aynrandlover - I’m amazed that you didn’t react to the crucifiction you’re already getting here. Anyway, I am stepping in to support you a bit.
The Ryan - aynrandlover did not state that most unemployed were between jobs, the statement was ‘many’ implying that there was enough of them to make the statistic unreliable for our purposes. Your sarcastic comment about the homeless being between homes was IMO offensive and uncalled for.
Thea Logica - <hijack continued>Unemployment is rediculously low here in the Twin Cities. I know personally one fellow who is a janitor/handy man. He makes $12 and hour. He goes to work drunk and stoned every day and does a pretty shabby job. I talked to his boss once who said he was the best they’d had in years because at least he showed up every day. The 1.4% unemployed are either between jobs or don’t want jobs. There are other places in the country with similar situations. In the last few years, as I have seen unemployment drop, I have also noticed a significant decrease in the competance of fast food and retail workers. The people who have the capability to do these jobs well get trained to do higher paying jobs. I have begun to miss the days of 10% unemployment. If you can’t get a job in modern America, there must be something wrong with you. OTOH, there are unemployed who don’t want to accept a job that doesn’t take advantage of skills that they have because accepting a lower salary can sometimes jeopardize your ability to get back on a previous career path. There are a million help wanted signs out there, some of them are, like you say, people maintaining an application list. By your own description, these are jobs with high turnovers that will be hiring again in the near future.
I once asked my manager at a restaurant why he put an ad in every Sunday paper when he always had servers begging for more shifts. He said about half the servers he had wouldn’t get any shifts at all if he could find competant servers to fill their positions. He would hire a complete rookie with potential before hiring a veteran who was nothing special, but would rather keep the nothing special waiter who was already trained in our system than bring on a newbie. He kept the ad going in hopes of finding somebody experienced and talented.
My point is, jobs are available, somewhat less so for people with no skills or talents, but what do you expect?</hijack>
<An attempt to get back to the OP>
So, what evidence do we have that the aborted pregnancies would have resulted in largely unemployable people? So far, there the assumption that many of the mothers were incapable or unwilling to raise them properly, supported by the fact that this sounds like a common justification for abortion. Also, there is the study that says that legalized abortion has reduced crime, suggesting that criminals have been eliminated before they were born.
Those of us who are educated generally associate with other educated people, either formally educated or self educated. We tend to expect people to be educated and ethical. This is demonstrably not the case. I am constantly startled by the incompetancy and ignorance of people I encounter at places like The Mall. If legalizing abortion has made things better, then I am glad. It would be better if the potential parents were more responsible BEFORE conception.
Can we stop crediting the strong economy to Alan Greenspan and start crediting Roe vs. Wade? Not yet, we need more evidence.