Disability Caucus 8/2/2016: Wasting Month After Month (Because I Can't Be Placed)
So I have another meeting today with the...ahem....'case worker' at 3 in the afternoon today so I can keep 'working' for food. It sure would be nice if I didn't have to do this every. Single. Month...on top of reapplying for SNAP benefits every 6. I've put somewhere in the avenue of 250 applications over the past several months and still have nothing to show for it. And let's be honest, that's how most employers like it these days.
All you have to do is go on any online job board. Even public sector ones. Take a look at what's expected for a job you think you might be able to do and you'll find out very quickly that the employer who posted the position doesn't really have any intention of hiring anyone. Employers have written up qualifications in such a way that they're IMPOSSIBLE to meet, even for jobs that just a few years ago would have been entry level.
Now, what would this have to do with the subject of people with disabilities? It's simple, really. We're told day in and day out there are plenty of ways to make a living, yet we're shut down at every turn.
So now there's this home business thing. I have a scanner, a JVC professional grade VCR I found on Amazon used, and another scanner for slides and negatives that I use to digitize stuff for people from time to time. The few customers I've had have been pretty happy with my work but let's face it, I can't market it to save my life. It's why I was so terrible at graphic design in college. Sure, I understand the Adobe programs and lay stuff out well, but nothing I ever do is really 'mine'. I can code too, but like I said, my design sense sucks.
People always say folks on the spectrum should just do what they want when it comes to work. Well, this is mine. I just need to stop putting it off.
See ya around,
Aspie
Comments
Maybe have a look at something like
freelancer.com ? There you can bid on jobs -- small or large.
When you have to go and fill out those applications, have some fun with it. Under previous employer put stuff down like Boeing. Job Description: Chief Engineer in charge of parachute design. Salary: Exorbitant. blah blah.
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
Yeah, that always gets me when I see posts in our local
paper's "vox populi" feature berating some panhandler for not getting a job. It's obviously from someone who hasn't actually tried/had to try to find one, and hasn't run up against the byzantine hoops the bosses expect you to jump through just to perform entry-level work. And that's apart from the ridiculous education requirements, or, as I call it, overcredentializing of work. A lot of "college degree" work could easily be accomplished by someone with a high school degree (or less) with just a little training, and any needed upgrades in that training could be accomplished just through experience on the job.
It's designed to humiliate and discourage workers from even being in the work force, the better to increase that reserve army of labor Marx talked about, along with the "gig" economy, and general temp-work-ism, all the better to keep wages down. Which in turn depresses consumer demand, which in turn depresses economic activity, which in turn depresses investment in the real economy, which leads to more capital poured into the the paper economy, which leads to Ponzi schemes and bubbles and, of course, inevitable collapse.
Doncha just love how capitalism hangs itself with the rope it made?
"Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it."
-- John Lennon
Not to mention the new industry standard...
of the "Flexible Schedule" which essentially demands that you place your priorities on WORK above all other concerns.
Often zero days off, being called in with little to no notice, and punishment for non-compliance ranging from no promotions, to firing...
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
That's one of the reasons I can't be placed...and...
one of, if not THE reason a lot of employers DEMAND drivers' licenses now. It's insane.
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
That's one of the reasons I can't be placed...and...
one of, if not THE reason a lot of employers DEMAND drivers' licenses now. It's insane.
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
Simple answer to the letter writers: There are not enough jobs!
Per the BLS, there are approximately 5.5 million job openings per year, of which 5 million are filled, leaving 0.5 million for the unemployed to grab. There are approximately 1.5 million unemployed actively seeking work. What's the point of bullying people who aren't looking, into looking for jobs? There are already 3 people actively seeking work for every available position! Even if you magically make the panhandler employable, then you just make the jobs:seekers ratio worse.
So I might ask the letter writer: Do you want to give up your job for a while so that the panhandler can have it?
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Aspie --- you're trying --- you're doing your best ---
you're an inspiration to me! Thanks!