Comments on: Well-Paid Benefit Most As Economy Flourishes

By: vnjagvet

vnjagvet — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 21:35:26 +0000

I have three adopted Korean daughters who came here with nothing, speaking no English, in 1988, aged 12, 9 and 7. My wife and I have worked with the refugee community in Atlanta for the past fifteen years.

We are, therefore, intimately familiar with Atlanta's large (legal) immigrant community.

Trust me. There are jobs aplenty. Here's how it works in microcosm:

Phase One - Establishment and Subsistence

Everyone in the family goes to school, studies and graduates or masters enough English to work and conduct business. Children begin willingly working in money earning jobs while they are in school, at leat 20 hours a week after school and on weekends. All of that money goes to the family's expenses, which are monitored (usually)by mom. Basic transportation is either public or a ten year old Honda, Toyota or Nissan which dad selects and maintains. Shelter is generally in an entry level apartment complex on a main thoroughfare which the sponsoring refugee agency identified. Mom and Dad both work, and dad generally works more than one job. All money over an above basics (and I mean basics) is invested, generally for education, a house, or necessary seed money for a beginning a small service or retail business.

There are other phases, but you get the idea.

These folks think the economy is just great.

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 20:05:45 +0000

Caliban: But you presumably weren't pumping gas for a living as a 30-year-old? I'm not talking about summer jobs here.

By: Caliban Darklock

Caliban Darklock — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 19:30:41 +0000

I used to pump gas for a living at the Amerada Hess station on Route 1 in Alexandria, Virginia just north of Fort Belvoir.

Now I live in Washington state, where I commute from Auburn to Redmond every morning to work as a software developer at Microsoft.

There may indeed be precious few of us, but we DO exist.

By: Mr. K.

Mr. K. — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 19:00:43 +0000

What happens to the less well off (or even the middle class)? You get a couple of credit cards, pay check loans, department store accounts, and slowly but surely sink into debt. A person could survive several years digging their own grave so long as they make the minimum payments.

By: Kathleen Marie

Kathleen Marie — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 18:57:32 +0000

You might want to check out the prisons and juvenile detentions centers and find out why many of them are there. I'll bet a lot of them started out with petty theft and moved up to grand larceny.

Then check out the telemarketing centers, Walmart, Sam's Club, Target, etc... You will find many in those places, trying to earn a living.

The rest are probably living on welfare or off of relatives. It seems there are a lot of letters to Dear Abby from a mother wanting to know how to get her 30 year old son off of her sofa.

These are just a guess, but I bet I am not too far off base.

By: Bithead

Bithead — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 18:16:49 +0000

Or, perhaps some of the 'jobs that Americans won't do' will get filled by Americans, huh?

By: madmatt

madmatt — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 18:16:34 +0000

Thank god the rethugs managed to raise the costs of going back to school last week...lets keep those wage slaves down!!!!

By: Besaccustomed

Besaccustomed — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

- listed on the New York Stock Exchange and NYSE Arca, formerly the Pacific Stock Exchange, under the symbol WMT. More information about Wal-Mart can be found by visiting http://www.walmartfacts.com. Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart Well-Paid Benefit Most As Economy Flourishes Outside Beltway - Then check out the telemarketing centers, Walmart, Sam s Club, Target, etc You will find many in those places, trying to earn a living. The rest are probably living on welfare or off of relatives. It seems there are a lot of letters