"Sicko" has been seen

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Everyone has just come out of the 8:30 a.m. screening of Michael Moore's Sicko -- I'm typing this from the Salle du Presse where Moore will be answering questions ten minutes from now -- and I have to say that I went into it with limited expectations, but I came out teary-eyed. Surprisingly, I found this documentary about the evils and shortcomings of the U.S. health-care system just as moving as Fahrenheit 9/11 -- and I never would have predicted this.

Honestly...I found myself melting during the last 20 minutes or so, particularly during the scenes shot in Havana, Cuba, where Moore takes a small group of 9/11 workers to receive affordable --- i.e., extremely cheap -- health care for their 9/11-related ailments that they either couldn't afford in the U.S., or weren't getting sufficient treatment for in this great country of ours.

The press conference is about to begin so I can't write any more about this until later in the afternoon, but I can at least say this: Sicko didn't tell me anything radically new about what an absurd health-care system we have, but it spelled out very clearly and, it seemed to me, honestly how much better the health-care systems are in Canada, England and France.

Plus it made me feel the hurt and the sadness that the U.S. system causes aver- age citizens, and I can honestly say that it made me feel this emotion more acute- ly than at any other time in my life. It's not just an eye-opener, in short, but a movie that opens your emotional pores.

"No Country" video<< previous | next >>Larry Charles Religion Doc

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on May 19, 2007 at 1:49 AM

comment #1

Jayne Gacey says ...

You're forgetting two crucial parts of health-care: efficiency and choice. Massive bereaucracy is not the answer. And why would the most qualified doctors ever choose to work in a system where their skill is not valued? Money is the only true meritocracy.

Posted by Jayne Gacey at May 19, 2007 3:17 AM

comment #2

Walter Sobchak says ...

I'm with Moore on this one.....America sucks. BTW... I get all my political info from movies.

Posted by Walter Sobchak at May 19, 2007 3:26 AM

comment #3

Jayne Gacey says ...

P.S, in honor of Knowles: FIRST!

Posted by Jayne Gacey at May 19, 2007 3:31 AM

comment #4

D.Z. says ...

Jayne: "Massive bereaucracy is not the answer."

That's exactly why we need to curtail the free market health care system.

"And why would the most qualified doctors ever choose to work in a system where their skill is not valued?"

Because real doctors want to save lives, not let people who can't afford treatment die? In fact, for some reason, the doctors aren't really happy under a capitalist health care system, because they're not actually able to do their jobs. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E3D6113DF937A25757C0A96E958260

Meanwhile, the radiated Ground Zero victims are already healthier under Cuban treatment than the American equivalent. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070519/ap_en_mo/michael_moore_cuba;_ylt=Al9ub6LUw9QYIDPQu9fBqs_MWM0F

Posted by D.Z. at May 19, 2007 4:25 AM

comment #5

Jayne Gacey says ...

D.Z. go get a heart transplant in Halifax and then come back and talk to me.

Posted by Jayne Gacey at May 19, 2007 5:05 AM

comment #6

Jayne Gacey says ...

And by the way, in my life I've worked with Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Medicaid, and both are very annoying, but I would choose Blue Cross every time. Your plan (and yes I am blaming you for all socialism) would doom doctors to a life of poverty (unless you want to subsidize med school?) And where is the government going to be getting the money to pay for all this? Taxes you say? What right do you have to reach into my pocket to pay for your healthcare?

Posted by Jayne Gacey at May 19, 2007 5:11 AM

comment #7

Jayne Gacey says ...

Did you just try to back up your argument with a New York Times TV Review of a PBS documentary? One that is 8 years old, no less? Why don't you just break out the PRAVDA? Seriously, grow up.

Posted by Jayne Gacey at May 19, 2007 5:16 AM

comment #8

George Prager says ...

Jayne:
I got a hernia operation on medicare because I didn't have health care and I was broke and unemployed at the time. So YOU "paid for it." It happens every day. You're the one who needs to grow up. Even large corporations are urging the government to take action. PRAVDA? You're a joke.

Posted by George Prager at May 19, 2007 5:53 AM

comment #9

OddDuck says ...

I'm very sympathetic to much of the viewpoint that Moore's documentaries present, and am strongly in favor of national healthcare, but bringing 9/11 workers to Cuba for medical treatment? That's a cheap stunt that just further cements my opinion that Michael Moore is an asshole. On the other hand, those kinds of outlandish, circus show shenanigans are what makes his movies popular, and thus serve to bring attention to those issues, and the national debate that follows is a good thing.

Posted by OddDuck at May 19, 2007 5:58 AM

comment #10

Jayne Gacey says ...

jcal I said earlier I have been on Medicaid, I have no problem with Medicare/Medicaid. I just wish they were run well, and their incompetence leads me to believe that forsaking private health insurance for a government run single payer system wouldn't be a good idea. Also, just so you know, you just took D.Z.'s side in a fight. Just think about that. This is the man who just the other night said that Raging Bull was the Heaven's Gate of boxing movies.

Posted by Jayne Gacey at May 19, 2007 6:10 AM

comment #11

Jayne Gacey says ...

By the way jcal, I think I should be commended for being a gentleman and not making some obscene joke about your hernia having been caused by too much buttsex.

Posted by Jayne Gacey at May 19, 2007 6:13 AM

comment #12

Jayne Gacey says ...

*Medicare. Also I should add Michael Moore is a brilliant filmmaker and Bowling for Columbine is one of the best films of the decade.

Posted by Jayne Gacey at May 19, 2007 6:28 AM

comment #13

EDouglas says ...

Thans for the great coverage of the festival so far, Jeffrey. I've already sent a link to your blog to my editor in hopes he'll come around and send me to cover it next year. Definitely seems to be enough to write about, at least more than Tribeca...

Posted by EDouglas at May 19, 2007 6:32 AM

comment #14

George Prager says ...

Yes, Medicare. Jayne Gacey. You paid for it. I realize there should be limits. If for example, serial killer John Wayne Gacey was still alive and wanted a sex change to become Jayne Gacey, I would say that the government shouldn't have to pay for it. (He should get off his ass and sell more clown paintings to D.Z.)

Posted by George Prager at May 19, 2007 6:37 AM

comment #15

Jayne Gacey says ...

jcal, you have obliterated me. Touche.

Posted by Jayne Gacey at May 19, 2007 6:42 AM

comment #16

SpinDozer says ...

'That's a cheap stunt that just further cements my opinion that Michael Moore is an asshole.'

& Moore is the only asshole in the world right? More to the point, he's doing 'cheap stunt's on behalf of those that can't afford to do them on their own, right? Too bad he can't do expensive stunts like the Iraq War or wrecking Soc Security.

That'd make the Wingnuts happy (smile Jayne). For a review of this cheap stunt read Welles 2nd posting on this subject. Let's leave the Moore bashing to the bonafide assholes (keep smiling Jayne).

Posted by SpinDozer at May 19, 2007 8:29 AM

comment #17

OddDuck says ...

I didn't say he's the only asshole, Spindozer. But bringing 9/11 workers to Guantonimo to get healthcare -- on one level it's brilliant, as it serves as a scathing attack on multiple facets of our government. On the other hand, it's just obnoxious. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that in an ideal world, we'd learn about the healthcare crisis through really good newspaper reporting, or at the very least, 60 Minutes or Frontline. Any of those options would serve to educate on the issue far more substantively and fairly than Moore's satire. But in the real world, people don't necessarily go searching for that kind of information and analysis, so if Moore's movie gets the ball rolling, I'm all for it, even if in all likelihood it's going to be filled with inaccuracies, distortions and contrived setups.

Posted by OddDuck at May 19, 2007 8:52 AM

comment #18

dre says ...

This is what Moore does and he's very good at it. He doesn't mind being an asshole as long as he gets his point across. HIs movies aren't perfect, but my God they are effective. Bravo to him.

Posted by dre at May 19, 2007 9:43 AM

comment #19

Josh Massey says ...

Hell yes they are effective. Fahrenheit 9/11 helped Bush get a second term.

Posted by Josh Massey at May 19, 2007 9:53 AM

comment #20

dre says ...

haha not exactly what I meant but yeah

Posted by dre at May 19, 2007 10:02 AM

comment #21

PanTheFaun says ...

Jeff, I'm with Moore on his health care views, and his political views for that matter, but tell us, is "Sicko" as shamelessly misleading and manipulative as "Bowling for Columbine" (and some segments of "Fahrenheit")?

Because this is really an issue that's truth should be argument enough. It'd be a shame if Moore invalidated it by using his usual tactics.

Posted by PanTheFaun at May 19, 2007 10:39 AM

comment #22

MarkEbner says ...

Yeah, and I cried watching Oliver Stone hugging Fidel in his documentary. Jeff- The best physicians still in Cuba work as bellmen chasing American dollars to feed their families. (I know; I've met them). Don't be fooled by Moore's camera tricks.

Ebner
http://www.hollywoodinterrupted.com

Posted by MarkEbner at May 19, 2007 10:41 AM

comment #23

MarkEbner says ...

Ebner
http://www.hollywoodinterrupted.com

Posted by MarkEbner at May 19, 2007 10:41 AM

comment #24

AJW says ...

Did you not find "The Barbarian Invasions" a moving diatribe against the Canadian healthcare system? Notice how they WANTED to go to America for treatment?

Posted by AJW at May 19, 2007 10:43 AM

comment #25

George Prager says ...

Fox News:

'Sicko' Shows Michael Moore's Maturity as a Filmmaker

Filmmaker Michael Moore's brilliant and uplifting new documentary, "Sicko," deals with the failings of the U.S. healthcare system, both real and perceived...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,273875,00.html

Posted by George Prager at May 19, 2007 10:48 AM

comment #26

Josh Massey says ...

Well, if Roger Friedman likes it...

Posted by Josh Massey at May 19, 2007 10:54 AM

comment #27

christian says ...

actually, farenheit 9/11 probably helped this to be a very close race given bush's wartime status and media propaganda at work.

Posted by christian at May 19, 2007 12:01 PM

comment #28

SpinDozer says ...

Well, if Roger Friedman likes it...

Yes, please, let's wait until a real brainiac like Neil Boortz throws down, then the sheeple will know which way the wind blows, right Massey?

Posted by SpinDozer at May 19, 2007 12:05 PM

comment #29

Josh Massey says ...

So you're defending Roger Friedman? When he's praising a Weinstein project?

Really?

Posted by Josh Massey at May 19, 2007 12:39 PM

comment #30

SpinDozer says ...

'So you're defending Roger Friedman? When he's praising a Weinstein project?

Really?'

Not nearly as much as I'm whizzing on the ability of Wingnuts to pontificate from the summit of Shit Mountain.

Posted by SpinDozer at May 19, 2007 2:05 PM

comment #31

Josh Massey says ...

Oh Spin, I've missed you. With your witty banter and whatnot. It's precious.

Posted by Josh Massey at May 19, 2007 2:43 PM

comment #32

D.Z. says ...

Jayne: "D.Z. go get a heart transplant in Halifax and then come back and talk to me"

Give me a well-paying long-term job in this shitty economy and I'll write you a letter.

"Your plan (and yes I am blaming you for all socialism) would doom doctors to a life of poverty (unless you want to subsidize med school?)"

Sure, why not? No one's going to willing pay for an education anymore after Bush, anyway, unless they have the money to spare.

"And by the way, in my life I've worked with Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Medicaid, and both are very annoying, but I would choose Blue Cross every time."

Californians chose Blue Cross, and they had to sue, just to get the benefits they were promised when they paid into the program. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=70902

"And where is the government going to be getting the money to pay for all this? Taxes you say? What right do you have to reach into my pocket to pay for your healthcare?"

Well if you weren't cheap and selfish, you'd realize that those taxes would pay for your health care, too. But hey, life's overrated anyway, unless it's some woman with a tube in her mouth who wanted to die anyway. Then it's ok to waste taxes saving her, if it helps reach the "base".

"Did you just try to back up your argument with a New York Times TV Review of a PBS documentary? One that is 8 years old, no less?"

Our health care crisis is still older than that.

"I just wish they were run well, and their incompetence leads me to believe that forsaking private health insurance for a government run single payer system wouldn't be a good idea."

The fact that more people are stuck on Medicaid than a private insurance plan says otherwise.

"Also, just so you know, you just took D.Z.'s side in a fight. Just think about that. This is the man who just the other night said that Raging Bull was the Heaven's Gate of boxing movies."

Yeah, because people who make eccentric comments aren't allowed to come to an occasional agreement with others.

OddDuck: "but bringing 9/11 workers to Cuba for medical treatment? That's a cheap stunt that just further cements my opinion that Michael Moore is an asshole."

Yeah, Moore's so wrong to be getting treatment for people with medical ailments instead of campaigning near Ground Zero in 2004 like real "patriotic" Republicans.

"I guess the point I'm trying to make is that in an ideal world, we'd learn about the healthcare crisis through really good newspaper reporting, or at the very least, 60 Minutes or Frontline. Any of those options would serve to educate on the issue far more substantively and fairly than Moore's satire."

If those news organizations weren't bought by corporations like HMOs, that would be a possibility.

Josh: "Hell yes they are effective. Fahrenheit 9/11 helped Bush get a second term."

Bush got a second term, because he rigged the votes in Ohio.

Mark: "Jeff- The best physicians still in Cuba work as bellmen chasing American dollars to feed their families."

If we didn't keep our embargo on the country, because Fidel is somehow more "evil" than our buddy governments running China, Saudi Arabia, Equitorial New Guinea, Vietnam, and Uzbekistan, I'm sure they could make a living there, instead of having to flee here, and add more burdens to our taxes. (Oh wait, they're not Mexicans we can exploit in sweatshops, so it's ok to take them in.)

Posted by D.Z. at May 19, 2007 3:17 PM

comment #33

D.Z. says ...

*Equatorial*

Posted by D.Z. at May 19, 2007 3:23 PM

comment #34

christian says ...

and jeffrey wept.

Posted by christian at May 19, 2007 4:17 PM

comment #35

Jayne Gacey says ...

The Iraq War has been a disaster,SpinDozer. Am I smiling?

Posted by Jayne Gacey at May 19, 2007 8:09 PM

comment #36

Mgmax, le Corbeau says ...

In the 30s Moore would have made a movie in which he would have taken Dust Bowl victims to the Ukraine to experience the bounty of Soviet central planning.

Posted by Mgmax, le Corbeau at May 19, 2007 9:40 PM

comment #37

D.Z. says ...

Mgmax: "In the 30s Moore would have made a movie in which he would have taken Dust Bowl victims to the Ukraine to experience the bounty of Soviet central planning."

Yeah, those illegal aliens we're exploiting to grow grapes really have it easy.

Posted by D.Z. at May 19, 2007 9:55 PM

comment #38

Mgmax, le Corbeau says ...

"Yeah, those illegal aliens we're exploiting to grow grapes really have it easy."

Now they'll have it even worse, since the Democrats have teamed up with Wall Street Republicans to ensure an even greater flow of workers northward, where they will continue to keep downward pressure on wages and reduce the ability of workers to unionize. But fuck the unions, California and Nevada landowners like Pelosi and Reid don't care if they've driven the last nail in the old labor movement (not to mention African-Americans) as long as they produce a permanent underclass beholden to their party while ensuring a steady flow of Wall Street money to Democratic coffers in gratitude for the cheap labor.

Posted by Mgmax, le Corbeau at May 19, 2007 10:15 PM

comment #39

Mgmax, le Corbeau says ...

"Give me a well-paying long-term job"

I do believe we've reached the Ground Zero of D.Z.'s worldview.

Posted by Mgmax, le Corbeau at May 19, 2007 10:22 PM

comment #40

D.Z. says ...

Mgmax: "Now they'll have it even worse, since the Democrats have teamed up with Wall Street Republicans to ensure an even greater flow of workers northward, where they will continue to keep downward pressure on wages and reduce the ability of workers to unionize."

It's not like unions give a fuck, anyway. They're just middle-men for corporations, and no longer represent the average worker. Give them their share of the profits, and they'll look the other way when people are being laid off, services are being cut, and their own members are forced to work over-time to make up the difference.

"I do believe we've reached the Ground Zero of D.Z.'s worldview."

The lack of job security's partly why reliable health care is such a problem.

Posted by D.Z. at May 19, 2007 10:32 PM

comment #41

Mgmax, le Corbeau says ...

Why do you WANT job security? I mean, it does exist out there, go work in a government office. But the only way you get one job for life is to choose something so incredibly bloody tedious and bureaucratic that they have to offer lifetime employment to the not very ambitious to take it. You know, fuck, if all you want in life is three squares a day, murder somebody in a state with no death penalty. They'll bring it right to you, three times a day.

Now, get yourself some skills and you can have lifetime employment, but you won't have one tedious job to suck you dry your whole life long. I hop around doing all kinds of interesting things in advertising, the last thing I want is to be assigned for 30 years to Mrs. Smith's Pumpkin Pies. The question is, how to make it so people can do that without depending on one employer for their health care. But really, the LAST thing anybody should want is guaranteed job security, that's a recipe for going brain dead among the brain dead.

Posted by Mgmax, le Corbeau at May 19, 2007 10:46 PM

comment #42

D.Z. says ...

MgMax: "Why do you WANT job security?"

Because I want to have a job which makes me feel secure? Duh.

"I mean, it does exist out there, go work in a government office."

Why should I have to settle for the feds, when the economy should be "booming", and I should be finding plenty of "opportunities" in the private sector?

"But the only way you get one job for life is to choose something so incredibly bloody tedious and bureaucratic that they have to offer lifetime employment to the not very ambitious to take it."

I do have ambitions, but it's kind of tough to have them fulfilled, if I can't find anything which pays me longer than a couple of months-and on less than a living wage, no less. And nothing's more tedious than a service gig.

"Now, get yourself some skills and you can have lifetime employment,"

Lifetime employment with whom, exactly? All the hi-tech jobs are going to India and China.

Posted by D.Z. at May 19, 2007 11:52 PM

comment #43

D.Z. says ...

"I hop around doing all kinds of interesting things in advertising, the last thing I want is to be assigned for 30 years to Mrs. Smith's Pumpkin Pies."

But your experience and-let's be honest-connections in advertising provides you the kind of security to choose different companies.

Posted by D.Z. at May 19, 2007 11:55 PM

comment #44

Jayne Gacey says ...

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy; its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."

- Winston Churchill

Posted by Jayne Gacey at May 20, 2007 12:44 AM

comment #45

jeffmcm says ...

I think we can all think of plenty of reasons why DZ might not be able to find or hold a variety of employment. His Asperger's syndrome, for example.

Posted by jeffmcm at May 20, 2007 12:45 AM

comment #46

D.Z. says ...

Jayne: "Socialism is a philosophy of failure,"

And yet the Euro's worth more than the dollar.

"the creed of ignorance,"

Yeah, unlike people who support the idea of trusting Jesus more than science.

"and the gospel of envy"

Yeah, anyone who lives in a socialist country is really envious that we have a shorter lifespan and a shittier education system than their country.

"its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."

As opposed to capitalism, where you just dump
misery onto the next generation.

Posted by D.Z. at May 20, 2007 1:48 AM

comment #47

Jayne Gacey says ...

D.Z. you just had an internet argument with Winston Churchill. Well done.

Posted by Jayne Gacey at May 20, 2007 1:56 AM

comment #48

D.Z. says ...

Yeah, I argued with a dead white guy from a different era who came from a country which is also socialist. What's your point?

Posted by D.Z. at May 20, 2007 2:43 AM

comment #49

Mgmax, le Corbeau says ...

"Because I want to have a job which makes me feel secure? Duh."

Which, duh, is my point: security comes at the price of too many other things which turn out to be more important. Again, why do you want one job for life? Do you really want to do the exact same thing for 40 years? In any case, that ship has sailed. Imagine having started such a job in technology in 1975. What you're really asking for is the world not to advance past 1975, so you don't have to change with it. Why do you want to live in a world of shitty deathtrap GM cars, four TV channels, one phone company, no internet and Hamburger Helper? Why do you want to halt any prospect of innovation?

"Why should I have to settle for the feds, when the economy should be "booming""

But you refuse to boom with the economy. You refuse to be part of the dynamism and constant change that drives the economy. How can the economy innovate if you demand stasis as your birthright?

"But your experience and-let's be honest-connections in advertising"

But who the bloody hell made those connections? I've worked with lots of second-generation types in advertising but I'm not one of them, I'm a kid from Kansas who didn't know anybody. I'm not patting myself on the back for that but I'm certainly evidence it's perfectly possible, talk about a field anyone can walk into and get a job if you have a portfolio full of bright ideas, nobody cares who you are.

Posted by Mgmax, le Corbeau at May 20, 2007 7:05 AM

comment #50

George Prager says ...

Let me just say that I consider D.Z.'s 3:17PM post a seminal work of 21st century outsider art.

Posted by George Prager at May 20, 2007 8:09 AM

comment #51

christian says ...

"Why do you WANT job security?"

here we come to the crux of your debate. YOU don't want job security. YOU are lucky enough to have family healthcare. YOU like to jump around from job to job. I agree. But most familes don't have that luxury as childrren like to go to school with friends, and people want community bonds, etc.

and it's Econ 101 that communities grow when people have secure jobs. it was common in america for people to have one job their whole life and now because of the outsourcing, union featherbedding and general contempt for wage workers by corporations, communities will be upset,broken, dissolved and i'm not sure how this works to our societal advantage. it makes us weak. which is why healthcare is important to our security.

Posted by christian at May 20, 2007 11:19 AM

comment #52

George Prager says ...

Jeez, this website is a drag. I can't wait for that Fabulous Four Silver Skateboarder movie to come out.

Posted by George Prager at May 20, 2007 12:43 PM

comment #53

Mgmax, le Corbeau says ...

Let us first recognize there is a difference between "job security" and "stability." Communities grow when people have stable careers, but they do not have to have them at the same workplace if they have growing, marketable skills and live in a place healthy enough to offer multiple options.

The fact is, you have always had more security and stability if you have skills and live where there are multiple options than if you had the lifetime job with the big employer in the factory town. That's the equivalent, quite literally, of having all your life savings in one company's stock. The single employer is always vulnerable to changes beyond their control. What you're bemoaning is the pace of technological change which has replaced small tube TVs with bigass plasmas, film cameras with digital, beige Princess phones with cell phones, Detroit lead sleds with Toyota hybrids, Kraft cheese with water-packed imported bufala mozzarella at Whole Foods, etc. etc. The person whose career was rooted in "I've given my life to Kodak" is the one who's fucked, and if you own a digital camera then you better step right up and help him because you're part of his problem, you heartless digital camera-using SOB. It's the person whose career is rooted in "I know how to do X, Y and Z, regardless of where" who can survive and thrive in any market shift.

Lifelong stability is to my mind something of a myth anyway-- when exactly did people have it, 1914? 1939? But if you're going to put the hate on rampant technological innovation then I better not catch you with an iPod, cell phone, airbags or any of the other benefits of that innovation. Sure, health care's a mess and it needs to be divorced from employment in some way. But to get from that to hating the dynamism that drives our healthy, creative economy is foolish-- and almost inevitably hypocritical.

Posted by Mgmax, le Corbeau at May 20, 2007 12:44 PM

comment #54

christian says ...

mgmax, i'm assuming you're in your 20's which means you've let yourself be ruled by the corporate disposable technology they've convinced us to worship.

this whole "don't use it if you're against it" argument is shallow as we all have to adapt to a lot of things we don't like. you think we should surrender to the great god mammon. i don't. and if you believe america was founded on christian principles, you'd be less likely to denfed the middle-class destruction of this country.

the hypocrisy mainly comes from those who use the free market for their own selfish ends while telling others to deal.

and you mention airbags -- it was leftists like ralph nader who forced the auto companies to change their deadly ways. you should thank him first.

Posted by christian at May 20, 2007 1:06 PM

comment #55

Mgmax, le Corbeau says ...

"mgmax, i'm assuming you're in your 20's which means you've let yourself be ruled by the corporate disposable technology they've convinced us to worship."

You assume incorrectly.

Posted by Mgmax, le Corbeau at May 20, 2007 1:12 PM

comment #56

D.Z. says ...

Mgmax: "Again, why do you want one job for life?"

I don't necessarily want one job for life, but I want one job which will at least be reliable for a year or more, and not just a couple of months.

"Imagine having started such a job in technology in 1975. What you're really asking for is the world not to advance past 1975, so you don't have to change with it."

I don't mind change, but I do mind not having the resources to deal with change. For example, I just found out recently that it's finally become a buyer's market for college grads again. But because I've been out of work so long, and am not as young as I used to be, I'm tainted goods to recruiters. They want someone with "potential", even if it's only superficial. Einstein didn't become noticed until he was in his 40s, but in today's culture, you can't trust anyone over 25.

"But you refuse to boom with the economy. You refuse to be part of the dynamism and constant change that drives the economy."

That's probably because the constant change in this case involves me working for less than those 1975 dollars adjusted for inflation. That means I'm only doing slightly better than the illegals.

"I've worked with lots of second-generation types in advertising but I'm not one of them, I'm a kid from Kansas who didn't know anybody. I'm not patting myself on the back for that but I'm certainly evidence it's perfectly possible, talk about a field anyone can walk into and get a job if you have a portfolio full of bright ideas, nobody cares who you are."

But you probably had to stick your foot in quite a few doors to get noticed. So your experience allowed you to come up with the best way to get your ideas noticed as well. The point I'm making here is you're only acting like it's easy because you finally made it. But what if you had the right ideas and/or talents, but you couldn't find anyone
who was willing to pay you for them, because they'd rather run a company on as few employees as possible, while taking a pay raise for themselves?

"Communities grow when people have stable careers, but they do not have to have them at the same workplace if they have growing, marketable skills and live in a place healthy enough to offer multiple options."

The problem is what if you don't live in any of those places, and you don't have the resources to move to a better location? It means I have to start from the bottom and scrape up whatever I can to get ahead.

Posted by D.Z. at May 20, 2007 3:42 PM

comment #57

christian says ...

"But you refuse to boom with the economy. You refuse to be part of the dynamism and constant change that drives the economy."

tell that to thousands of auto workers or steel workers who get laid off after the corporations move the industries to mexico or manilla.

mgmax, you have a wall street journal capitalist fantasy of the wonders of an ever-changing economy. what's this bullshit about "refusing" to be a part of it? i know lots of 30 and 40 somethings who would like to take part -- but the jobs ain't there. neither are the benefits.

i assumed you were in your 20's because you write with the arrogance of somebody who doesn't seem to know much about the real economy of america and who actually provides it.

it's great to have a dream of this "dynamic" economy, but who is it dynamic for?

Posted by christian at May 20, 2007 3:55 PM

comment #58

George Prager says ...

feeding the blob!

Posted by George Prager at May 20, 2007 4:01 PM

comment #59

Mgmax, le Corbeau says ...

"i assumed you were in your 20's because you write with the arrogance of somebody who doesn't seem to know much about the real economy of america and who actually provides it."

Sigh... now you know better, don't you?

Yeah, there's been no understanding of economics in anything I've posted so far in this thread. Obviously.

Thank you, and good night.

Posted by Mgmax, le Corbeau at May 20, 2007 8:02 PM

comment #60