Big Hole Valley
Fucking August.
Nothing happens.
I think it’s because most of the bureaucrats are on vacation.
Yeah…vacation.
If you’re like me or countless other millennials out there, a vacation is something you had while you were in school.
We know full-well that the piss-ant jobs we’re expected to scrape the bottom of the barrel for now sure as shit don’t offer vacation.
Oh, you can take some time off…just don’t expect to get paid for it and, well, probably best not to expect to have a job waiting for you when you ‘get back.’
Yes, I’m talking about the service industry again.
Nothing happens.
I think it’s because most of the bureaucrats are on vacation.
Yeah…vacation.
If you’re like me or countless other millennials out there, a vacation is something you had while you were in school.
We know full-well that the piss-ant jobs we’re expected to scrape the bottom of the barrel for now sure as shit don’t offer vacation.
Oh, you can take some time off…just don’t expect to get paid for it and, well, probably best not to expect to have a job waiting for you when you ‘get back.’
Yes, I’m talking about the service industry again.
Reassessing Montana Employment
I know you don’t really want to hear about jobs. Hell, maybe you’re one of the types that's using that taxpayer-funded vacation right now.
For you, there’s MT Cowturd (inane conversation on guns going on) and ID (another Zinke post).
Alas, this site doesn’t specialize in that kind of bullshit.
Instead we focus on issues affecting the shit-on-shoes Montanans, or those with little to nothing to their name besides a sink full of dirty dishes and nary a pot to piss in.
These are the people making around $12,000 a year, using food stamps, and barely scraping by.
We don’t like to think about them, and when we see them out and about, we turn our eyes away.
We’re ashamed of them, and perhaps a bit ashamed of ourselves as well for letting the situation worsen so much.
We often like to point our finger at Walmart when it comes to this kind of existence, with their minimum wage jobs and taxpayer-subsidized workers.
We blame Walmart but we blame the workers as well.
Why didn’t they get an education…why did they have so many kids…why don’t they save money…why don’t they work more…why are they doing this to me?
I feel our Montana employment graphs are wholly inadequate to address this problem, so I went ahead and re-jiggered one from 2013 today.
Voila!
For you, there’s MT Cowturd (inane conversation on guns going on) and ID (another Zinke post).
Alas, this site doesn’t specialize in that kind of bullshit.
Instead we focus on issues affecting the shit-on-shoes Montanans, or those with little to nothing to their name besides a sink full of dirty dishes and nary a pot to piss in.
These are the people making around $12,000 a year, using food stamps, and barely scraping by.
We don’t like to think about them, and when we see them out and about, we turn our eyes away.
We’re ashamed of them, and perhaps a bit ashamed of ourselves as well for letting the situation worsen so much.
We often like to point our finger at Walmart when it comes to this kind of existence, with their minimum wage jobs and taxpayer-subsidized workers.
We blame Walmart but we blame the workers as well.
Why didn’t they get an education…why did they have so many kids…why don’t they save money…why don’t they work more…why are they doing this to me?
I feel our Montana employment graphs are wholly inadequate to address this problem, so I went ahead and re-jiggered one from 2013 today.
Voila!
As you can see, 36% of our workforce is in the service industry.
This is an industry with terribly low wages, virtually no union representation, and no healthcare or benefits to speak of.
Despite those hardships, nothing is ever said about improving these people’s lives and our politicians barely even pay lip service to this group anymore.
For the most part, we’re ashamed of this 36% of our state.
Coming up next we have government taking up 20% of all jobs in Montana.
You’ll remember from my books that the 1940s are really to blame for this rise, as the state saw a 2,400% increase in local government workers during that time, and a 215% and 237% increase in state and federal workers, respectively.
Government in Montana has never stopped growing since that time, despite a hiring freeze here and there.
These jobs have decent pay that goes up every few years, they have marginal union representation when the more dominant teaching faction allows it, and they have healthcare and benefits.
We value these workers, although we lift our lip and sneer at them many times as well.
Next up for the state is building stuff and healthcare, which are both tied at 11% of our workforce.
Building stuff is construction jobs and manufacturing, including wood products.
After that we get finance, farming (which I call growing stuff – wait for legal pot, oh boy!) and transportation.
Natural resources comes in dead last for Montana employment numbers.
Now, let me explain a few things.
The graph I used to get that information only goes up to 98.9%.
Also, the graph I used had 21 slices…which I then reduced to 8.
I did that by combining the previous 6 slices of service-oriented work, which included:
- Accommodation and food services
- Professional and technical services
- Other services, except public administration
- Administrative and waste services
- Arts, entertainment, and recreation
- Wholesale trade
Those are all service industries, whether you’re wearing a silly uniform or a shirt and tie. More, we know that many of our ‘artists’ will be working on the side, likely in the service industry.
Many of our government jobs could qualify as service industry jobs, as the person is primarily dealing with the public and performing a service.
I feel I should have put “real estate and rental and leasing” in the service industry category as well, because again, that’s pretty much what they do – take your money for a service.
There’s no food involved and it’s a bit cleaner than most service jobs, but gosh darn, you’re still performing a service for the customer in a timely and cost-efficient manner, and you’re expected to deliver results.
I did decide to put “management companies and enterprises” in the government category as I feel most will be contracting with government for work.
So that’s what I did.
I wish the state gave us more info like this, but we have nothing since 2013.
When they do produce anything like it they bury it in a PDF which Google can’t detect and most users never download.
Government likes it that way, as its politicians have instructed it to be as opaque as possible.
Revenue ‘Gripes’
Speaking of how inconsequential natural resources are to most Montanans, did you see the budget numbers?
We know that we collected $1.75 billion in taxes in 2015.
We know that for 2016, however, coal tax revenues will be down $7.3 million.
How in God’s name are we going to make up that 0.04% of our state’s revenue?
Well, by cutting funding for library databases, of course!
Yeah, fuck students.
We’ve been saying it for years in this state, why change our attitude now?
Aside from that we’ll fire some Crow Indians, because you know what? Fuck them too!
Hell, they’re Indians…who gives a shit?
No one.
We know that we collected $1.75 billion in taxes in 2015.
We know that for 2016, however, coal tax revenues will be down $7.3 million.
How in God’s name are we going to make up that 0.04% of our state’s revenue?
Well, by cutting funding for library databases, of course!
Yeah, fuck students.
We’ve been saying it for years in this state, why change our attitude now?
Aside from that we’ll fire some Crow Indians, because you know what? Fuck them too!
Hell, they’re Indians…who gives a shit?
No one.
Public Lands? Save It
Please don’t be foolish enough to expect to hear any of this talk of students or Indians on the campaign trail…wherever that campaign trail is.
Gianforte seems to be going everywhere, but Bullock stays very close to Helena and his safe-zones in the cities.
And let’s face it – if it ain’t about public lands it probably isn’t going to be an issue anytime soon.
Ah, yes…public lands.
The places the non-service industry workers flock to on their weekends, during their vacations, and perhaps during the summer when the kids have some time off from their summer programs.
Pile the shit into the Subaru or SUV, fill the backdoor bike rack to capacity, and put that boat on a trailer behind it – we’re going to the lake/forest/river/stream/trail/whatever!
Um…how much does all that shit cost?
Oh, I guess you can take your car alone to those places but…boring!
And why in the hell did we build up a multi-million (if not billion) dollar recreation industry if you’re not going to buy all its shit so you can properly enjoy those public lands?
Oh, that’s right…because you’re a poor bastard with a shitty job, no benefits, and sure as shit no union to give a damn.
But hot damn, pal, you’d better get excited about those public lands because the rich out-of-staters are gonna to take ‘em away.
I’m sorry, but if the rich out-of-staters are the only ones that can afford to go to the damn places now, why would they take them away?
I guess if you’re a kooky Jennifer Fielder or one of those damn Mormons, then yes, you might want to.
But most of the rich assholes don’t have this on their agenda.
They just want tax cuts, see the continuation of our negative capital gains tax, and make sure there's less wasteful spending on poor bastards in minimum wage jobs. Conveniently, with no union representation that last one is damn easy to get!
So please don’t expect me to get excited about your fondness for public lands, either in conversation, on social media, or here.
You might go to them frequently, but most of the workers in our largest employment sector do not, and that ain’t changin’.
Public lands: please save that bullshit for the well-off.
Gianforte seems to be going everywhere, but Bullock stays very close to Helena and his safe-zones in the cities.
And let’s face it – if it ain’t about public lands it probably isn’t going to be an issue anytime soon.
Ah, yes…public lands.
The places the non-service industry workers flock to on their weekends, during their vacations, and perhaps during the summer when the kids have some time off from their summer programs.
Pile the shit into the Subaru or SUV, fill the backdoor bike rack to capacity, and put that boat on a trailer behind it – we’re going to the lake/forest/river/stream/trail/whatever!
Um…how much does all that shit cost?
Oh, I guess you can take your car alone to those places but…boring!
And why in the hell did we build up a multi-million (if not billion) dollar recreation industry if you’re not going to buy all its shit so you can properly enjoy those public lands?
Oh, that’s right…because you’re a poor bastard with a shitty job, no benefits, and sure as shit no union to give a damn.
But hot damn, pal, you’d better get excited about those public lands because the rich out-of-staters are gonna to take ‘em away.
I’m sorry, but if the rich out-of-staters are the only ones that can afford to go to the damn places now, why would they take them away?
I guess if you’re a kooky Jennifer Fielder or one of those damn Mormons, then yes, you might want to.
But most of the rich assholes don’t have this on their agenda.
They just want tax cuts, see the continuation of our negative capital gains tax, and make sure there's less wasteful spending on poor bastards in minimum wage jobs. Conveniently, with no union representation that last one is damn easy to get!
So please don’t expect me to get excited about your fondness for public lands, either in conversation, on social media, or here.
You might go to them frequently, but most of the workers in our largest employment sector do not, and that ain’t changin’.
Public lands: please save that bullshit for the well-off.
Making the Rounds
I see that Logicosity has a pretty good summation of the shit that’s about to hit the fan in HD 51.
Matt Rosendale’s son is running in that race, and his past is sketchy.
I’m not sure they need some out-of-state youngster representing them there in Billings.
Maybe if he was from Montana he’d have a decade or two of knowledge about the state.
As of now I just see Rosendale acting as a very visibly-stringed-puppet for the rich and the strange.
Martin Kidston over at the Missoula Current tells us of the continued problems at the Missoulian, or what he calls “the slow collapse of Lee.”
My Goodness, what a failure Kathy Best has been.
On the job for about a month now and she’s left the local reporter job vacant?
It’s been vacant since Kidston walked away from those duties in January.
Well, more power to the Missoula Current. I’m sure it’ll continue to ‘dazzle’ us with local niche issues that appeal to an ever smaller demographic.
The bottom line is that the media in Montana sucks ass and the main reason for this is their fixation upon their own bottom line as opposed to getting you the information you need in order to help make this city/state a better place.
To the people at the Missoulian and other Lee papers, as well as those at Gannet and the Montana Television Network, profits will always be more important than people, protecting the corporate status quo a better use of their time than providing readers with truth and insight.
Montana has experienced media busts like this before, and we’ll experience them again, just as we experience the inevitable booms that get us out of them.
Perhaps we’re entering one of those booms now, though I think most alternative Montana media readers know we’ve been in one for awhile now.
Matt Rosendale’s son is running in that race, and his past is sketchy.
I’m not sure they need some out-of-state youngster representing them there in Billings.
Maybe if he was from Montana he’d have a decade or two of knowledge about the state.
As of now I just see Rosendale acting as a very visibly-stringed-puppet for the rich and the strange.
Martin Kidston over at the Missoula Current tells us of the continued problems at the Missoulian, or what he calls “the slow collapse of Lee.”
My Goodness, what a failure Kathy Best has been.
On the job for about a month now and she’s left the local reporter job vacant?
It’s been vacant since Kidston walked away from those duties in January.
Well, more power to the Missoula Current. I’m sure it’ll continue to ‘dazzle’ us with local niche issues that appeal to an ever smaller demographic.
The bottom line is that the media in Montana sucks ass and the main reason for this is their fixation upon their own bottom line as opposed to getting you the information you need in order to help make this city/state a better place.
To the people at the Missoulian and other Lee papers, as well as those at Gannet and the Montana Television Network, profits will always be more important than people, protecting the corporate status quo a better use of their time than providing readers with truth and insight.
Montana has experienced media busts like this before, and we’ll experience them again, just as we experience the inevitable booms that get us out of them.
Perhaps we’re entering one of those booms now, though I think most alternative Montana media readers know we’ve been in one for awhile now.
But…America is Already Great!
I’m sure you’ve heard it by now – celebrities telling you how great America already is.
They’re doing this for Hillary.
Remember, Hillary will be very good to the rich and well-off.
And let’s face it – these celebrities are right. America is already great when it comes to:
Let’s not mention the mass NSA surveillance that pervades our lives, a huge porn industry that helps destroy families, and a host of other national ills that I’m not even touching upon.
Oh yeah, it’s great, baby…it’s great.
They’re doing this for Hillary.
Remember, Hillary will be very good to the rich and well-off.
And let’s face it – these celebrities are right. America is already great when it comes to:
- Our $20 trillion national debt
- The $127 trillion in unfunded liabilities we’ll have by 2027
- The $619 billion military budget we have
- The 35% of Americans dependent upon our institutionalized Welfare State
- Our $864 billion in student loan debt
- The 2.2 million people we have in prison
Let’s not mention the mass NSA surveillance that pervades our lives, a huge porn industry that helps destroy families, and a host of other national ills that I’m not even touching upon.
Oh yeah, it’s great, baby…it’s great.
