Comments on: What’s a Job Good For?

By: F. Beard

F. Beard — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 22:39:02 +0000

Here’s a sweet little quote from yalls hero, LV Mises, to Ayn Rand.

You have the courage to tell the masses what no politician told them: you are inferior and all the improvements in your conditions which you simply take for granted you owe to the efforts of men who are better than you. L. V. Mises

Hey Ludvig, how much of your “superiority” was bought with government enforced usury from the “masses”?

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 08:40:27 +0000

The mind of a person with no work ethic will tend, when he sets himself to work, to obsess over painful thoughts, concerning either the intrinsic disutility of his work, or the opportunity cost (cf. time preference) it represents. One cultivates a healthy work ethic by learning to suppress and dispell these painful thoughts, and in doing so, one also learns a portentous lesson about the malleability of human experience. And that lesson matters in any world.

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:51:00 +0000

I have taken on second jobs and, at times, roommates (married now) when I wanted “extras.” I work opposite shift from my wife so that we do not need to pay a babysitter. I have become very independent and self-sufficient.

I think 40 year old alcoholic dishwashers and 20 year old alcoholic rockstars must have something in common. I hope that you are better capable of handling setbacks in your life than either of them.

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:36:10 +0000

I am a 40 year old pizza boy. I’ve been delivering pizza for 16 years now. Started 4 years after I graduated with a 2 year Accounting degree. I don’t drink or smoke and I deeply resent your comment.

I got tired of waiting in line with thousands of other people applying for the same three or four jobs and decided instead to make the best of what I have. Thank you minimum wage and Federal Pell Grants.

I have purchased a home which is on track to be paid off 10 years early. I have three automobiles that never go to the shop because I have amassed a great deal of mechanical experience and a wealth of tools to do just about any repair that is needed.

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:15:31 +0000

You can mow my lawn for a dollar. I won’t tell anyone.

By: F. Beard

F. Beard — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 00:36:28 +0000

Well, I can remove the “if.” LV Mises was a fascist according to this:

Ludwig von Mises is well-known for his uncompromising defense of the gold standard during a period when that standard was being denounced by most other prominent economists. from http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj19n2/cj19n2-4.pdf

By: F. Beard

F. Beard — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 00:29:29 +0000

Take away the food stamps, utilities subsidies, Section 8, and 90% of people will work. victor Yeah, ignore the fact that the government enforced counterfeiting cartel drove the population into debt-slavery and punish the victims, why don't you? How about eliminating their unjust debt and abolishing the counterfeiting cartel first? I thought Mises was about free markets and open borders? victor Not if he was in favor of a government enforced gold standard. In that case he was a fascist not a libertarian.

By: victor

victor — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 23:06:30 +0000

Take away the food stamps, utilities subsidies, Section 8, and 90% of people will work. I thought Mises was about free markets and open borders? Sadly, many racists abound on this site. I think it is wrong for so many people to attack immigrants, when it is the system that entices people of all creeds and ethnicities, born in and outside of the U.S. to join the welfare roles. I lived in a country that had land ownership and poll tax-type requirements for enfranchisement. It was very difficult for the majority of African citizens to qualify to vote outside of 8 or 9 seats reserved in parliment–it needed to change, but not into the pseudo-socialist state it became. So what are we doing to get rid all of these entitlements and corporate give-aways?

By: F. Beard

F. Beard — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 15:31:44 +0000

It would fail, with or without government support. PMs are a primitive money form that also require usury. But with usury the debt grows exponentially while the real economy cannot.

Thanks for the support. Truth can be painful to hear and I sometimes get attacked for presenting it.

By: augusto

augusto — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 12:48:57 +0000

Exactly. GPA matters.

By: Matt Parke

Matt Parke — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 12:03:02 +0000

Great article. I only wish you had asked the students if any of them had even looked for a job that resulted in a paycheck. With the current economic situation, it would be nice to know if jobs just weren’t available, and that is why none of them could answer positively to the 2nd question.

By: newson

newson — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 06:33:11 +0000

another great story. thanks.

By: newson

newson — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 06:19:35 +0000

ditto.

By: Gil

Gil — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 05:35:15 +0000

That reminds of another thing against Obama – to become a general in the military is a slow and tedious process it you get there at all. On the other hand, as soon as you’re voted in as President you are immediately Commander & Chief of all the armed forces – no military experience requried.

By: Nate

Nate — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 05:31:28 +0000

That makes some sense. Absent experience, all potential employers have to evaluate you on is your academic credentials. It would also make sense if these are jobs in academia, where those academic credentials are very important.

By: augusto

augusto — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 05:20:19 +0000

Funny fact: I’m 30, I have a PhD, but very little work experience (I had a 1 year full-time job after I graduated from university and before I went for the Master’s and PhD). I’ve filled out over a hundred job applications so far. Every single one wanted to know in what month (sometimes in what day) I got my diplomas, and they all asked for my GPA.

By: King George

King George — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 04:28:28 +0000

100% agreed to this. If anything a government-run gold standard would be a clever form of subterfuge; once it fails, again, it would be so easy to blame the gold standard and Austrian economics for any hardship suffered.

By: nate-m

nate-m — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 22:54:23 +0000

One of the most important lessons youth can learn from working a summer job is:

“Oh, fuck. If I don’t put effort into bettering myself and getting a decent job then I will end up like that 40 year old alcoholic dickhead that still washes dishes for a living!”

By: HL

HL — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 22:38:03 +0000

I think for my eledest’s 12th bday I will get her a shoe shining kit, knee pads and a county permit to shine shoes on the street. I can set her up at the court house. At $2.50 per pair of shoes, with a realistic four customers per hour, times ten hours, she can make $100 per day. After my 20% parental support deduction, that’s $80 per day! Excellent. And that doesn’t include tips! Winning.

By: HL

HL — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 22:32:17 +0000

Awesome story.