"workers must be actively searching for a job to qualify for unemployment benefits."
That's the wonderful thing about Capitalist systems, there will always be niche opportunities to make money and businesses will pop up like mushrooms to take advantage of said opportunities. The laws here are the same that you must "look" for work if you want the gibs but "recruitment" companies that never placed a single applicant into a job covered that loophole. Bum shows up to meet his requirement of looking for work and "recruitment agency" makes a false record that bum looked for work. "Recruitment agency" gets their fee from the Government and bum gets his check.
My personal philosophy is that if you don't work you don't eat but I'm a bit old school.
The integrity of any system can never be stronger than the weakest link..
If the recruitment agencies are not at least spot-checked and validated regularily by a (dutiful) government body, then the system isn't reliable and definitely up for revision or renewal.
Being somewhat oldschool myself, i can sympathize with the "don't work, don't eat" to some extent.
A absolute legend of Danish politics, Mogens Glistrup, once publicly announced in his campaign to become Danish PM, that he wanted to scrap the social security system and put up oatmeal-automatrons instead..
His party won by a landslide, but the establishment held onto power, forming a minority-government out of sheer fear of this guy.. which probably was somewhat warranted:
Among the partys agendas, was the more or less total dismantlement of the existing system and asked what his title would be in government, he replied: " i'll be Minister for the dismantling of the public sector"..
Uh, sidetracked..
My understanding of basic human rights in a western society is the following: Food in the stomach, roof over your head, clothes on your body and no gibs me dats.. you work for any extras.
Context of the above: i'm a citizen in Denmark; a country provinding ample "gibs" to any and every citizen: social security for everyone, free healthcare and free education.. err, edit that last one; society provides 11 ys. of (obligatory) free school and will pay you to educate yourself further. Ie: you can obtain a university-degree/doctorate for free and will be paid throughout the entiety of this effort..
Don't ask me why i'm not all for third world freeloaders; it should be obvious..
(post is archived)