/grants/welfare/medicare/etc., they basically do not have to work for a living .... and for those who do make the effort, mostly work for the government. And guess what .... in this utopia there is widespread poverty, social problems from drug and alcohol abuse, broken families, crime, organize crime, widespread sexual abuse, and .... well .... I can spend the entire night making a list.
Has a guarantee income help the situation .... from what I see .... I can say confidently that it certainly has not solved the problems on this reservation .... problems that the elders tell me were not there 30 or 40 years ago.
With guaranteed jobs there will still be competition as cliques maintain access to the
ReplyDeletebetter' jobs for their members.
I wonder how much psychology they teach in English classes?