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First off, the cutting of police forces:
http://www.kcra.com/news/23167334/detail.html
Sacramento has a large "conurbano" that has no other government other
than county supervisors, and no other police other than sheriff's
deputies. It's unincorporated, IOW. We call it "The Uncity". Well, life
in The Uncity is about to get a whole lot more dangerous when the
sheriff's office stops patrolling it! If you call them, they won't come.
There will be no more patrols. This is "hypothetical" now, but it's
about to become real. This means that the only real policing will be in
Sacramento city, Folsom, and Galt, since Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, and
Rancho Cordova rely on the sheriff. Free rein for criminals in the
American zonas liberadas. Many other municipalities are doing the same
thing.
Now for the job observations:
As you know, I repair computers. And as GTA regulars know, the market in
my city is flooded with former IT guys who can't find work, so they do
virus removals, meaning I can't get any work. Well, now I've noticed a
LOT of computer repair shops opening up, in seedy shopping centers in
rundown suburbs like North Highlands and Citrus Heights. First it was
Craigslist being flooded with ads, now this. Apparently these out of
work repair guys are taking the last of their savings and renting
rundown shop space-Sacramento and California is WAY glutted with retail
space-in a last ditch push to make some money and stave off ruin. But
shop space is expensive, even at a few dollars a square foot. I'm
betting that they will run out of money before getting business, since
they seem to be doing little real advertising, and the business that
they do get in these bad areas won't be worth it. So eventually, they'll
all disappear. What's your experience with this in Argentina the first
few years after the collapse? Did lots of small shops open up and then
close as their proprietors ran out of money?
Loquisimo
Hi Loqusimo, I remember tlaking aobut this with you at GTA forums some time ago.
Your observations are correct, and yes, it did happen like that here too.
Many of these stores and little shops poped up after the crisis and they tried to make a living. Some were more succesful than others.
When we talked about it back then I told you its important to be good at marketing, make contacts, advertize, and have a good relationship with clients. Try offering various serivces with stepping into things you have no experitize of, offer different packages for you clients, discounts, etc.
I'd say 8 out of 10 of these business failed in the first, year.The ones that did well made a good living after that.
FerFAL
10 comments:
Mish Shedlock and others have argued that these cuts can often be accomplished with zero effect on the community. The union workers, especially in law enforcement, prisons and education, have high salaries and wonderful benefits. Trimming these to private-sector levels would save money without losing a single job.
In regards to the lack of policing in certain areas. If you shot someone in self defense does that mean you don't have to call the police if their is no police to call? That could work to your advantage. Just walk away.
I'm in the Midwest (USA) and have noticed an increase in computer repair businesses. I've had people leave flyers advertising computer repair on my car and apartment building as well as posters around the neighborhood. They're all from different people, too.
If there are no police, then you just got promoted!
Give your number to friends and relatives, and when they are in danger they'll call you!
The basic problem is that there are far too many people with advanced degrees in computer science in the USA, and few positions-the tech industry never recovered after the dot.com crash. During the dot.com boom, the universities and tech schools were cranking out techs, systems engineers, and CS grads as fast as they could, in misguided anticipation that the laws of gravity had been repealed. Then the bubble popped. The USA economy never actually recovered, Greenspan simply inflated another bubble, the housing bubble. Then THAT bubble popped, so it's Argentina time.
America is well-educated, but there are no longer any need for their skills. Most jobs are filled via cronyism. Most well-educated people have massive student loan debts that can't be discharged by bankruptcy. They are slaves to that debt for the rest of their lives. I've heard of people selling cheap art to make their minimum payments.
The educational system encouraged people to take on massive debt to get educated with the promise of huge increases in salary. The debt benefited the bankers, and nobody else. The bankers got a guaranteed income stream. These people who are fixing PCs for cheap usually have massive debts they can't get rid of. Few are actually any good at such low level work.
The solution may be the opposite of moving to a large city-going to a more rural area. I've heard of techs who moved to rural Nevada and do repair in the desert, and get paid a lot of money for driving 50 miles out to a ranch to remove a virus. I'm thinking of going to Chico, a town that revolves around a university.
Also another thing that's been bothering me. How do you know when it's time to leave your country? Or invest overseas to support yourself at home?
What's bothering me is that, tales of people setting up businesses that are 80% likely to fail. They say hope is the hardest thing to kill, well that cuts both ways. No doubt there are many people in the U.S as we speak who are hoping the tough times will pass and they will stop having to eat into their savings. People who have been looking for a job for a year and have been unsuccessful. My fear is that even if you are prepared, you will continue to hope that the economy will get better, or that you will find a stable job, all the while eating into your savings until you find yourself living in a ghetto, with no job, no savings, no hope and no choice.
You've said in the past Ferfal that you hold no great love for Argentina, but why did it take almost ten years for you to move? Were you hoping that things would get better or were you just not prepared financially to leave?
I suspect that when a person knows it's time to leave a country, it's already too late to do so.
Some book, And They Thought They Were Free
"...all the while eating into your savings until you find yourself living in a ghetto, with no job, no savings, no hope and no choice."
That right there is the best reason I know of to follow Ferfal's advise and have something started on the side, or create something small to work up.
Heck, even the aluminum can collectors got *something* to work from.
Looks like there might be a lot of security related job/business opportunities opening up?
I'd say it might be a good idea Not to have hope things will turn around, not to depend on that happening but to be prepared to make the most of what you have in front of you, or move to find better opportunities.
If things turn, so much the better, but I won't be holding my breath.
"Whenever a society descends into totalitarianism, the ruling clique will eventually close the borders -- not just to prevent contamination by politically troublesome foreign influences, but also to prevent the egress of refugees and (most importantly) the flight of capital to more congenial economic environments."
The rest was good too:
http://www.freedominourtime.blogspot.com/
Sorry, correct url is:
http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2010/04/borders-are-closing-in.html
Not looking pretty:
"It's entirely likely that with immigration beginning to taper off, the border enforcement apparatus being built today will increasingly be directed inward."
That people often realize too late that it is time to leave their country. May provide further support for those that are more realistic, and who aren't fooled by government media lies, to leave early.
If you leave early and setup early in another nation, you can serve as an example and refuge spot for those who are trapped in the U.S. (friends and family)
It's not much use escaping with your family while your friends and the extended family all fall in a ghetto, miserly existence, back in the U.S. It will take years at least to be able to support them if they choose to leave.
Better safe than sorry.
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