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I'd Love to Move, but I Can't

theatlantic.com

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Re: I'd Love to Move, but I Can't

#41

Post by GFischer »

ctdonath wrote: post #33
zdw wrote: post #6

The fundamental problem in most of these is "lack of a safety net". While there are safety nets in society they often exclude the years when someone is most likely to take economic risks - for example, in the US a minimum free medical coverage is provided to those people under 18 or over 65. Personally, I'm thinking that if people knew they couldn't incur permanent damage to themselves or their futures, they would ta…

We have far more safety nets in place than ever - yet people are moving less. We've gotten so used to the notion of safety nets that we're terrified to move away from one lest another not be there - unaware that our predecessors took greater risks, and thus reaped greater rerwards, precisely because there was no safety net. Doesn't help that the paranoia about safety nets results in demands everyone pay for and get p…

As someone from South America, I'm amazed that in the U.S. you're out of health coverage if you're not employed.

Other safety nets are counterproductive, though. My country has very high firing costs, which means less jobs, and job security is very highly tied to years in the job, so in my case, leaving my dead-end but decently paid job for a better job is a very significant gamble (I basically give up all my unemployment rights for a time if I change jobs voluntarily)

Re: I'd Love to Move, but I Can't

#42

Post by jiggy2011 »

drats wrote: post #26

As I see it the baby boomers, rightfully worried about their retirement, are going to camp out in most top positions longer than we expected or was normal in the past. This will inhibit upward mobility of younger people for quite some time (retirement ages are creeping up all across the Western world). Additionally they are demanding loyalty and commitment in the workplace from the younger generation for part-time an…

It might not be quite that bad, of course the competition for jobs will be higher but as more jobs move east then the wages in these countries will rise so westerners will be able to be more competitive again.

Perhaps also with more automation it will get to the point where costs for a comfortable lifestyle become so low, that it is trivial for the government to support a huge welfare base.

Re: I'd Love to Move, but I Can't

#43

Post by einhverfr »

I have often thought that the decline in multi-generational families in the US was due in part to social security, and in part to the increasing demands of mobility. With social security no longer providing the safety net it used to and with mobility down, maybe this is why more multi-generational households are popping up all across America.

I have found it interesting how many people I knew who went off to college and moved back into the same county or even small town where they grew up, after a few years away after college. We are perhaps not as mobile as we'd like to think.

Re: I'd Love to Move, but I Can't

#44

Post by pixelcort »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #36
cletus wrote: post #30

Reading through this list of anecdotes I had mixed emotions. I spent a significant amount of time unemployed 10+ years ago in the post-dotcom recession in the UK and it was awful. This was partly due to the highly unregulated nature of UK IT recruitment but the problem was the lack of jobs. Still, a see some problems in this article. Like "I graduated with a philosophy major in 2008". Bzzzzt. Sorry, you made choices.…

I think a big part of the problem is that in the UK people are encouraged by society to study what they are interested in ("it's about expanding your mind") and told that having any degree will give them a big advantage over the competition regardless. This may have been true 30 years ago but it isn't today. I remember some time ago I was out for a drink with a number of students who were completing a course in film…

I really wonder if it's not true today anymore, that college isn't for the liberal arts and is merely a career training endeavor.

In fact I'd argue the opposite: that college bound students and their parents have the wrong expectation that going to college is merely a job preparation strategy.

This may be culturally specific to English-based colleges, but often for a US-based 4-year degree, you spend half your time literally learning the same stuff as all other students, regardless of which degree everyone is trying to get. And then, even when you are in your final year and taking more specialized classes, they are still integrated with all sorts of knowledge from across the board.

Some of my favorite memories from college were things like that Anime appreciation film class, a stage acting class, and a couple singing classes. And in the end I got a degree unrelated to my current profession.

Let's stop trying to turn the liberal arts into something it's not, a trade school.

Re: I'd Love to Move, but I Can't

#45

Post by Jgrubb »

lxt wrote: post #38

I'm really surprised they don't mention "I'd love to move but I can't sell my house in the current market." I know at least five people in this boat.

I'm in that exact boat, I can't believe it took me this long to find this. I live in New Jersey. I moved up here in my early 20s for a gig that I no longer have, but in late 2006 I bought a house. This house has decreased in value by probably at least $50k (I'm out in the country, and honestly it's probably more like $75k). In the meantime, my new gig is as a freelance programmer. I don't have a single client that's even in the same timezone. I'd love to move back down to North Carolina, but the thought of losing this much money on the house has me stuck here, paying New Jersey cost of living and losing the same money slowly.

There are probably hundreds of thousands, if not millions of households across America in the exact same position. It makes me pretty bitter at the policies of Fannie and Freddie 10 years ago in that "everyone should own a home" now appears to have been a disastrously bad idea for so many reasons.

Re: I'd Love to Move, but I Can't

#46

Post by einhverfr »

cletus wrote: post #30

Reading through this list of anecdotes I had mixed emotions. I spent a significant amount of time unemployed 10+ years ago in the post-dotcom recession in the UK and it was awful. This was partly due to the highly unregulated nature of UK IT recruitment but the problem was the lack of jobs. Still, a see some problems in this article. Like "I graduated with a philosophy major in 2008". Bzzzzt. Sorry, you made choices.…

I studied history with no plan for what to do in the real world. Now I run my own consulting business and am planning on bootstrapping it into a software business.

Look: You can get a job by making choices that HR departments like or you can go and carve out an economic niche for yourself. Your degree isn't important in the latter so much as your ability to think critically. Perhaps humanities degrees (including a philosophy degree) really shine there.

Re: I'd Love to Move, but I Can't

#47

Post by ctdonath »

There are jobs. There are growth areas. MOVE THERE. Sure, South Dakota may not seem desirable, but survival comes first and even McDonalds there is paying hiring bonuses.

Too much of society believes the prolific promises happiness and comfort without effort (and vote accordingly). Reality doesn't work that way; figure it out fast or a world of hurt will arrive.

Re: I'd Love to Move, but I Can't

#48

Post by gryzzly »

A good advice to "20 years old" who can't move – learn JavaScript. You will be able to move to just about any place. Esp. if you are an american citizen. Within the US, to Canada or Europe, or Thailand, or any other place.

Re: I'd Love to Move, but I Can't

#49

Post by ctdonath »

lxt wrote: post #38

I'm really surprised they don't mention "I'd love to move but I can't sell my house in the current market." I know at least five people in this boat.

Mortgages are seductive. Get a nice place, up to or beyond social norms, but be tied to it for decades. Outright ownership, while humbling, gives far more flexibility.

Re: I'd Love to Move, but I Can't

#50

Post by philwelch »

cletus wrote: post #30

Reading through this list of anecdotes I had mixed emotions. I spent a significant amount of time unemployed 10+ years ago in the post-dotcom recession in the UK and it was awful. This was partly due to the highly unregulated nature of UK IT recruitment but the problem was the lack of jobs. Still, a see some problems in this article. Like "I graduated with a philosophy major in 2008". Bzzzzt. Sorry, you made choices.…

Well, one quibble: in that photo of Steve Jobs, if you look carefully behind him you can see a tremendously big pair of stereo speakers.
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