What are we supposed to do now?

[RadioRaheem84]

We talk a lot about workers who have jobs but what about us recent college grads with no real prospects and no real discernible skills that separate us from the lot. I work for a piddly small time construction firm in the office doing regular clerical work/office management, and I know that I am getting ripped off on my paychecks at the end day but I cannot say anything because I need the job and jobs are tight right now.

I have a degree in Economics from a good school but no real connections and my GPA was average, so that ruined my chances at getting into finance which I intended to go into before the big crash. It's too late to pursue that now as I am disgusted with the system and they only bring in fresh meat to mold little super traders.

What's a left wing Marxist, who loves to read, research, and crunch numbers to do in this economy? Maybe public works would be good?

Any advice? If there is anyone that needs some advice on job opportunities in TX let me know. I think we should help each other out with advice on what to do in situations like today. Advice on the employment outlook of each state, how to qualify for social benefits, getting back into grad school advice, etc.

[Jacobinist]

"What's a left wing Marxist"

You consider yourself a Marxist yet you planned on going into finance? Lolz.

But back to your question, become a teacher. Its a good job, you have young open minds, good pay, safe, what else do you want? Also, grad school (depending on which one you apply to) probably wont judge you to strictly, as long as you ace the interview and make it obvious that NOW, you are totally motivated into finishing school and yada-yada-yada. Go for it, see what happens.

But hey, honestly, if you consider yourself left-wing, and you got a degree in econ, BECOME A TEACHER, help build a better world with todays younger generations! :thumbup1:

[RadioRaheem84]

You consider yourself a Marxist yet you planned on going into finance? Lolz.

I became a Marxist after the crash, before I was a liberal. Way to judge.

[danyboy27]

i am at the crossroad has well.

got a 2 year formation to work in computer, couldnt find a proper job in that field, so i became a warehouse worker.

i love my job, been doing that for 3 year already, my computer skill really helped me to learn how to manage and regulate a warehouse, calculate inventory, create new way to manage the inventory etc etc.

For now i am quite uncertain about what i should do in the future.

[RadioRaheem84]

So how is the employment situation in Canada right now?

[danyboy27]

So how is the employment situation in Canada right now?
well, i dont know for the rest but quebec remain relatively unharmed by the recession.

We have good social coverage in quebec so, even if the shit hit the fan, i will be relatively safe and wont be forced to work in a mc donald if i lose my job.

[FSL]

"What's a left wing Marxist"

You consider yourself a Marxist yet you planned on going into finance? Lolz.

But back to your question, become a teacher. Its a good job, you have young open minds, good pay, safe, what else do you want?


That's odd, I'm a Marxist and I'm in finance. I thought that since I was interested in that -general- subject anyway, I might make a living out of it.

Someone with an economics degree becoming a teacher? God no! That would be so appaling. Have you seen the things they teach in bourgeois economics? Unions causing unemployment and all. Why would anyone want to get payed for lying in such a crude manner to "young open minds"?


As for some advice; well, there is nothing "pure" to be done. Look for something that gets you the daily bread, if possible without leaving you bored to death. Oh, and unionize.

[chegitz guevara]

You consider yourself a Marxist yet you planned on going into finance? Lolz.

Nothing wrong with that. Everyone has to earn a living in capitalist society. If he made good money, he could help finance various revolutionary groups.

Stop thinking small.

[Jacobinist]

"That would be so appaling. Have you seen the things they teach in bourgeois economics? Unions causing unemployment and all. " - FSL

Exactly! Thats why, if he really is a marxist, and not just a pissed off liberal, he should go into teaching. Teachers TEACH remember, good revolutionary teachers on the side of the proletarian is what we need. Not more American Idol watching club-hoppers who become teachers.

I met this one chick the other day on campus, attractive, majoring in Political science/history and plans on becoming a teacher. SHE DOESNT KNOW HOW FIDEL/CHE ARE CONNECTED. She doesnt know what the word proletarian is. And shes gonna be a teacher. This is the reason our public schools suck.


"Everyone has to earn a living in capitalist society. If he made good money, he could help finance various revolutionary groups." - Chegitz

WAKE UP!!! This isn't a dream world. Major in finance and you'll lose your soul before you're 25.

[Jacobinist]

I guess what Im saying is if you're a Marxist, going to school, then major in something that can potentially benefit the proletarian directly, none of this charity bullshit. Example, if you major in Bio or Chem, make sure your life's work is dedicated to improving, developing, manufacturing, etc the proletarian cause! Vaccines are expensive, maybe YOU COULD make em cheaper! Or maybe you can find another way to develop it allowing the third world to attain vaccines/medications. If you major in art, make sure your art has a message. If you major in econ, and know the system very well, than dismantle it for your students, help them help themselves!

[RadioRaheem84]

Nothing wrong with that. Everyone has to earn a living in capitalist society. If he made good money, he could help finance various revolutionary groups.

Stop thinking small.

That would be a dream. Use the system to take it down. lol. Liberals think this is what George Soros is doing though. Laughable bunch they are.


Exactly! Thats why, if he really is a marxist, and not just a pissed off liberal, he should go into teaching.Teach what? I would need certification and Econ 101 is simply reactionary trash. It took me a long time to grasp Marxism because the presupposed nonsense I learned in my Econ classes. I would hate to be forced to teach that to others.



WAKE UP!!! This isn't a dream world. Major in finance and you'll lose your soul before you're 25.This is very true. The mindset I was in, as all econ students at the time, was sick and gunner. If you weren't i banking you were little people. The life just doesn't fit me anymore.


I guess what Im saying is if you're a Marxist, going to school, then major in something that can potentially benefit the proletarian directly, none of this charity bullshit. Example, if you major in Bio or Chem, make sure your life's work is dedicated to improving, developing, manufacturing, etc the proletarian cause! Vaccines are expensive, maybe YOU COULD make em cheaper! Or maybe you can find another way to develop it allowing the third world to attain vaccines/medications. If you major in art, make sure your art has a message. If you major in econ, and know the system very well, than dismantle it for your students, help them help themselves!
I think I want to go back to school to major in something helpful and relevant to life. Hopefully my quant background in econ will help me apply for some science courses and then a MS in something like what you mentioned.

No one really knows the system well as far as finance, the stuff people peddle on wall street is so complex that only quants even know how disentangle a complex financial instrument. Thanks, to Marxism I just know how to dismantle the arguments behind bourgeoisie economics, philosophically like Marx did. That's all I've ever seen Marxists, Anarchists or any Left winger do, is dismantle the shitty logic behind right libertarian dogma. Progressives challenge the pratical aspects and show its not pragmatic. But I have yet to see any Marxist tackle the math behind the quants financial instruments, show how the numbers don't add up and how it's all bs in the end. Is it because you cannot dismantle utter BS? I have never seen a socialist writer tackle high finance, except maybe Lenin.

[Jacobinist]

"It took me a long time to grasp Marxism because the presupposed nonsense I learned in my Econ classes. I would hate to be forced to teach that to others." - Radio

Comrade, I understand it might require a little more effort. I understand that for those unexposed to marxist critiques of kapitalism, it might seem overwhelming, even on the verge of sounding like some conspiritoid lunatic. But it has to be done. The left is losing the war for young minds. Yound minds that in the future, will be the base of the proletarian. Expose students to whats wrong with general system: oligarchy, unsustainability, concentration of wealth, etc.

Thinking about it, people picked up arms and endured hunger, cold, bullets, bombs, for what they believed in. It is just a thought.

Think about it comrade.

[vyborg]

Go to work for a public authority (central bankm regulators, etc.), you will acquire very useful first hand information on how capitalism works and you will be useful to a socialist government after the revolution

[zimmerwald1915]

WAKE UP!!! This isn't a dream world. Major in finance and you'll lose your soul before you're 25.
I do hope everyone in this thread appreciates the irony in this sentence, quite apart from the reasonable political point.:laugh:

[RadioRaheem84]

I was thinking about applying for the state regulatory commission.

[Jimmie Higgins]

I agree we shouldn't moralize about what people majored in or what their career (or planned career) is. But actually I don't think teaching would be a bad way to go because then you could have some time to peruse your own independent research if you wanted and you would be in an environment where you would have colleagues and co-workers and there might be a union and some campus activist work to be involved in.

[chegitz guevara]

Actually, teachers no longer have a lot of free time.

One thing the movement desperately needs is angels, i.e., people who can fund the movement. All previous successful organizations had such people helping them out. Do you think the Bolsheviks could have succeeded without Parvus financing them?

As for losing your soul, Joel Geier of the ISO was a stock trader (or something similar) in the 80s. He's part of the reason the ISO is doing so well. We all have to sacrifice for the movement. Some of us have to sacrifice by not being activists, but by going in to the ruling class or the upper echelons of the middle classes.

There was a time in this country's history, where one comrade would go to work in a factory to support the political work of four or five comrades. That was his sacrifice to the movement. Unfortunately, it's no longer so easy to get jobs, let alone jobs that let you support so many people.

[RadioRaheem84]

That would probably be the best option if it were possible. If we had a leftist George Soros then there would at least be somewhat of a balance. Not even Hugo Chavez's petro-wealth is helping at the moment to give socialism more of a platform.

[zimmerwald1915]

That would probably be the best option if it were possible. If we had a leftist George Soros then there would at least be somewhat of a balance. Not even Hugo Chavez's petro-wealth is helping at the moment to give socialism more of a platform.
It isn't meant to help give socialism more of a platform.

[RED DAVE]

By all means go into teaching, and it doesn't have to be Economics. I was in your situation during the economic crunch in the early 70s. I went back to school at night, took courses in Education and English and ended up teaching in high school. You might even be able to get into one of those programs where they pay you to take your courses, etc.

And remember, teaching is unionized.

RED DAVE

[chegitz guevara]

There is a glut of people wanting to be teachers. Don't go into that profession unless you have a burning passion to be a teacher.

If nothing else, learn to program. Nearly every comrade in my class at school, no matter what they studied, ended up being a programmer.

Ideally, do what you love. If you can't do what you love, then do what makes money, and use that money to fund the movement. If you've got the talent for organizing, become a professional organizer. In that order.

[Die Neue Zeit]

The problems with the programming profession are that it's quite prone to "libertarian" tendencies, and that comrade programmers haven't stepped up to the plate and applied their programming skills to political programs.

Jobs related to business school, on the other hand, are another story. ;)

[Wolf Larson]

We talk a lot about workers who have jobs but what about us recent college grads with no real prospects and no real discernible skills that separate us from the lot. I work for a piddly small time construction firm in the office doing regular clerical work/office management, and I know that I am getting ripped off on my paychecks at the end day but I cannot say anything because I need the job and jobs are tight right now.

I have a degree in Economics from a good school but no real connections and my GPA was average, so that ruined my chances at getting into finance which I intended to go into before the big crash. It's too late to pursue that now as I am disgusted with the system and they only bring in fresh meat to mold little super traders.

What's a left wing Marxist, who loves to read, research, and crunch numbers to do in this economy? Maybe public works would be good?

Any advice? If there is anyone that needs some advice on job opportunities in TX let me know. I think we should help each other out with advice on what to do in situations like today. Advice on the employment outlook of each state, how to qualify for social benefits, getting back into grad school advice, etc.

All I want to know is how many of those "reputation points" did you get while you were a liberal? ;)

But seriously. Put the visions of being in finance on the side burners. My advice to you [ or my projection onto you] is learn how to put bids in for whatever construction job you're doing. Learn Spanish and the basics of the trade then start a coop with a mixture of hard working people - try to free yourself from the boss/employee relationship [same as your co workers]. Put your ideology into practice no matter how minimal it is. I had a construction coop going before the housing market in CA vanished. I didn't just do bids I did the carpentry work so I made 26 dollars an hour- most of us made either 20 or 26 an hour. There was 7 of us at one time but on average 5 and it lasted for a good year and a half full time. I was happy but that's me.

If you have some sort of calling as some people do I'd say follow that- if you have the opportunity to chose some line of work where you'll be happy [not overworked and comfortable enough to live] then by all means take it but you're not the only one who's gone to university and ended up working in a different field than you planned. I had to go through that at 24 years old and found myself reading a lot of Helen and Scott Nearing. The same sort of experience is what sparked my serious interest in socialism. People will say it's sort of lifestylish [to them I say fuck you] but I've always had the goal, since reading most of Nearing's work back in the 90's, to homestead. Try reading "The Making Of A Radical". It might lift your spirits. Or Thoreau's voluntary simplicity in "Walden". I guess my point is, I've dropped my aspirations for living in capitalist style/provided abundance in this lifetime. I've been focusing on separating myself from the capitalist market. That's just me though. My actual advice would be do whatever you want.

[RadioRaheem84]

You guys are right. I think it's about time to just start working and finding methods to help the cause. I mean it's strange. I applied for an internship to a pretty liberal think tank based out in NYC and it proved to be a waste of time. I had my interview today with them over the phone and it was quite ridiculous. They don't even do any primary research or quantitative analysis. For the interns it mostly consists of cut and paste sort of stuff that they dig up on the internet or to call city officials and make a report summary on a trendy liberal agenda on X issue. The hot topic of the day is under funding of community colleges. While I am happy that there are people out there advocating for social change and bringing awareness to socio-political issues, I find the situation to be so rigid. I know exactly what these institutions are looking for; Ivy League wannabe wonks that will follow what the people at the top are saying and do the dirty work for the main researchers and their political/financial backers. While they maybe "good" liberal political and financial backers, the whole bourgeois way of doing things has me so frustrated! It's almost as if this is just a big game and issues become more trendy and marketable rather than real to them. I mean I don't mean to be so hard on these think tanks but maybe that is the only way liberals know how to effect change. Play the game, fill your think tanks with pedigreed popular professors as fellows, get interns from top schools to do the free dirty work, get on tv, get more liberal donors, while at the same time promoting the latest, trendy issue that's affecting the public.

I mean I did more quantitative as well as qualitative stuff as an undergrad for the local university in my hometown gathering information for primary research effecting the local citizens and local public policy. Yet, we didn't even have a quarter of the resources as this think thank I mentioned above has and yet they get a multitude of publicity and recognition from the upper crust.

I am starting to think most think tanks on the "left" (meaning liberal) and the right are just scams to promote agendas.

[chegitz guevara]

That's what all think tanks are. Some of them just do their own thinking.

[redasheville]

By all means go into teaching, and it doesn't have to be Economics. I was in your situation during the economic crunch in the early 70s. I went back to school at night, took courses in Education and English and ended up teaching in high school. You might even be able to get into one of those programs where they pay you to take your courses, etc.

And remember, teaching is unionized.

RED DAVE

For now, teaching is unionized. There is a massive attack on public education (not just because of the cuts either) and one of the main fronts in that fight is busting teachers unions. All the more reason why we need more radical teachers though!

EDIT: In response to Chegitz, there is a glut in people wanting to be teachers if you're going to try and teach anything except math, science or special education. If you get credentialed in teaching kids with severe autism you got really good job prospects and there are federal laws protecting you from being laid off! (this is what I am pursuing at the moment).

[anticap]

I gotta say, I'm with Jacobinist on this one. I'm appalled to find leftists attempting to justify certain unjustifiable professions (all the more so when they do it under the guise of paternalistic charity). What's next, should we go into advertising, in the hope that we might sneak a subversive message onto a billboard? Please.

Every day that we go to work, we perpetuate capitalism (http://theanarchistlibrary.org/HTML/Fredy_Perlman__The_Reproduction_of_Daily_Life.html ). It doesn't exist as an autonomous monster living under our beds that drives us to work at the end of a pike. It exists only in the sense that we breathe new life into it every day. Ideally, we would all stop doing this, and stand with our arms folded while the monster impaled itself on its own pike. Unfortunately, however, we must eat. But we can at least do something that benefits our community while upholding our principles, and, preferably, something that will also be done in a communist society.