Terror as a Career Opportunity

Dees Illustration

Tom McNamara

While the “Great Recession” of 2008 technically ended in the summer of 2009, it appears that only now is the US economy starting to achieve sustainable, if tepid, growth. But this recovery has clearly been one of the weakest in terms of job creation. U6, an alternative measurement of unemployment (measuring the total number of people out of work, plus people who are working part time not by choice, plus people who are only marginally attached to the labor force), still stands stubbornly at 14%.

And for those lucky enough to have found a job, exactly what kind of work have they found? Unfortunately, the picture isn’t pretty. A study done by the National Employment Law Project (NELP) tells us that most of the jobs lost during the Great Recession were what could be considered as mid-wage occupations. Their replacements? Most of the new jobs created have been mainly lower-wage service jobs. The US Census Bureau gives us even bleaker news, telling us that 25% of American jobs pay below the federal poverty line for a family of four ($23,050) and that one-third of adults who live in poverty also work. More troubling still, adjusted for inflation, the average male made less in 2011 than he did in 1968 ($32,986 in 2011 vs. $33,880 in 1968).

So what exactly is a young “go getter” who is looking to make it in this world supposed to do? How about becoming a drone pilot?