Why does everybody think they are garunteed a job in America?

Question

America seems to be all about the free enterprise system, but MOST americans would rather take the easy route and go work for big buisness, instead of starting their own buisness (only 2.5% of americans own their own buisnesses). Then they get angry when big buisness isn't doing so good and needs to make job cuts/outsource. Ford, GM, etc. are companies; companies exist to make profit, not to give you an easy job and a pension. Why do people think they have the right to job security in America. Thoughts?

I'm in detroit michigan, so maybe it seems like everybody to me, but jobs is THE number one issue in the coming election. Its all about who can give us more easy jobs.

@bonnyrogue-
I'm never said everybody should be entrepenuers (that would never happen anyway), I'm just saying don't get angry when you get fired becuase someone in another country will do your easy work for less money. They don't have the same opportunities of the free market that you do.

The average employee couldn't increase GE's market value 400 billion dollars like Jack Welch did either.

Answer 1

I think this problem stems from the idea of a free and public education. While a good idea, we are forcing an education on everyone. We hand it to them. We spoon feed it to them. We have to, or we get in trouble for low performance.

Since schools make it seem like everything is just handed to you, people assume a job and everything that goes with it will be handed too them. Unlike schools, though, employers get to choose who to hire (and fire).

I teach in a public school and 90% of my students think they will be rappers, movie stars, or pro athletes. I want to slap them in the face and tell them they'll be lucky to get a job at WalMart or McDonald's with the way they act. But they don't get the connection.

It also goes back to parents and the way children in general are being raised these days.

America has gone from the land of opportunity to the land of free handouts.

Answer 2

While I don't know if I agree with you that businesses hold no responsibilities towards their employees, I definately agree with you that a lot of people in this country think that they are owed a job. I work as an HR assistant at a food production plant and get people coming in all the time who fillout only parts of the application and then ask if they can have an interview or when I will be calling them back. Why would I want to hire someone where the first piece of work ever see from them is poorly done? And on quite a few occasions I have had people get angry when they realize that the company does not get back to all applicants. (I had one guy call and was telling me, "you should at least mail everyone a postcard thanking them for coming in a for taking the time and spending the gas money to get there")
The world doesn't owe you anything and America doesn't owe you a job. If you want job security, become a nurse. If you want a job in manufacturing, for goodness sakes, learn how to fill out an application and be prepared to fill out the entire thing if you really want a job so bad.

Answer 3

I think people have been raised from generations and generations that America is the land of opportunity and to fail here means you are a loser. It's not that hard to get an education and get a job but many people aren't even willing to put in the effort. I agree with you that this is a problem.
That's why I'm entering the land of Network Marketing. I get to be independant without someone over me and I also get the same kind of security because I'm going to make s h i t piles of money! I recommend anyone and everyone doing the same. That's where real security is. All those Pension plans, 401K's and such do is provide the IDEA of security. Not the actual result. You never know what will happen to that money. Markets crash, money disappears.

Answer 4

You're suggesting we all become entrepreneurs which is ridiculous because we'd all be dead in a couple of years because we wouldn't have anyone to run our business. We'd be doing 100% of it ourselves. So, YES, people who do not have the desire to be CEOs are definitely needed in order for the world to keep turning. DOH!

EDIT - - - I don't get your point. What are you suggesting. And only certain companies outsource from other countries. And if you suck at your job and you get fired, that's your own fault. I'm sorry, i'm not getting your point. Why would you say that people who've been loyal to a company for 20+ years aren't owed a pension. That's ridiculous. You should be more empathetic. There may be a time when you cross the road of unemployment or bankruptcy and I hope you don't run into a person with your ideology.

You never know what the future holds!

Answer 5

Well someone in big business had to start it. So loyalty should always be honored. However not everyone should think they are secure. For the others they need to know that work is what you put in. I feel for the artists and free thinkers who are so often overlooked and such a vital part of society's growth and evolution.

Answer 6

maybe true..but when executives at ford , gm GE..to name a few make millions of dollars a year for record losses..and after they quit they receive more than an average employee earns in a career as a severance package is ridicules...plus stock options ...

Jack Welch had a record salary of $94 million a year, followed by his record retirement-plan of $8 million a year.

Answer 7

Not everyone wants to own their own business. And I'm not certain I share your opinion that everyone thinks they should be guaranteed a job. If that was the case, we wouldn't have the educational system that we do.

Answer 8

Corporations such as GM built substandard vehicles from Nixon's exit in disgrace till ReadmyLips was inaugurated, not because of lazy union workers but because of greedy execs. The unions fought for a piece of the pie, never mind the flavor. GM still had the highest fleet sales because of Chrysler's abandonment of RWD and Ford's even worse car quality. Honda, Toyota, and Nissan outstripped domestic auto sales because they were inexpensive, agile and fuel-efficient. They were sold on narrow profit margins in order to dominate the market.
Chrysler was in a good position to take back US dominance, but the K-car lineup, allbased on an inflated VW Rabbit [the Omni] was junk. Most couldn't survive 80k miles being driven by frustrated Mopar fans, but before Iacocca was ousted, they partnered with Mitsubishi and pulled their pentagons out of the fire. Ford and GM saw this success and did the same with Mazda and Isuzu respectively., but shipped the parts here ready to slap together.
The union workers didn't get lazy. Their work was taken away long ago, but union strength gave them busywork for years till the companies could "prove" they were a danger to profitability and pinkslipped entire communities.
A job doen't need to be guaranteed. If a company operates and sells in the American market, it should be mandatory that its workers are U.S. citizens being paid a fair wage for the work done, with local REAL costs of living.
Why does big business think it's guaranteed to survive, grow and increase profit margins year after year after year???
More than 2.5% of U.S. workers do attempt self- employment, which the IRS treats as owning their own business. Every construction worker hired as a subcontractor, every taxi driver, every exotic dancer knows the trap in the term 'self- employed'.
The employer sets all terms with no negotiation possible, gets the lion's share of the proceeds, and incurs none of the taxes or expenses for operating that business. The workers pay twice the tax rate emloyees do for S.S. and Medicare, must maintain detaled records for all expenses, get no insurance, overtime/holiday/ vacation pay, or match on a 401k if they can even afford to start one that's any good.
It's no wonder so many people try to get back in the workforce after failing at independence for any of a million valid reasons, and are outraged to find their old jobs usurped by illegal aliens or gone over the border.
I've lived in right-to-work states all but 2 years of my adult life, and know quite well what the expression really means: right-to-hire-and-fire-without-cause. The better employers paid some lip service to national labor laws but made sure you knew they wouldn't tolerate the word "unionize" even whispered.
One I worked for 15 years went through thousands of people a year, with only 150 at any given time. In my 10th year there the ownerssold it to an Italian firm and took the retirement pension plan for themselves. The family had incorporated and hired themselves as the board and officers. They raised the minimum salary cutoff for that pension by 5% yarly while giving no raises for 5 years outside the family They hired on all their children well above the cutoff just before selling out.
I decided after 5 more years to get out before the new owners decided to rape our 401k plan through Sicilian connections. I tried truck driving, but it didn't go well. If I had leased a truck from that outfit as they pressured all their drivers to do, I would have had a quarter-million dollar debt hanging over my head to force me to take bigger and bigger chances with the law and my life just to make the monthly payments. A solo driver must drive 350,000 miles a year with that firm just to break even. A company driver got $0.20/mi whether loaded or not, and drove company or contractor trucks, while the poor owner/operator got anywhere from .65 to 1.25/mi for loaded miles only and paid all fees and costs. Contractors with 20 or more trucks got the cream of the crop on all runs, with drop&hook, no-touch regular routes.
Completely new to that industry, I would have been a bankrupt corpse in no time if I'd gone owner/operator.

Answer 9

I don't know anyone who thinks that way

Answer 10

EVERYBODY DONT THINK THAT