{"id":32102,"date":"2009-04-03T01:01:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T02:35:08","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-05-19T02:35:08","modified_gmt":"2011-05-19T02:35:08","slug":"should_the_employed_feel_guilty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/04\/03\/should_the_employed_feel_guilty\/","title":{"rendered":"Should the Employed Feel Guilty?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

RUSH: This appears in the Big Money section of Slate.com: ‘Al is a 31-year-old consultant whose fiancee is currently unemployed. After a tough day at his New York office, he gets off the subway one stop early and walks the 15 minutes home, just to blow off steam before seeing her. ‘She asks how my day was, but when you sit there and start talking about it and realize you hate your job that day, it\u2019s hard to combat the idea that, yeah, I do have a job, I wasn\u2019t part of the unfortunate many,\u2019 he says.\u2019 Can I set the stage for you? Here\u2019s a guy going home to his unemployed fiancee, he\u2019s so mad about being part of the 91.2% of the people in the country who do have jobs, that he feels guilty about it, so he has to walk the final 15 minutes home to burn off steam so that he\u2019s not in a foul humor when he gets home to see the fiancee. <\/p>\n

Oh, yeah, the story I did a few months ago was the guilty survivors who were escaping layoffs at companies. The story focused on the guilty, people who felt guilty \u2019cause they weren\u2019t laid off. I mean, I\u2019ve seen mind control, but this is above and beyond the pale. Unemployment rate, 8.5 percent. That means 91.5 percent of eligible Americans are working, and now there\u2019s a full frontal assault to make \u2019em feel guilty for having a job. ‘She asks how my day was, but when you sit there and start talking about it and realize you hate your job that day, it\u2019s hard to combat the idea that, yeah, I do have a job, I wasn\u2019t part of the unfortunate many. You feel like you can\u2019t really complain, but on the other hand you feel like you\u2019re carrying the stress and the burden of keeping your mouth shut. You know [talking about your day at work] will make the other person feel worse about themselves, because they clearly have something to offer, but they\u2019re just not getting the opportunity.\u2019 Sad, sick, and infuriating. <\/p>\n

‘It seems the economic crisis has curtailed the time-honored tradition of venting about work.\u2019 I need to ask you all a question. I know you can\u2019t all answer it. But here we have this story at Slate.com which purports to describe the attitude of a majority or of many millions of people who are working, it just is a burden. You can\u2019t talk about your job anymore because it\u2019s just not fair because so many people don\u2019t have jobs, and it\u2019s just insensitive to do so, and it\u2019s been a time-honored tradition to vent about work but now you can\u2019t. The question is, are you not talking about your job to people who you think don\u2019t have one because you\u2019re feeling guilty? I would say to this 31-year-old consultant whose fiancee is currently unemployed, ‘If it\u2019s this bad, if the fact that you have a job is causing you this kind of stress, if you have to get off one stop early the subway before you get home to blow off steam, just quit. Quit the job and go on unemployment and feel better about yourself.\u2019 <\/p>\n

‘A 28-year-old writer says, ‘I\u2019m really careful about complaining to my friends about anything work-related, because half of them have recently been laid off, so it\u2019s particularly sensitive. If my mother asks me how I\u2019m doing and I complain about an annoying thing at work, she tells me to basically suck it up because I should be happy to have a job.\u2019 And she is happy to have a job. But, she adds, ‘It does make me feel stuck, because if you\u2019re convincing yourself you\u2019re lucky to have a job, it makes you feel like, ‘I\u2019m lucky to have this job, but this is all I\u2019ll ever do.”\u2019 Good grief. The mind contortions that people with too much time on their hands are going through here. And, of course, this is all very good. This is a new sensitivity. I know those of you new to the program are listening to me talk about this, and you are wondering why I\u2019m being so caustic of these people and their feelings, \u2019cause I think this is childish. And it\u2019s the wrong kind of attitude to have in a circumstance like this. Folks, we are the United States of America. It stands for something, it means something. It\u2019s the greatest nation on earth and we\u2019re not going to stay this way with tiny, lily-livered paranoia, coward-type attitudes like this. <\/p>\n

Whatever happened to the idea of inspiration and motivation? Yeah, it\u2019s one thing to be sympathetic for somebody who\u2019s down on their luck at the moment, but after that, what do you do? Do you join them in their circumstance so they won\u2019t feel as bad? How is that helping you or them? And furthermore, how is it helping the country? On the other hand, if they\u2019re out of work, and you still have a job, and you\u2019re afraid to talk about it, do just the opposite. Talk about it and inspire them. There\u2019s work out there. There\u2019s money with people\u2019s names on it out there to be had. It\u2019s the United States of America. People are getting jobs every month. Yeah, there are people losing jobs, but there are people that get them every month as well. It\u2019s not a zero-sum game out there. But beyond all of that, this kind of attitude is not the stiff upper lip and backbone that built the country. I feel for these people in a way that maybe you don\u2019t understand. I resent and I feel sorry for them at the same time that they have been seduced into feeling this kind of guilt. Guilt does nothing for anybody, and this is self-imposed guilt. <\/p>\n

You know, guilt is one thing, but if you create your own, if you\u2019re just out there telling yourself negative story after negative story after negative story, you\u2019re gonna be a mess. You\u2019re going to be no good to anybody, including yourself. And to start feeling guilty about having a job when other people don\u2019t, the solution\u2019s real easy, real simple. Quit yours if the guilt is just too much to bear. Commiserate with the unfortunate all you want, but then do what you can to get them out of that circumstance. To feel like you can\u2019t talk about what went on at work whether it\u2019s good or bad because it will make somebody who doesn\u2019t have a job feel bad? It\u2019s senseless to me. ‘No, Rush, you\u2019re misunderstanding. It\u2019s the new sensitivity.\u2019 No, it\u2019s not a new sensitivity. It\u2019s been around all too long: ‘An attorney at a top New York law firm, ‘I\u2019m actually starting to resent the fact that I\u2019m not allowed to hate my job, I\u2019m not allowed to have a bad day, because I\u2019m supposed to be so thankful to have a job at all.” <\/p>\n

He\u2019s starting to resent the fact ‘I\u2019m not allowed to hate my job?\u2019 Who is preventing him from hating his job? Who in the world is he granting the power to make him hate his job? He hates his job, but can\u2019t say so. Why? Is somebody zipping his mouth? He\u2019s doing it himself. I guess everybody\u2019s constantly asking everybody else how they\u2019re doing in the economy, and if you say you\u2019re doing just fine, why, that\u2019s just the most insensitive thing you can say. I don\u2019t know, folks. This kind of mealy-mouthed attitude about things and overwrought, self-focus and concern and invented trauma, invented stress is designed to make people think that they\u2019re good people and so forth, but this is the exact wrong way to go around and approach and deal with this kind of problem. It\u2019s been building. <\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Here\u2019s Alex in Austin. <\/p>\n

Alex, welcome to the EIB Network. Hello, sir.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Mega dittos from Austin, Rush. It\u2019s a pleasure.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Thank you, sir.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Listen, I just want to say that you, Hannity, the Great One, you guys inspire me, and, you know, we\u2019re there, and it\u2019s guys like you that just kind of keep things rolling here. I appreciate it.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Thank you, sir, very much.<\/p>\n

CALLER: But I wanted to comment on the young lady with the job situation, you know? I was out of work for about a year and a half. It cost me my house, my car. It cost me my fiancee. It cost me everything.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, it\u2019s not all bad then.<\/p>\n

CALLER: You know, I just couldn\u2019t sit around. I took the last hundred bucks, and I had to start a company so that I could have a job so that I could pay my bills. And, you know, here I am. I\u2019m not going to take any government money. I\u2019m not going to take any handouts.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, wait a minute! You mean you went out and you started your own company, or you created your own job?<\/p>\n

CALLER: With a hundred bucks.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Do you know how insensitive that is? We just had the story that people are feeling guilty who have jobs. You could have been happy as hell to be unemployed! That\u2019s the new status symbol. You had to go out there and blow it? You had to go out and find a job while others can\u2019t? How cruel could you be!<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: We learned earlier in this hour, ladies and gentlemen, that the new chic thing to do is to feel guilty when you have a job. You\u2019re supposed to be guilty that you have a job when others don\u2019t have a job. So let me ask you a question. You people who are, quote, unquote, ‘in shape,\u2019 when you find yourself amongst a bunch of people who are not in shape — maybe a little fat, perhaps obese, do you feel guilty? Do you feel guilty? Do you feel guilty talking about how you just came from your workout and you\u2019re going to go take your quick boost energy supplement drink and all. Do you feel guilty while somebody\u2019s eating a Big Mac and fries? No. What do you do? You look at them and say, ‘You pig! You slob! How dare you eat that stuff? Look at me! I\u2019m the epitome of good shape.\u2019 Yet when we have a job, we are guilty, and when we run across the unemployed, we say, ‘Oh, God! (sobbing) Oh, God. I can\u2019t tell you about my job. It\u2019s such a horrible, rotten thing. I know. My job so rotten! It\u2019s bad that I have a job and you don\u2019t. Oh-ho-ho, please forgive me! I want to talk about my job, but I can\u2019t!\u2019<\/p>\n

But if you\u2019re thin and they\u2019re fat, you call \u2019em a pig and you tell \u2019em how to live. <\/p>\n

Can somebody explain the difference to me?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RUSH: This appears in the Big Money section of Slate.com: ‘Al is a 31-year-old consultant whose fiancee is currently unemployed. After a tough day at his New York office, he gets off the subway one stop early and walks the 15 minutes home, just to blow off steam before seeing her. ‘She asks how my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nShould the Employed Feel Guilty? - The Rush Limbaugh Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2009\/04\/03\/should_the_employed_feel_guilty\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Should the Employed Feel Guilty? - The Rush Limbaugh Show\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"RUSH: This appears in the Big Money section of Slate.com: ‘Al is a 31-year-old consultant whose fiancee is currently unemployed. After a tough day at his New York office, he gets off the subway one stop early and walks the 15 minutes home, just to blow off steam before seeing her. ‘She asks how my […]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125110.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/\",\"name\":\"The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"description\":\"Excellence In Broadcasting\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2009\/04\/03\/should_the_employed_feel_guilty\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125110.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125110.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2009\/04\/03\/should_the_employed_feel_guilty\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2009\/04\/03\/should_the_employed_feel_guilty\/\",\"name\":\"Should the Employed Feel Guilty? - The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2009\/04\/03\/should_the_employed_feel_guilty\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-19T02:35:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-05-19T02:35:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2009\/04\/03\/should_the_employed_feel_guilty\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2009\/04\/03\/should_the_employed_feel_guilty\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2009\/04\/03\/should_the_employed_feel_guilty\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Should the Employed Feel Guilty?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Should the Employed Feel Guilty? - The Rush Limbaugh Show","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2009\/04\/03\/should_the_employed_feel_guilty\/","twitter_card":"summary","twitter_title":"Should the Employed Feel Guilty? - The Rush Limbaugh Show","twitter_description":"RUSH: This appears in the Big Money section of Slate.com: ‘Al is a 31-year-old consultant whose fiancee is currently unemployed. After a tough day at his New York office, he gets off the subway one stop early and walks the 15 minutes home, just to blow off steam before seeing her. ‘She asks how my […]","twitter_image":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125110.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#website","url":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/","name":"The Rush Limbaugh Show","description":"Excellence In Broadcasting","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2009\/04\/03\/should_the_employed_feel_guilty\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125110.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125110.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2009\/04\/03\/should_the_employed_feel_guilty\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2009\/04\/03\/should_the_employed_feel_guilty\/","name":"Should the Employed Feel Guilty? - The Rush Limbaugh Show","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2009\/04\/03\/should_the_employed_feel_guilty\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2011-05-19T02:35:08+00:00","dateModified":"2011-05-19T02:35:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2009\/04\/03\/should_the_employed_feel_guilty\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2009\/04\/03\/should_the_employed_feel_guilty\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2009\/04\/03\/should_the_employed_feel_guilty\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Should the Employed Feel Guilty?"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32102"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32102\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}