tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37203733.post116338119446624948..comments2023-10-31T14:30:37.743+01:00Comments on Bagels by the Spree: A New Yorker in Berlin: Ardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041722389996710872noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37203733.post-1164027184036791442006-11-20T12:53:00.000+00:002006-11-20T12:53:00.000+00:001) Know better than what? I think we do have a Pr...1) Know better than what? I think we do have a Protestant work ethic and people work a lot because it makes them feel good about themselves.<BR/>2) Good point. It's sticky because some of the job (like raking leaves) seem to offer very little in the way of incentive i.e. new skills, yet others, such as nursing home attendant, arguably provide some sort of training.Ardenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09041722389996710872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37203733.post-1163449425318926542006-11-13T20:23:00.000+00:002006-11-13T20:23:00.000+00:00ok 2 things off the top of my head:1) protestant w...ok 2 things off the top of my head:<BR/><BR/>1) protestant work ethic? you know better than that...<BR/><BR/>2) that whole "social reintegration" aspect is missing a very key element: if you're earning bottom of the barrel wages to do a bottom of the barrel job, you're probably going to be treated and feel bottom of the barrel. i'm not the biggest expert on this, no doubt, but you have to have a compromise somewhere. either workfare has to be sustainable of itself (because people are not hugely incentivized to leave the system) or it has to have some built-in promotion of upward mobility. US 1940's era public works <I>had</I> had that kind of safeguard built in, you were not guaranteed labor (it was still a job), you worked in the arts or in construction (i.e. you learned a trade). still, i would not describe the PWA as a model program by any means. my point is this: if cleaning parks is really necessary to relearn the "social capital" needed to hold a real job, then the Berliners have a much bigger problem then they realize.dbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11242477747948702006noreply@blogger.com