http://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2013/11/08/newest-conservative-hero-spongebob-n1743161
For anyone familiar with the yellow, patty-flipping, underwater sea sponge known as Spongebob SquarePants, I recommend taking a look at this article. While O'Brien took somewhat of a comical approach while writing the article, the message that she conveys is extremely relevant to some of the economic issues facing the United States in the present day.
In a recently aired episode of Spongebob, the sponge is fired from his job at the Krusty Krab where he works as a fry cook. Instead of portraying him as a "lazy sponge" who is satisfied with accepting "Bikini Bottom welfare", Spongebob producers portray him as a working sponge who understands the importance of making a career and salary for himself, no matter what the job at hand may be.
Perhaps if all people unemployed in the United States searched for jobs with such ruthless perseverance the amount of people collecting unemployment and welfare from the government would decrease. Is the entirety of the problem the fact that there truly AREN'T enough jobs out there? Or does a large portion of the problem lie in the fact that there are many (too many) people who don't want to accept certain jobs/too many people that don't try hard enough to find jobs?
Even Spongebob would rather flip burgers at the Krusty Krab than collect money from the government. Would unemployment rates decrease if a larger amount of Americans had the same attitude? Most likely. Right now, there's an unacceptable surplus of people who don't live everyday with such a mentality.
Very interesting article. I find it funny that Spongebob has become a working class hero, but it does send out the right kind of message. A certain degree of ruthless searching is needed to find a job. The easier route is to just accept unemployment. More people should act like Spongebob.
ReplyDeleteI haven't really given unemployment much thought, but this Spongebob attitude comparison is kind of cool. Overall I'm not really sure what I think it is, the people's attitudes or the lack of jobs. There are advantages to thinking either. If it's lack of jobs, at least people aren't lazy. If it's people's attitudes, at least we have open jobs.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, there are a lot of people out there who would rather collect money from the government than flip burgers at a fast food restaurant. However, I would not consider laziness to be an epidemic. I think that some members of our generation, especially those with college degrees, who cannot find work are actually victims of circumstance. While it can't be fun to collect welfare payments in order to get by, for some it may be the only way to do so.
ReplyDeleteBut again, we can't ignore the fact that businesses are still dealing with an uncertain economic climate which they may not feel is favorable for hiring people. Basically I think the anser is a mix of both those who do not wish to work, those who physically cannot work, and those who can work but simply are unable to get hired, either through fault of their own or fault of current economic conditions.
ReplyDeleteI think there may be some lack in jobs, but I think there are actually a good number of jobs out there. Sure, are they the best jobs ever? Well no not always but a job is a job and money is money. I think the bigger problem is people are getting tired of searching and giving up and are being too picky about their jobs when if they get offered one should take it because majority of people have to start on the bottom sometime. I also think another problem is people are uneducated so there are jobs open in certain fields that require degrees but people have lost interest in learning and being educated I think so there are jobs available but not to someone who didn't even want to finish high school.
ReplyDeleteWhile there are definitely people who are just way too lazy to go look for jobs, I do not believe that this is the main cause of unemployment. It's easy to just write unemployed people off as lazy, especially if you have a job of your own. Chances are, however, that they did just as much job-searching as you did, but they didn't come up with anything. Not everybody who looks for one will get a job in this economy, and that is a truth that it seems like people ignore sometimes.
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