Long-term unemployment leads to disengagement and apathy
1–10 of 141 posts
Re: Long-term unemployment leads to disengagement and apathy
#2Chicken-egg situation really. At least _some_ of the unemployed are just disengaged and apathetic, at least where I'm from.
But we don't need science to tell us humans need purpose and to feel they have some social value. The problem is more fundamentally the industrial era idea of a "job" as something you "have". Just "be" and "do"
Re: Long-term unemployment leads to disengagement and apathy
#3The employment model needs to change.
With the rise of gig work, constant firings and layoffs, large 30 year debts or school debts on people are unsustainable. So is healthcare being tied to employer and 401k tied to employer.
The risk is all individual, the gains are all to corporations and lenders aka asset owners.
This is unsustainable. Something has to change.
Re: Long-term unemployment leads to disengagement and apathy
#4Chicken-egg situation really. At least _some_ of the unemployed are just disengaged and apathetic, at least where I'm from. But we don't need science to tell us humans need purpose and to feel they have some social value. The problem is more fundamentally the industrial era idea of a "job" as something you "have". Just "be" and "do"
People use their job as an identity - and via extension some use religion, one of the lessons you learn later on in your life is that your identity isn't your job, achievements, money, anything. You identity shouldn't be dependent on any of those things.
Re: Long-term unemployment leads to disengagement and apathy
#5Chicken-egg situation really. At least _some_ of the unemployed are just disengaged and apathetic, at least where I'm from. But we don't need science to tell us humans need purpose and to feel they have some social value. The problem is more fundamentally the industrial era idea of a "job" as something you "have". Just "be" and "do"
People use their job as an identity - and via extension some use religion, one of the lessons you learn later on in your life is that your identity isn't your job, achievements, money, anything. You identity shouldn't be dependent on any of those things.
You're missing the point that providing some basis for one's identity is only one aspect of why people draw meaning from a job - as GP points out, it is more about providing purpose and a sense that one is contributing to something
Though I do wonder - what, in your opinion, should one's identity be based around?
Re: Long-term unemployment leads to disengagement and apathy
#6The employment model needs to change. With the rise of gig work, constant firings and layoffs, large 30 year debts or school debts on people are unsustainable. So is healthcare being tied to employer and 401k tied to employer. The risk is all individual, the gains are all to corporations and lenders aka asset owners. This is unsustainable. Something has to change.
Health care, yes.
A 401k is your money and goes with you if you leave, it's the older pension model that has issues with people jumping around.
Re: Long-term unemployment leads to disengagement and apathy
#7Chicken-egg situation really. At least _some_ of the unemployed are just disengaged and apathetic, at least where I'm from. But we don't need science to tell us humans need purpose and to feel they have some social value. The problem is more fundamentally the industrial era idea of a "job" as something you "have". Just "be" and "do"
But it really is kind of a vicious cycle: you need social contact to stay mentally healthy, losing your job severs your 9-5 social network. I had to specifically seek out meetups to keep from going loopy.
I'd really say it's less about chickens and eggs and more about selection bias: the 12 month unemployed have something extra wrong in their lives.
Re: Long-term unemployment leads to disengagement and apathy
#8I have trouble keeping a structured schedule on my own, so I highly value having a reason for doing stuff on time and on the regular.
Otherwise I eat when hungry, tinker until distracted, sleep when drowsy, and that tends to isolate me from the real world.
I'll say one thing for old-fashioned prime time TV, it anchors the days for people like my parents, and Dad always knows when to find a newscast, yet still get everything done. Me, I try to have some social engagements in public, or get involved in some community groups that meet.
Re: Long-term unemployment leads to disengagement and apathy
#9Chicken-egg situation really. At least _some_ of the unemployed are just disengaged and apathetic, at least where I'm from. But we don't need science to tell us humans need purpose and to feel they have some social value. The problem is more fundamentally the industrial era idea of a "job" as something you "have". Just "be" and "do"
People use their job as an identity - and via extension some use religion, one of the lessons you learn later on in your life is that your identity isn't your job, achievements, money, anything. You identity shouldn't be dependent on any of those things.
While this does seem rather zen, what would it look like?
Re: Long-term unemployment leads to disengagement and apathy
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
People use their job as an identity - and via extension some use religion, one of the lessons you learn later on in your life is that your identity isn't your job, achievements, money, anything. You identity shouldn't be dependent on any of those things.
You're missing the point that providing some basis for one's identity is only one aspect of why people draw meaning from a job - as GP points out, it is more about providing purpose and a sense that one is contributing to something Though I do wonder - what, in your opinion, should one's identity be based around?
How you choose to react to situations, and how you choose to act in your life is what defines your identity. Not the results you gained by effort or achievement or lack thereof.
> that one is contributing to something
I feel sorry for people who measure their self based on some consumerism yard stick, it is pathological.