Curiouser & curiouser

The economic news last week was mixed. Reuters swore that things are swell because hiring improved in June—157,000 new jobs, as opposed to 36,000 in May. Meanwhile the WSJ claimed that only 18,000 jobs were added last month, and things are pretty much a mess.

I tend to believe the Journal. Even if Reuters’ numbers are accurate, they don’t take into account the fact that governments at every level are dumping employees like toxic waste. Moreover, as the WSJ reports, both hours and wages for those actually working are headed south.

That was borne out to me when I came across this job posting. Minimum of a bachelor’s degree to clean toilets for $10/hour…part time.

Now, I understand that working around historical artifacts, even with a mop and dustcloth, is not the same as swabbing out a McDonald’s. Ergo the degree. (Although I doubt that my fellow master’s students in the history department at William & Mary who spent two years getting an MA in Museum Studies had this kind of thing in mind.)

But that being the case, what’s up with the barely-more-than-minimum-wage?

The economy is just whacked, that’s all. When hotshot hedge-fund managers rake in millions for bogus deals that result in ruining individuals and institutions alike, and the folks at McDonald’s and the Woodrow Wilson House make $10/hour part-time and without benefits. Then we’ve all fallen down the rabbit hole.

And Reuters has definitely tippled at the Drink Me bottle.