Here’s a little bit of sunshine in the midst of the recession storm. Under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, students heading into public service careers can decrease, or eliminate altogether, their student loans. To mitigate the financial cost of schooling and the low pay in the public sector, the federal government will either reduce loan payments based on family size and income or forgive loans completely.

Those public service jobs aren’t looking too shabby now, are they? Now that I’ve got your attention, the careers that will benefit from this program include military, volunteering, teaching, and legal or medical practice in under-privileged areas. Considering the stability that we currently see in these careers, this is definitely something to look in to. You won’t be a millionaire, but you will have a job and you won’t have to sweat over your student loan payments.

For all of the boring (but important) info on how this works, click here.
 

Nobody likes a party pooper. But I can’t see stupidity and just let it stand, especially when it’s going to mislead thousands of already disadvantaged job-seekers. The harmful stupidity I refer to is an article on CNN.com called Ten promising jobs for class of 2009 (but don’t go there just yet, I have some explaining to do). The article, written by Careerbuilder, is a blatant example of how some companies will spread misinformation just to sell a product.

What’s so bad about the article? I’ll tell you what. The article claims to compile a list of growing jobs for the year of 2009, saying:

“To help your search and calm your nerves, we’ve put together a list of 10 jobs that college grads should look for this year.” 

Then, claiming to compile data from the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ (NACE) Job Outlook 2009 and the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook, they come up with a list of ten “healthy” job sectors. In reality, however, they flat out disregard data from NACE and quote outdated, pre-financial meltdown numbers from BLS (their handbook was written before 2006 and the world has changed considerably since then).

Let’s see what NACE really had to say about job prospects in 2009:

“College Hiring Flat for Class of 2009’
“Current projected hiring for the Class of 2009 shows very little growth over the hiring levels for the Class of 2008, but no expected decline.”

In fact, NACE found marked decreases in recruiting in business services (-3.1%) and only tiny increases in Professional Services (1.7%).

Then they use statistics from before 2006 to fabricate some sunny news. I mean, they used numbers created in 2005. In 2005, people still thought adjustable rate mortgages were a great idea. Americans liked George W. Bush enough to vote him in for a second term. People thought that in money markets, the stock market, and the real estate market the sky was the limit. Needless to say, things were different.

This should tick off anyone who knows anything about projections and the job market. There is no way these numbers are accurate for our times. There is no way the writer, Careerbuilder, or CNN actually thought this was based on solid facts. And yet, CNN has allowed Careerbuilder to slap this crap up on their page and pass it off as journalism, as advice to embattled job-seekers.

Kind of makes you sick, doesn’t it?

The writer of this article knows better. Careerbuilder knows better. CNN definitely knows better. Kind of makes you wonder what other crap they are feeding us.

Check out the crap for yourself…

A group of citizens on the Hawaiian island of Kauai took matters into their own hands. A main road into Polihale State Park had been destroyed by flooding, threatening business owners who relied on state park traffic for business. The State of Hawaii said it couldn’t afford to embark on the $4-million-dollar repair job. So, instead of waiting, business owners and residents did the job themselves for free. Even more impressive, they completed the job in a mere 8 days.

I’ve said a lot on this blog about the positive effects a recession or a depression could have on self-reliance. I am a huge proponent of self-reliance. I believe in compassion and help for the down-trodden and under-privileged, but all with the goal of getting them standing on their own two feet. In fact, I value self-reliance more than comfort or wealth creation. In other words, I believe that knowing that you are able to provide the necessities of life without leaning on others generates far more satisfaction than having a new sports car or a blinged out watch.

For that reason, stories like this one from Kauai get me excited. Strangely, it actually gets me excited about our economic “dire straits.” Why? Because it is a small indicator that we are being forced to return to our real American roots.

There are other small indicators, too. The fact that Obama has to beg people to refinance on their mortgages. News stories about families returning to backyard gardens. Record drops in consumer credit card usage. Numerous other news stories show Americans rejecting the illusion of undisciplined, credit-fueled consumerism for a clear-eyed, work-centric philosophy of self-reliance.

People say America is going down the toilet. I say we’re coming back to our senses.