The Job Market is Picking Up… Poop

Business, Humor
By / / 2 Comments / 2 minutes of reading
Share
Just a job, or metaphor for the economy?

One of the alleged 162,000 jobs created in March can be found in Snohomish, Washington. Although the gig only pays $8.55/hour, it’s a real resume builder. What minimum wage job posted on Craigslist inspired 260 applications from people aged fourteen to sexagenarian? Why, being a kennel helper at Roscoe’s Ranch, owned by Guy Palumbo, of course. The job posting is quite clear in explaining that duties include scooping dog poop. Who is desperate enough to take this job? According to Recession’s untold story, just about everyone:

A laid-off graphic designer applied. So did a freelance photographer. Two out-of-work teachers sent résumés. Remarkably, so did someone in their mid-40s who had worked as a financial controller at an environmental-services company.

“There are a few people in here, such as accountants, who are so overqualified for this job,” Palumbo said. “I know people just want to work but I don’t think it would make much sense for me to hire them.”

The rest of the applicants read like a recession roll call.

There are past customer-service reps from WaMu, AT&T, J.C. Penney and Sprint. A slew of retail clerks and cashiers, as well as out-of-work waiters. The biggest group, by far, is dozens of laborers, construction workers, landscapers and maintenance workers.

This must be one of those mythical “green shoots” I’ve been hearing so much about on CNBC and other establishment media outlets. Maybe if the likes of Larry Kudlow and Bob Shrum pile this manure high enough something will grow out of it — most likely a fungus.

The Job Market is Picking Up… Poop Read Post »

We’re on Facebook and Twitter

Admin Updates
By / / 1 minute of reading
Share

For those who don’t already know – we’re on Facebook and Twitter. You can become fans of The Libertarian Standard on our Facebook fan page. All of our posts are partially re-posted there with a teaser and link to the full post; you can “like” the posts, share them with friends on Facebook, discuss them, and more. You can also follow us on our official Twitter account — libstandard — where you’ll receive  announcements of all our blogposts as soon as they are posted, and other updates besides. We created a Twitter list of our personal accounts — those of us on Twitter at least — that you can follow as well; it is displayed in the widget to the right. There is now a “Follow Me” button on the right side of our site with links to our Facebook fan page and Twitter account. Finally, we’ve made it possible for you to easily subscribe to The Libertarian Standard’s rss feed as well as individual author and category rss feeds.

We’re on Facebook and Twitter Read Post »

The Division of Responsibility

Drug Policy, Health Care, The Basics
By / / 9 minutes of reading
Share

It is odd, perhaps, that just as the federal (read: national) government moves to take primary responsibility for our medical lives, the several states are moving in the other direction. The right to self-medicate is, increasingly, being seen as important. First medical marijuana — a slap on the face to federal nannies — and now recreational use, sees advocacy and advance at the state level.

Any advance in taking full responsibility for medicine, on the part of citizens, individuals, goes against the grain of our collectivist age, and sparks some hope.

Of course, in a sense, it seems 35 years behind the time. …

The Division of ResponsibilityRead More »

The Division of Responsibility Read Post »

Why I Am a Census Resister

Statism
By / / 1 Comment / 4 minutes of reading
Share

Libertarians are often split on the issue of how to respond to government requests like the Census. It is plainly obvious that taking money from the people by force in order to engage in this glorified demographics survey is unjust, and many worry that the questions we are required to answer are far too intrusive. Therefore, many libertarians have chosen to refuse to participate in the census in one form or another – some tossing out their census forms entirely and others responding only to questions they feel are permitted to be asked by the Constitution (namely, the question regarding the number of persons living in the household).

Others argue, though, that while the census is surely unjust, one should follow the law anyway because, after all, it does not really do harm to anyone and you are unnecessarily exposing yourself to additional aggression by refusing to cooperate. I find this response persuasive – after all the taxation is a sunk cost and the aggression has already occurred, indeed, the money has already been spent to pay for the census, so the libertarian who responds to the census is in no way contributing to the aggression inherent in the process. Further, the threat of additional aggression is good reason to follow the law. Given that one does not contribute to aggression and that one can avoid additional aggression against oneself by filling out a similar form, this is a very powerful argument in favor of compliance.

However, as the title of this post suggests, I have chosen to be noncompliant with the census. But why, given the strength of the argument in favor of compliance?

…

Why I Am a Census ResisterRead More »

Why I Am a Census Resister Read Post »

Scroll to Top