Lazy Americans

One of the problems that arises when the government takes care of everyone is that people start getting picky as to what jobs they'll take.

Fred Alger has been out of work for months and, to increase his chances of getting a good job, is thinking about going back to school.

"I went to Hecht's department store ... and they're hiring, but only at $7 an hour," he said in a dispatch on a Monster.com chat board last week. "They're nuts. That's pretty ... low." ...

One unemployed chat-room enthusiast scoffed at the many jobs that seem to have cropped up just since the beginning of the year offering wages in the $10-an-hour range. "My UI [unemployment insurance] pays more than that," he said.

If people don't have to work, they won't. No mystery there. Why would someone work at an unpleasant job if they can make more money sitting at home watching TV? Strangely, people on UI tend to have great success finding jobs right before their insurance runs out -- go figure.

Anyway, the point isn't to rail against UI, which is generally paid for by payroll taxes and funded by the workers themselves (at least in California). The real problem is that so many people are so used to living comfortably off the work of others that they can't even imagine going hungry or sleeping in the cold. For many Americans the purpose of work isn't to survive, but to provide luxuries. A job that won't provide luxuries isn't worth having, because the essentials are already guaranteed.

It's interesting to note that Alan Greenspan (who have have a great deal of respect for) seems to think illegal immigrants are good for the economy.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the bifurcated work force is a result of globalization.

"We have significant immigration in the United States — mostly legal, some illegal," he told a gathering of bankers in Berlin last week. "It has probably enhanced the standard of living of society as a whole."