Unemployment

I watched The Apprentice the other night (I watch a lot of TV), and this season's flavour seems to be people who were effected by the recent recession.  While its silly in itself to take 20ish people and make it seem like they were effected the most, but that is not really the topic at hand.  What is the topic at hand though, is the portrayal of the unemployed, or more specifically those collecting employment insurance.   There was this party where one of the guys was collecting his EI, and he was calling in to the office or something, but he kept saying how he felt pathetic because he was doing so.

This idea of how one seems to be worth less if they are unemployed is just stupid for quite a few reasons.  There is the issue of simple victim blaming, as well as the actual value of the job the currently employed (those who look down on the unemployed).  For one thing, the people that look down on the unemployed tend to hold some very capitalistic job titles.  Business people, accountants, bankers, and what not.  Stopping to actually evaluate the value of their job however, yields some unsurprising results - a complete lack of the need for a thought process, and the sole life purpose of making money.  Next we can look at victim blaming, how many times have you worked with someone so completely incompetent that you think "they can't possibly be the best for this job".  Its true, why else do you think there is so much emphasis on networking - its all in who you know.  People's skills often aren't used to the best of their abilities because by commodifying life, people deviate from what they love and are good at, to what will keep them alive the easiest.  This gets a whole lot of people searching for jobs in one field, rather than diversifying, which gives employers power they don't deserve, and yet, who is always hired?  The person with a family connection, or the person willing to work for the lowest amount.  Leaving a whole lot of talented people without a job, because the CEO refuses to take a pay cut on their already heavy wallet in order to let another survive.

Who is to blame for this stigma?  You, and I are.  We stand by and accept it, but don't worry, we won't change anything because that takes a spine, and frankly in this society, you can't survive with a spine.