A team of researchers in the United States might have just cracked one of the biggest mysteries in economics. It's why young men are vanishing, in Australia as well as overseas.
A decade or so back we had a good idea of where they were. Of the Australian men aged 15 to 24 who weren't in school or higher education, an impressive 85 per cent were working.
That was back in May 2007. By May 2010 this year it had fallen to 78.6 per cent. That's one in every five young men not in education now not working, up from one in every seven a few years back. An extra 51,000 young men have "gone dark", slipped under the statistical radar.
And hardly any women. Young women not in education are about as likely to work as they used to be.
It isn't showing up in the unemployment rate. America's unemployment rate is very low, lower than Australia's. That's because most of these men aren't looking for work. They're doing something else. And, in America at least, we've a good idea of what it is.
Never having played myself, I don't know what the attraction is. Anyone here a "gamer"?
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
No, but I inadvertently dated one once - didn't realize until I was deep in that he was obsessed with his World of Warcraft, to the point that he ignored his own children for hours on end while playing that stupid game in that stupid alternate reality.
I have a friend from high school who lost his first wife to a WOW affair, which is apparently not all that uncommon.
I guess folks can get addicted to just about anything.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
My daughter's first boyfriend, a nice kid but a serious video game slacker, was recently accepted into the USAF. He didn't elaborate on his MOS but he claims his strong points for acceptance were deftness in video game skills and 20/20 vision. I suspect drone pilot.
I wish him well.
“In a world whose absurdity appears to be so impenetrable, we simply must reach a greater degree of understanding among us, a greater sincerity.”
There is a huge problem of working capable young men, sitting around playing games and getting high. Not sure how that gets funded, but it is not a good thing for either them or society.
The military already has a very hard time getting new recruits in sufficient shape for duty, I can't imagine forced recruiting of gamers will be an improvement.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
BoSoxGal wrote:The military already has a very hard time getting new recruits in sufficient shape for duty, I can't imagine forced recruiting of gamers will be an improvement.
There are different jobs in the military, and while being significantly overweight might well be a problem for an infantry soldier, it likely would not be for a drone pilot or a JAG officer or the guy in logistics. The military loves a one size fits all solution to everything, but the payroll clerk need not be in fighting shape (anymore than a civilian payroll clerk would have to be).
I remember in the Army people who were good at their jobs routinely got waivers from meeting the weight requirements--and I also recall some fairly overweight guys who scored very high on their PT tests.
That might be somewhat true after the fact - weight gained over the course of enlistment - but I don't believe they issue waivers to recruits who can't pass the PT, in fact I know that recruiters work with overweight potential recruits to get them up to snuff where they can be admitted to boot camp.
The Army also requires a PT test every six months of enlistment (something like that true of every branch, I believe - just like police and fire departments), and I'm not sure how flexible they'd be about that - if you're overweight you have to participate in a weight-loss program and are not eligible for new training or rank advancement until you make PT requirements.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
That may be the case now when, as I understand it, they have the luxury of turning people away, but it wasn't during Vietnam and just after, when fewer people wanted to join. True, I do think everyone had to pass boot camp, but I do recall some very overweight officers and senior NCOs--they got waivers on the weight requirements because their skills were needed. These were not combat troops, so I guess it didn't depend as much. Also, some professionals, like physicians and lawyers, went to an abbreviated basic training and officer training school because their skills were needed as well.
As for police and fire departments, I guess it varies, but I have seen many older overweight cops and firemen, some very overweight, in local departments and NYC. Not sure what the rules are there.
