The essays generated by the education system in the US requires people to grade them.
My son was one of the top 2 out of 100 people in the room grading essays for the fifth grade.
He was fired. He was shocked that there was no way to compromise and negotiate.
The offense was taking a day off work.
If he had been sick, that was also grounds for being fired. In fact he was sick one day and threw up in a bucket, but that was OK because his butt was in the chair.
This is a story about life at the bottom of the work system which is compounded by the law in Ohio of "at will" employment. You can be fired at any time.
Here is a response from a law professor to my email.
You are so right. Very, very sorry about your son’s situation. This also underscores the barbaric nature of at-will employment. We are the only industrialized democracy in the world that has at-will employment. I can’t understand why every private sector employee doesn’t do everything possible to get a union so they have for just cause protection from arbitrary discharges. I really hope your son gets a job in his discipline soon. Best. –charlie
My son has a very strong Ph. D. in South Asian studies and is an accomplished musician using many instruments, composing and making recordings. There is a small conference with the top people in the world in his sub discipline and this is almost the last chance to get an academic job. The conference is Friday and Saturday this weekend.
He might make it in music and one of his compositions has been submitted for a Grammy award. He might eventually make it to an academic job if he writes a bunch of excellent papers. He always gets into conferences to make a presentation.
What happens with people with no support system, no education, and prey to those who take advantage of them?
They have to shut up and take what ever is offered to them. Woe to him who complains. At the same time that there seem to be more stupid and mean managers than I have ever seen.
The story of my son fits with an article today about a career state department employee who told the truth and now is working at a big box store. He wrote a book which was published during the Obama administration but mostly involved the Bush administration. He did something more than just miss work for a day. He told the truth about the trillion dollar war fought under false pretenses. I have not read the book but the title says a lot.
Peter Van Buren blew the whistle on State Department waste and mismanagement during Iraqi reconstruction in his first book, We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People.
He describes life working in a big box store.
http://www.tomdispatch.com/...