Category Archives: Problems

Is the Draining Process of Social Security to Speed Up?

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I was reading an article at the Financial Samurai’s site called “An Unemployment Epidemic For College Graduates” and as I felt bad for recent graduates, I stated to wonder what about Social Security and the effects on it?

My question is “how is the lack of jobs that the graduates of today aren’t getting hired for, going to affect Social Security“?  Social Security is collected from the workers of today to pay for the labor of the workers that are now retired.  As Sam mentions in his article between 50 to 80% of college graduates aren’t getting hired.  The jobs that college graduates get hired for pay much more money than the run of the mill jobs.  How is that loss going to be made up?

Since technology is enabling the jobs of today to be eliminated and outsourced, what impact will that have on Social Security?  I think we will find that it will drain what little reserves that are in existence to practically nothing soon that what was predicted.

The problem with Social Security is that it’s too complex and needs to be simplified and protected by laws.  Instead of continually beating up our the financial institutions, focus should be redirected in making sure that Social Security is solid and whole again.  This is the kind of “Change” that I really was hoping for, not more debt.

Instead of having the Social Security monies at the disposal of government whims of the moment, there should be protective laws put around the entire social mechanism.  It should be protected by law since the government doesn’t seem to care about the future elderly. 

I believe that the loss of jobs (especially high paying tech and call center jobs) to offshore companies will speed up the hit to the monies that should be used for Social Security at an even quicker rate.  I want business to be competitive, but this seems trend seems like a constant downward spiral for the middle class lifestyles.

In many ways I think it’s very sad that we are letting money win over humans.  Business needs to be competitive, but government should see what is happening and start focusing on this trend.  At a very minimum, the government should do some analysis of what is happening and how it could affect middle class well-being.  After all, they represent the majority, and currently the middle class is the majority.  I say currently because if the something isn’t done, some day the majority will be not be the middle class, instead we will all be poor with just a few super rich individuals.  Perhaps we’ll go to a form of modern Feudalism?

So Social Security doesn’t really seem that secure anymore does it…

Thanks for reading along with me as I think out loud.

MR

Is Technology A Job Killer?

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Unemployment remains on the high side, and while offshore job loss has taken a great toll, I believe that technology has contributed more than people realize too.

We all know friends (and maybe we do this ourselves too), that will go to a walk-in store, evaluate a product, talking to a sale person for an hour, the go home and order the product at a discount via amazon, eBay or similar online sites.  But have we even thought about the long-term effects of such tactics?

By wasting the salesperson’s time, this has effectively wasted the productivity of and added unrecoverable cost to the company.  Afterall, they don’t pay the salesperson to teach you about the merchandise they are selling so you can buy it at home.

How about technology like the Kindle or the iPad?  The Kindle (and iPad) may be a future killer of the entire book industry.  When people buy the electronic form of a novel, it hurts the book industry.  Think about it, the lumber companies, the transportation industry, and the retail book sales companies are taking a big hit or going out of business.

Something so innocent has the potential of killing the paper book industry entirely.  Look at Borders as an example, finding one of there stores is becoming more rare than seeing an albino tiger.

As technology and the offshore trend kills more and more domestic jobs, this affects other programs too, like Social Security.  The less jobs people have to work, the less money goes into Social Security.  Perhaps it will go busted before the 2030s hit…

What I’m really afraid of though, is how tight the future job markets might become for the future workers of tomorrow.  Where is my son and daughter going to work if the available jobs become few and far between?  How will they compete with foreign workers (who though technology can work from their country) who make 1/5 and in some cases 1/10 of what the typical American worker makes?

Did I mention that it’s technology that is killing the service areas that once held such great promise of the American and European countries?  We gave up on the manufacturing industry while singing the praised of the service industry and how that is the area that is the future of the developed countries.  But now that too is being done in by drastically cheaper labor pools in foreign countries.  Technology is what is making this shift possible.  Have you ever called customer support and had problems communicating with the customer support representative?

Thanks technology industry, after all, eating and wealth are overrated anyway…  It’s kind of ironic that we thought that technology was our big advantage, when in reality it’s what is killing our job markets.  Who would have thought…

I wonder why the government is still scratching their heads about why employment is not picking up as they expected…  Isn’t it pretty obvious?

Thanks for listening to explain my take on such matters.

MR

Making Mistakes, Average Versus Brilliant People

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Today, I discovered something that I think is quite interesting and worth sharing.

When smart people make mistakes, the way they handle it is in such a way that it doesn’t seem like it’s a real mistake!  It’s almost like it’s just another step in the process.  In life, we all make mistakes, even thoughs that are considered the brilliant ones. 

When normal people make mistakes, they fill like they are broken or did something bad.  They really didn’t, but they feel like they are lesser in some way than the rest of the crowd.

But today, I worked with people who are very brilliant and when they make mistakes, they don’t feel the same way.  Instead they blow it off like it was nothing and keep going on as normal, without even flinching.  Even after making mistake after mistake, they kept on their path.  Their persistence is very impressive.

So what caused the average person to think so differently about their mistakes?  Is it the way that they were raised?  Perhaps it was an intellectual bully or even a cruel teacher that may have ridiculed them while they were growing up.  Or could it be that they learned such behavior from the movies, TV or even radio show…

So how do we correct this behavior to have a more productive and pleasant life? 

I don’t think it’s an easy thing to overcome, but perhaps if we start out small, perhaps trying to learn something new everyday or once a week.  Later try to develep a skill or hobby.  The goal is to keep growing, even in the face of mistakes…

Bests,

MR

5 Cheap Ways To Escape From Stress

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Today, I’m going to reveal some of my favorite ways to reduce stress while keeping it cheap!

Relaxing at the Park

Relaxing at the Park

Cheap Ways To Escape From Stress

  • At lunch, I go to a small quiet library.  The library that I go to is my intraday escape!  I’m luck because the library is usually empty at lunch.  Before I started blogging, I would go there to check out the newest DVD movies and read the newspapers and magazines.  Occasionally, I would even take a quick 10 to 15 minute nap.  Or if the weather was nice, and I was tired, I would park beneath a tree and take a 30 minute nap.
  • Visit the numerous parks in the area.  There are plenty of walking park to visit in the area.  At this one park close to work, they have a small pond with a fountain in the middle.  I would just sit on a bench in the shade, and close my eyes and just listen to the fountain noise.  At the same park, if I was very tired, again I would take a 30 minute nap in the parking lot.
  • Visit the bird park.  This park is 15 minutes away, so I had to pack my lunch the day before, then drive to the park and while I was there, eat quickly.  The bird part is actually inside a building that is built into a hill.  The birds are on the outside where there are feeders and a microphone system so we could listen to the bird sounds.
  • Walk around my neighborhood block late at night.  I use to do my best thinking at these times, not to mention a little bit of exercise.  I’m lucky in that the streets at night are empty and quiet.
  • Lounging/sitting on my deck at night when the stars are out in full force while listening to music on my mp3 player.  At night and at dusk are my favorite time to relax on my deck.  Before I built the deck, I would get a chair and sit out in the driveway at night looking at the stars (star gaze).

These are the 5 quick, cheap and easy ways I relieve stress.  Sometimes I take my dog on my walks and let her come out onto the deck with me.  She’s quiet for the most part and doesn’t bother me in my de-stressing periods.

How do you relieve stress?

 

-MR

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