Thousands of Maine men are missing from the workforce, and no one really knows why

[whathehell]

24. Some are able to kick back, at least for awhile,

some are not, and some are able at some points in their life, and not others....As for discrimination, I'm white, but female and that comes with discrimination...When I started out in the workforce, there were two sets of jobs listed in the newspapers: One.for Males, one.for Females...My niece, who may be around your age, was absolutely shocked to learn this, lol.

Look, here's the thing -- I DO admire your independent, ambitious attitude..and yes, everyone should try and help themselves. Generally speaking, it's the best situation all.around and I think most would prefer the sense of self-respect they get from it. That being said, I try not to be too judgemental...The job situation IS lousy and I'm pissed at the way that jobs have been shipped overseas, leaving LESS opportunity for those who may not want, or be able to, go to college.

Those white guys your seeing -- some may be scaming, but others may be mentally disabled with PTSD or something...Mental illness rarely "shows" like a physical impairment, but having suffered from severe depression in my younger life, I can assure you that it's real and filled with suffering. See, I'm probably older than you, Lion..My dad grew up poor,during the Great Depression -- Even though, he was granted a scholarship to a private school he had to quit high school in his first year to work in a factory to help support the family....Thing is, he had a factory to work at and it was unionized...He worked two jobs for most of his life, but he never begrudged those who were in need and he was a strong, liberal Democrat all of his life. . Back then, they hadn't started sending all the factories overseas yet in search of cheap labor...In those days, before "globalization" if an American country went abroad in search of cheap labor, the US taxed the hell out of their products when they tried to sell them back here, a situation I think was much more fair.

I do appreciate your explaining your situation more thoroughly...I doubt we're very "far apart" in our views, and I'm glad you shared your story.