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Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

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261–270 of 378 posts

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#261
I’m not a felon but get so upset at our current system that tries to pretend to care about people with records but in actuality leaves them to rot.

I’m a business owner and my first employee and current operations manager is a felon. I knew this prior as I worked with him before, before starting my own business. He ended up in that position and doing 3 years of prison because America for a lot of people sucks. It sucked for him and he was in a position where it was either do felonious things or be homeless. So he made an obvious choice.

He’s struggled with work since then, because as soon as they see felon they tend to disregard him. It sucks. I know his case isn’t standard, but it also isn’t rare. Society treats these people like lepers and I hope the tides change on this, or we get actual criminal reform. Because what we’ve got right now OP’s business should have went under because it wasn’t needed anymore. But that’s not the case.

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#262
post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many people got a job and quit after a few days as you described? Did this have any impact on recidivism? Is it possible that these employees found better jobs? If so, could it have theoretically been possible to retain them had you offered better wages, benefits or assignments? I just don’t fundamentally understand the position of “I had a group of people that truly needed my business, but a phenomenon called Th…

Staffing agencies, from a super cynical point of view, take a slice of money that would otherwise go to the people actually working. I think in the more nuanced view staffing agencies allow people with irregular rhythms to still have a job. And of course helping people actually get a foot in the door! But if you're going to work full time anyways, and there's more open-ness to you being hired, why go through a staffi…

At least, the staffing agency can negotiate a better deal than you could find and secure for yourself.

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#263
If you can find a way to go on life support for a little while - perhaps just shut down temporarily, then it will pay off, I think.

Over the next few months to a couple of years:

- Interest rates will keep going up and Quantitative tightening will happen.

- There will be a recession.

- A lot of people who resigned greatly will be broke and in need of work.

- Your services will be needed, and in a big way.

The person who finds what they love to do is rare, but the person who finds their calling is rarer still.

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To add to this, 45% of people in federal prison are there for a drug charge. https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_offen... Only a little over 1/3rd are actually in prison for violent crime.

That's a stat for Federal prisons - it's a completely different set of laws and crimes than state and local laws, and only 10% Americans incarcerated are in federal prisons. Here's a breakdown by most serious offense for my state's prison system: https://www.doc.sc.gov/research/InmatePopulationStats/ASOF-M... Which has 16% drugs, but also: 26% homicide, 12% Robbery, 11% Burglary, 9.5% Rape/Sexual assault, 6.6% Kidnap…

Prison populations skew toward violent crimes because the sentences for them are longer. They aren't representative of the number of convicts.

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They’re not. Even by Internet forum standards this is absolutely terrible advice.

It's actually really good advice for those that can make it work. Not everyone is broke just because they're a criminal.

Yeah but a formerly incarcerated person who can afford flights to Micronesia probably is already doing well for themselves.

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#266
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also opens up an opportunity to hit the big reset button of life. A new country, new culture, new friends and even new languages in many cases. People have the opportunity to become a new person, and it's not just those with a criminal past either. Perhaps those who have experienced persecution can also start a new chapter in a safer environment.

In my case it was a credit score. I was in a bad motorcycle accident at 19, I defaulted on every loan at the time (vehicle + credit cards + medical debt) while I was busy learning how to walk again. 15 years later, I still couldn’t get a credit card for more than $250, told no to getting a mortgage even with a VA loan, etc. My credit score couldn’t get higher than 600 even after those defaults fell off my record. Now…

> 15 years later, I still couldn’t get a credit card for more than $250, told no to getting a mortgage even with a VA loan, etc. My credit score couldn’t get higher than 600 even after those defaults fell off my record.

Fuck at this point let’s start throwing debtors in prison. At least we’ll shelter people who might otherwise be homeless.

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#267
post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which of these options worked for you?

When I was homeless I have hitchhiked without using money, then slept in a ditch for weeks in Williston North Dakota where the oil industry was booming and no one performed background checks. After a few weeks of day labor (part time sleeping in a ditch, part time crashing with a generous but drunk ex-felon in a trailor) I had enough money for a train ticket to an extremely cheap midwestern city where I used my wages…

Why did this comment get downvoted? It doesn't sound like a lie.

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my case it was a credit score. I was in a bad motorcycle accident at 19, I defaulted on every loan at the time (vehicle + credit cards + medical debt) while I was busy learning how to walk again. 15 years later, I still couldn’t get a credit card for more than $250, told no to getting a mortgage even with a VA loan, etc. My credit score couldn’t get higher than 600 even after those defaults fell off my record. Now…

> 15 years later, I still couldn’t get a credit card for more than $250, told no to getting a mortgage even with a VA loan, etc. My credit score couldn’t get higher than 600 even after those defaults fell off my record. Fuck at this point let’s start throwing debtors in prison. At least we’ll shelter people who might otherwise be homeless.

I mean the US does have debtor's prison. Fall behind in child support and you'll be thrown in jail, have your licenses revoked, property and vehicles seized, and passport confiscated. It won't be dischargeable in bankruptcy either. You then get to try and re-enter the labor market with a criminal record, and probably with even more arrears with looming further action. You basically become civilly dead.

IF you formerly had a very high wage job it can also be nearly impossible to convince a judge that your 'imputed income' should fall again, even if industry has shifted and you no longer can find those high wage jobs anymore. 20% of your pre-tax imputed income can easily become the majority or worse of your post-tax income if the bottom falls out of your industry, and then you are fucked.

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to be "unemployed through no fault of your own" to be eligible for unemployment. https://edd.ca.gov/en/unemployment/eligibility/

Yes, that is the law. A nanny I employed in CA had put her two weeks in with us, then the last day of work she no-showed last minute. With two working parents you can imagine how well that was received. Anyhow, I told her to not come finish out her last day. So then she applies for unemployment a few weeks later. I got a notice from EDD and responded to it with the facts around her unemployment request, thinking sure…

I have heard CA EDD is now sending out some letters requesting more information. They are probably backlogged, but they might respond.
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