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fish-rides-bike t1_ixhloy9 wrote

Reply to comment by rippierippo in On The Rising Non-Working Class (And What Their Despair Says About Us All) by capcaunul

Most are checking out? The article says 7 mil. That’s under 10% of working age males. 90% are working.

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Douglas_Fresh t1_ixhve05 wrote

The internet likes to think no one is working, and that no one wants to. It's also a way to make them feel like "See it's not just me". Now, 10% is still quite high if that is the amount of people that simply don't care to work. Though, I wonder what % of that 10% decided to retire early? I don't see that as a problem. Also, for those who just decided to quit, where is their money coming from?

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fish-rides-bike t1_ixhx04l wrote

Also, we need to know if the number is changing much. The article states it’s been going on for decades, but doesn’t reveal the number from decades ago. If it’s normal that 8-9% have always been not in the workforce, that would be relevant. People with disabilities, people working in the black market, and people temporarily off due to paternity leave or stress leave and people in full time education would all comprise parts of that ten percent, I am presuming. But the articles also says it’s Depression Era levels, which were 25%, so that seems overstated as well

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Illustrious-Law-6649 t1_ixi7b2z wrote

I personally believe minimalistic living will be a thing of the future to combat the high stress with less than adequate pay. I will do with less nonsense (cable tv, upgraded electric devices, etc) and in turn have much more time available to do what I please.. not to mention Social Security will probably be gone by the time I’m eligible..

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Douglas_Fresh t1_ixicsik wrote

I tend to agree with this thought. Since covid I buy substantially less clothes as an example. But that might just be me getting older as well.

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Illustrious-Law-6649 t1_ixivfgb wrote

A second thought popped up for me.. if that happened, be careful the rich don’t flood the market with AI to take the place of humans not willing to work.. I can see things going in a bad direction if not controlled!

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Illustrious-Law-6649 t1_ixiv144 wrote

I think it would be interesting to see what the affects of that would be. Big businesses will have not only less people willing to work but in addition the demand will drop therefore cutting profit which will reduce the amount of workers needed. That simple type of change of living would dramatically alter the world as we know it.. I’m sure there’s a lot more it would change but that was just 1 simple talking point.

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twisted_cistern t1_ixiijtx wrote

Maybe their money is coming from the four catalytic converters that have been stolen from my prius in the last two years

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Ch1Guy t1_ixiclo6 wrote

The article also says:

>"Today, in 2022, American men suffer Depression-era employment rates"

Wasn't unemployment during the depression around 25%?

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fish-rides-bike t1_ixictt0 wrote

Yes. But I don’t see that unemployment rate today other than among young black men. Which has also been at this rate for decades.

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