Get A Real Job!

Trey Smith

There is an eye-opening article at The Progressive, The Wages of Words, by Christopher D. Cook. He tells how he recently went on the rolls of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). In writing about his experience, many commenters suggested that he needs to get "a real job!"

Why is it that so many people in our society do not see the value of independent journalism? The mainstream media has all but abandoned its mandate -- most of today's mainstream journalists serve as little more than mouthpieces for the government and Wall Street. Were it not for independent journalists, we'd be much more in the dark than we already are.

In fact, this isn't a stigma attached solely to journalists either. Almost anyone who works for a small progressive nonprofit hears the same catcalls as well. If you serve meals to the homeless, fight against the military-industrial complex or provide services to the mentally ill (for just a few examples) AND you don't make enough to get by on your own, a lot of your fellow taxpayers decry your occupational choice. Rather than receive Food Stamps or some other form of governmental assistance, you're told to go out and get a real job.

Like what? What constitutes a real job?

Right now the biggest growing occupational sector is service-based jobs. Jobs like nurse's aide, waiter/waitress, maid, sales clerk, etc. These are the sorts of jobs that pay at or near the minimum wage and include meager or no benefits whatsoever. A good deal of the folks who hold these jobs already are on some form of government assistance because the minimum wage can't keep pace with inflation.

If a real job means one that requires a college education, you may be shit out of luck. The costs of post-secondary schooling are going through the roof which puts it out of reach of more and more Americans.

Maybe what most folks mean by a "real job" is something like a hedge fund manager (a professional leech) or a corporate CEO!

Who the hell knows.