[GPSCC-chat] Telling It Like it Is in Silicon Valley

[Gerry Gras]

Amen,

Gerry


alexcathy at aol.com wrote:
> Dear Friends,
>
> Sometimes you find something posted on the Internet that tells your own
> story better than you could tell it yourself. A big thanks to my friend,
> Carole Hanisch for sending me the link to the article by Dave Johnson of
> Redwood City, California below. I was a professional computer programmer
> for twenty-two years in Virginia, New York, and Massachusetts before
> settling in California's so-called Silicon Valley just in time for the
> big crash of 2000. Only two things I can add. First, as an
> African-American with some 1960s consciousness, even during the boom
> years I was never seduced by that "USA! USA! We're Number 1 'cause the
> USA today is the best of all possible words!" baloney. Second, as a
> Green Party man I'm not blind to the political fact that so-called
> Silicon Valley is One-Party Democratic territory represented by
> Congresswomen Anna Eshoo (D-HP) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Cisco Systems) who
> could not care less and where two Silicon Valley big shots, Meg Whitman
> and Carly Fiorina are running for high office as Republicans vowing to
> "get tough" with "lazy" Americans who don't want to work.
>
> Please note that I have cross-posted this text on two web sites:
> California Greening
> <http://cagreening.blogspot.com/2010/07/too-old-for-job-too-young-for-medicare.html>
>
> Green Change
> <http://network.greenchange.org/news/19659-too-old-for-a-job-too-young-for-medicare>
>
>
> Alex Walker
> Los Angeles Greens
>
> * Posted on Campaign for America's Future, July 7, 2010
> Too Old For A Job, Too Young For Medicare Or Social Security
> <http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010072707/too-old-job-too-young-medicare-or-social-security>
> by Dave Johnson *
>
>     Here is a fact: There. Are. No. Jobs. I'm in Silicon Valley where
>     the official unemployment rate dipped in May to 11.2%. This dip was,
>     of course, because of so many people just giving up trying to get a
>     job, certainly not because of some wave of hiring. The underemployed
>     figure, known as "U-6," is 21.7% in California, 16.7% nationally.
>
>     You have to know someone to get a humiliating job standing on a
>     corner waving a sign. And if you are over 40, things are even worse
>     than that. Don't give me any conservative Rush Limbaugh-Ayn Rand
>     dehumanizing nonsense about parasitic lazy people who won't
>     look—there are no jobs.
>
>     I know so many people here who are over 40, were laid off in the
>     2000-era dot com crash, still haven't found a regular job and aren't
>     going to. They have had occasional "contract" positions—which means
>     no benefits, no security, a 15% "self-employment" tax and no
>     unemployment check when the job ends. And now, 10 years later
>     they're a lot over 40 and are not going to find a job because so
>     many employers here won't hire people over 40.
>
>     And now there are so many more who lost their jobs in the mass
>     layoffs of 2008-2009 and can't find a job. So many of them are also
>     over 40. In fact, many were laid off in obvious purges of over-40
>     workers, offered a small severance that they could only receive if
>     they promised to take no age-discrimination action against the
>     employer. (I don't say "company" because some of these worked at
>     nonprofits.)
>
>     Most of these people will not find another job, but are too young
>     for Medicare and Social Security.
>
>     ...
>
>
>
> Please Read the Full Text of the Op-Ed and Leave Comments:
>
> Original Post on Campaign for America's Future URL:
> http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010072707/too-old-job-too-young-medicare-or-social-security
> <http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010072707/too-old-job-too-young-medicare-or-social-security>
>
>
> California Greening:
> http://cagreening.blogspot.com/2010/07/too-old-for-job-too-young-for-medicare.html
> <http://cagreening.blogspot.com/2010/07/too-old-for-job-too-young-for-medicare.html>
>
>
> Green Change:
> http://network.greenchange.org/news/19659-too-old-for-a-job-too-young-for-medicare
> <http://network.greenchange.org/news/19659-too-old-for-a-job-too-young-for-medicare>
>
>
>
>
>
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