What Happened to the American Dream?
For us college students, there is always the fear of not being able to secure some kind of job/career after our time in school is finished. With the way the economy is slumping, there is even the fear that with summer coming, will there be jobs for us? Even for those who aren’t in college, they know the worries of being able to maintain their job (not getting laid off) or simply being able to find another job.
But wait, what does this entire blurb about joblessness have to do with war? Actually, quite a bit. In the article posted by correspondent Gregg Zoroya of USA TODAY entitled Jobless rate at 11.2% for veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan, he addresses this issue. Labor Department economist Jim Walker states that:
“The 11.2% jobless rate for veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and who are 18 and older rose 4 percentage points in the past year. That’s significantly higher than the corresponding 8.8% rate for non-veterans in the same age group”
This is a rather staggering statistic when we look in comparison to the percentile of Americans unemployed nationally. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the February national unemployment rate was 8.1%. In the grander scheme of things, that means of that 8.1% nearly 1% is veterans (mind you I hope that my figuring is correct).
Since it is seemingly so difficult for veterans to enter, or reenter for that matter, the work force, what is happening to these young men and women? Sgt. 1st Class Julius Kelley makes an interesting point when he comments about veterans reenlisting once their tour is done.
“It’s job security (in the Army)….You don’t have to worry about getting laid off in the Army.”
However, this is a fickle thing to think about. Without getting go deep into my personal beliefs, I will pose a question. How should we (Americans) feel that our economy is rather poor and the people that have served in a branch of the armed forces are left with the question of unemployment and the hopes of returning to civilian ranks, or a job/career in the one of the branches when hoping to regain a civilian lifestyle?
After reading this article and reading Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughter House-Five, I have a mixed up feeling in my stomach. Within this novel Vonnegut character Billy Pilgrim is enlisted in the armed forces. He serves his time as a POW and lives to tell the tale of the Dresden bombing. Afterwards, it seems flawlessly that he is able to reenter society and finish up school becoming an optometrist. He makes money, gets married, has kids, and somehow seems to follow the American dream (at least for a little while).
This post may not contain any quotes from the text itself but this is the point I am trying to make. When we reflect back to the time after WWII, there was almost a flourish of economic stability. People were able to come home from the war and somehow pick up their lives as civilians and live this ideal of an American dream. However, if we compare post WWII to post Iraq and Afghanistan, there is no chalice overflowing with the hopes of an American dream. Brave men and women alike are coming home to a reception of the inability of finding jobs, earning stable income, supporting or wanting to start a family…simply not happening…no American dream. Somewhere in the sands of time, a huge fire has come and solidified all the sand into glass. All we can do now is look helplessly as time no longer erodes through the hourglass. Soldiers are looking through a window at opportunities that may never happen.
Gregg Zoroya of USA TODAY
Jobless rate at 11.2% for veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan
Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five
kmcoppens said,
March 23, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Interesting. Your post brings a lot of questions to mind for me. In some way, I completely agree with you. It’s terrifying enough to live in this country and have no job security and/or prospects of a job, let alone be deployed and come back to nothing. In another sense, however, should we be securing jobs for individuals who have job security in the military already? In other words, it seems we would be saving jobs that could be given to individuals who are already struggling on the home front for individuals who already have army positions secured for them. I guess it seems a bit ironic to me. Although in some ways, I may be a bit biased as well. The economy is struggling to the point now that I’m not sure I believe there is much we as citizens can do. We have to leave it up to the higher governmental officials and the big-shots on Wall Street. Which when you think about it, is more terrifying than ever. I will applaud you, however, for this post in general. I think you bring about an idea and an issue that most individuals do not quite think about. There is such a discrepancy in jobs for people already that I’m not sure what we’ll do when our deployed soldiers come back. After all, Obama’s plan is to remove all troops in the next coming months and years.
klynchmorin said,
March 24, 2009 at 4:21 pm
I never realized veterans today were having such a hard time finding work upon returning home from their tours of duty. The commercials always tell us the skills learned in the armed forces help soldiers returning home not only to find work but also to excel in the workplace.
Colleges and universities often have job placement assistance; maybe the United States armed forces should start a similar program.
I do not think our government does enough for our troops, even though I may not fully believe in what they are fighting for (in some circumstances) but I do believe they should be treated with respect and receive the help they need to find a decent job after serving in the armed forces.
Our government asks so much of these troops, sending them on more tours of duty than any soldier should have to endure, but the troops get so little in return. They receive mediocre medical care, inadequate pay and little to no help in terms of readjusting to civilian life. Maybe there just is not enough money left over after they pay for the guns and tanks and missiles.
People join the military for different reasons but I wonder if they ever have second thoughts about joining when they consider what life will be like when they return home. It would be my hope that they should not have to worry about that.
Aaron Musk said,
April 10, 2009 at 6:03 pm
I personally felt this pain of not having a job when coming back from a war. For the most part you are in a new part of the country when you get back and you really do not know where to even start looking. For some of my friends that went back home after that, it was a bad situation then too because for some part of the reason why they went into the military was because they either could not qualify for a job or there were just none to be had in their hometown. It is sad that the government can not help more with this situation, once again leaving the ex military personnel stranded after they are through with their services. I have personally found a couple of private foundations that have helped my friends and i get jobs. One was the Semper Fi Fund. They would give you a grant to get back on your feet and then have people dedicated to your case to help with the job hunting and resume building. The next one is We Thank Our Troops. The guy that runs it goes by the name Bob. He is a good guy and will do anything in his power to help a military veteran. So there are people out there that do try and help with the situation. I just would not look towards the government for any help with that.
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