Our Men Are #2! (From The Bottom)

I wanted to write about his last week. But frankly, other things got in the way, 'cause when it comes to crap, We're the Niagara Falls of shit.

Weekly rag Caribbean Business had this article stating that Our unemployment level dropped to 13.5% , yet somehow, Our labor-force participation rate had dropped to 39.2%

Let Me rephrase that: 39.2% of Our TOTAL population aged 15-64 was working or looking for a job.

39.2%. Working. Or looking for work.

Meaning 60.8% of Our adults 15-64 are not. And yet, thanks to convenient definitions, this means that though fewer people are actually working, the unemployment rate has dropped to 13.5%.

Yeah. Pull the other one.

Here's the quote from the article that made Me want to write about this:

"In 2010, data from the World Bank showed only seven countries had a lower labor-participation rate than Puerto Rico."

Okay. Had to do some research and found out that the World Bank actually has Us at 44% for 2010, tied with Iran. Here are the 6 countries We smoked:

Algeria   ---   43%
Syria       ---   42%
Iraq         ---   41%
Jordan    ---   41%
Moldova ---   41%
West Bank -   41%

Uh, notice a trend there? With the exception of Moldova, frequent tail end on several lists of "The World's Happiest Countries," all the other countries are Middle Eastern and/or dominated by religions who treat women like property, restricting their right to do just about anything on their own, such as getting a job. Want proof? Here's the list of female labor-force participation rates, again for 2010:

Iran        ---   16%
Algeria   ---   15%
Syria       ---   13%
Iraq         ---   14%
Jordan    ---   15%
Moldova ---   38%
West Bank -   15%

With the exception of Moldova, the rest of the countries with lower participation rates than Puerto Rico keep roughly 85% of their women away from jobs, a substantial part of their population. For comparison, what was Our rate in 2010? 35%.

Look at the list again. Are any of these countries powerhouse economies? Two are wracked by war and one of them is an occupied territory under constant attack. These are all obviously badly-damaged or stagnant economies, with external factors that limit job opportunities and growth.

What the hell is Our excuse? Are We being bombed? Are We fighting insurgents? Are We being harassed and shot at by high-tech armed forces backing a regime intent on genocide and apartheid? Nuh-uh. So what the hell is Our excuse?

Look over here.

Here's the bottom 7 list of male labor-force participation rate in the world, in 2010:

Belgium                 ---   61%
Bulgaria                 ---   60%
Italy                        ---   60%
Bosnia-Herzegovina -  59%
Hungary                 ---   58%
PUERTO RICO  ---   54%
Moldova                 ---   45%

 Yee-haw! We got Ourselves a #2!

Only two countries appear in "Overall Lowest Rate" and "Lowest Male Rate": Moldova and Us. Moldova ranks as one of, if not the most unhappy nation in the world and yet We have "happily" ranked near the top.  Their lack of employment and opportunities makes them miserable, while Our non-desire for employment and lack of respectable, dignified opportunities is covered up by a thick layer of government handouts.

And corruption.

How else can We explain an economy where roughly 55% of Our working-age adults don't and still manage to be high-volume consumers, unless We point out welfare, the underground economy and illegal activities? The gap in labor-force participation is obviously caused by Our men, who not only have fallen far behind Our women in education levels, they are consequently dropping in earning power.

And lest you think this is some recent phenomenon, as in last year or so, here are statistics from Nation Master showing that in 2008 Puerto Rico ranked 172 out of 175 countries in Overall Labor-Force Participation Rate, with Our men coming in 173rd out of 175 countries.

Unlike most of those other countries, with real economies, Puerto Rico's "upwardly mobile" middle class is basically a tiny sliver of the working population, composed primarily of single women and young married couples where both work, the so-called DINKs (Double Income, No Kids.). The rest of the workers are government drones, part-timers, professionals, political skanks and freelancers, with a smidgen of academics thrown in.

We don't have enough workers to make things happen. We don't have enough opportunities to make dreams come alive. And We don't have enough men willing to do the right thing, to earn their way and build a better tomorrow.

In this, Our women are closer to the top...and Our men are stuck at the bottom, where #2 belongs.



The Jenius Has Spoken.