It's easy for somebody to take anecdotal evidence and then apply it to everybody else. This is not how life works however; one size does not fit all. Unfortunately I read it all too often online: "Well I was able to, so obviously then everybody else should to."

I watched a lot of people lose their jobs in life. One friend lost his about a year ago and was employed shortly thereafter. He's in this mid twenties, white, and good looking. Soon after, he posted on FB how if anybody really wanted a job, they get one. After all he'd lost his job and now landed an even better gig. I had to remind him that it's much easier to get a job when you're young, good looking and white. Lose your job when you're 53 yrs old and see how "easy" it is.

It's easy to tell a alcoholic to quit drinking when you're not a drunk. Easy to tell somebody who is dirt poor to get an education and pull themselves up by their boot straps when you've never experienced the endless cycle of poverty. The lack of empathy in this country is not only naive, but short sighted and disappointing.

I'm watching people on unemployment who have their benefits run out, still not be able to get a job and eventually lose their home to foreclosure. Are we really to believe that they'd rather lose their home rather than take some job that is below them?Other families forced to get their meals from the food bank because they have no money for groceries. Are we to believe they'd rather do this because they feel a job is below them? Surely you jest.

You're also forgetting that not all people have the skills that require them to even look for a job. There is a type of tenacity that exists that drives certain people. Obviously not everybody has this, people become depressed, people aren't sure where/how to start. People are overwhelmed. Not everybody thrives when a crisis hits, many actually fold. It's not some easy formula that anybody can apply, nor does it mean they are lazy.

To try and paint your experiences as the sole truth for everybody else is a dishonest argument,  unrealistic, and void of compassion.