"Jason and the Far-Go-Not’s": Globalosers & the Paradox of Failure

in a Global Economic System

R. Blaine Everson, PhD and Denise D. Everson, MEd

The tale of Jason and the Argonauts is one known by many around the world (Martin 1991). Jason and the Argonauts were sent on a quest for the Golden Fleece by the King Pelias, his wicked uncle. The fleece had been placed in a grove on the other side of the world by Phrixus, after he and his sister, Helle, rode the Golden Ram sent by Zeus to help him escape sacrifice at the hands of his father, Athamas (Jason’s great-grandfather). Jason and the Argonauts sailed around the known world and into many adventures. Among his crew were other yet-to-be famous heroes of antiquity including Heracles, Perseus, and Orpheus (Buxton, 2004). Along the way, they received divine guidance and tools to aid them in their journey. Jason was a young man of misfortune, who was sent on a "fool’s errand" in order to earn his rightful place in his father’s kingdom (Martin, 1991).

The mythical journey of the men (and woman) of the Argo is a metaphor for the journey each young person must undertake in order to find their place in modern society. In this particular case, we are interested in the study of late adolescents and young adults who seem unable to transition into their "rightful place", in education or in an occupation. Jason and the Argonauts were given magical tools and received assistance from powerful outside benefactors to aid them in their journey, but what tools and assistance are provided to the Far-Go-Not’s?

The Far-Go-Not’s are a euphemism for a group of individuals who are confused about their sense of purpose, or "rightful place" in our social system. In a more general sense, Far-Go-Not’s refer to young adults impacted by a lack of support from families, schools, communities, and the shifting economic, political, and educational policies, as they prepare to launch or emerge from adolescence into young adulthood. In one particular case, these young people have moved frequently to find cheap rent in substandard housing, experienced legal problems resulting from substance use, have worked a series of minimum wage jobs, and have begun their own families at a time when they could least afford to do so. They have banded together in a three to four couple (pair-bond) group with a revolving affiliation of temporary peripheral members.

This paper focuses on the intersection between the social institutions of family, education, and economics, and uses a family vulnerabilities (vs. resiliency) approach to better understand the problems that some young people experience in finding successful ways to meet the challenges associated with competing in an expanding globalized economic market where entry level jobs are scarce in some areas. The failure of certain groups of young people to successfully transition into adulthood seems symptomatic of a larger set of social problems and failure of several social institutions.

Prospective outcomes include the construction of an explanatory model to provide the basis for further research into the macro-micro dynamic for individuals within groups, transnational interactions between groups of similar individuals, and the interface between these group members and the larger socioeconomic system. Implications will be provided for improvement of current programming, future program development, and community level economic planning and initiatives. The ultimate outcome revolves around finding ways to disrupt this cycle before these vulnerabilities are passed down through subsequent generations.

An up-close study of a globally integrated social system, such as Ireland’s, serves to highlight the differences that exists in our own economic practices and family systems, where providing real jobs at a livable wage is often less important than corporate outcomes. This has been the case in many areas of Georgia over the past twenty five years as a result of increasing trends toward globalization, where the importation of new skilled jobs has not kept pace with outsourcing of labor to other countries.

Ireland has the fastest growing population within the European Union. In recent decades the Irish economy has been transformed from agrarian and traditional manufacturing to one increasingly based on the hi-tech and internationally traded services sectors. In 2006, the services sector accounted for 67% of employment, industry for 27%, and agriculture for 6%. Ireland's turnaround began in the 1960s when the government made secondary education free, enabling working-class youth to get a high school or technical degree. As a result, when Ireland joined the European Union in 1973, it had a much more educated workforce. In the mid-1980s, the government, labor unions, farmers, and industrialists agreed on a program of fiscal austerity, slashing corporate taxes to 12.5%, far below the rest of Europe, moderating wages and prices, and courting foreign investment. In 1996, college education was basically free, creating an even more educated workforce. Ireland’s low corporate tax rate and highly skilled labor pool create a favorable investment opportunity for industry.

Today, nine out of 10 of the world's top pharmaceutical companies have operations in Ireland, as do 16 of the top 20 biotech companies and seven of the top 10 software leaders. In 2004, Ireland experienced a 4.3% unemployment rate (the lowest in the European Union and lower than that of the U.S.) and has one of the youngest populations in Europe with over 36% under the age of 25 years.

Ireland presents a more ideal model of what happens to a country which opens itself up to the forces of globalization, one in which political, economic and educational policies are designed to aid its’ members in their "quest" for their place or purpose. Ireland has demonstrated the ability to adopt and adapt to change in a unique way that connects innovation, knowledge, people and enterprise to meet the fast-evolving demands of world markets.

In the mid-twentieth century, the United States federal government provided federally subsidized loans for homeownership and education in order to stimulate economic growth and make achieving the "American Dream" more of a reality for young people of lower and middle class backgrounds. Today’s economic practices and policies seem less family friendly by comparison. Changes in political climate and shifts in the economy encourage shortsightedness among corporate economic practices. In order to reduce overhead costs, many corporations find monetary gains by outsourcing or off-shoring jobs, reducing jobs in the manufacturing sector. The effects of our dependency on foreign trade are evident in everything from gas prices to the cost of food.

Our educational policies have also shifted, forcing states to rely heavily on federal dollars that may come with a heavy price tag. In 2003, only 56% of Georgia’s students graduated from high school. Basically, 44% of the working-age population is vying for jobs for which they lack basic educational requirements. After investing over $1.1 billion in education, the state saw an improvement to 70.8% in 2006, but what is the real cost? Stricter federal education policies require criterion based testing. True graduation rates and test scores are difficult to assess, due to the lack of guidelines for tracking and reporting as required by the US Department of Education. By tying federal funding to testing scores, the education system has essentially created an incentive for school systems to shepherd certain groups of students out of the testing pool, thereby improving their testing scores and increasing their federal funding.

In Georgia, middle grade social studies test scores were recently isolated from the federal reports by the State Superintendent of Schools, because only 30% of middle grade youth passed the state-wide exam. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (May 21, 2008) the state’s school system will not report these score to the U.S. Department of Education as is required under the Bush Administration’s No-Child-Left-Behind policy. This one case illustrates a trend toward the education system’s growing lack of concern for a class of people who are unable to compete in the new workforce, where labor jobs are scarce and professional jobs require increased levels of education.

In the midst of these social changes, the most basic institution in society, our families, find themselves increasingly vulnerable. Families become disillusioned, relationships become strained and experience increased conflict, people can’t find solace in the relationships, we experience an increased incidence of drug and alcohol abuse. These family stressors can leave young people feeling helpless and vulnerable, especially as they emerge into adulthood. The family form is evolving, and there is much diversity in family systems. It is not acceptable if family systems fail family members. Due to political, economic, and educational practices, individuals are left with fewer options from which to choose. If families fail, how can we expect the individuals to create a stable world of their own? Some would argue that individuals must find ways to succeed regardless of personal circumstances (Dalrymple, 2005), yet an ever growing array of political and economic forces persistently have a negative impact on individuals.

In many cases, multiple systemic failures of the educational, political, and economic institutions at the local, state, and societal levels has left many of our families, especially in more rural areas of the state, living at or below the poverty level. In contrast, the Irish government, by embracing the change associated with globalization, has attempted to offset the negative impacts of economic shifts caused by the movement of people and the inevitable changes in communities when work disappears. Jason and the Argonauts knew that they needed every person in order to complete their journey. They did not risk losing anyone needlessly. Our society has embraced economic and educational policies that deny our families access to the tools they need to succeed. In essence, we have chosen to leave certain individuals behind if we don’t deem them to be necessary.

For many the transitions from phase of life to another are seamless, yet for others this forward movement is hampered by their circumstances (Bauman, 2004). This work hopefully provides a basis for understanding of the paradoxical nature of existing in a world-wide system where technology is accessed as a form of communication by many individuals who may otherwise be unsuccessful because of the local economic changes wrought by the very technology they routinely utilize. Often these young adults possess technological skills, yet are unemployable or employed in menial jobs, because of failure to complete their secondary educations, the result of vulnerabilities created by disrupted family lives, or a lack of skilled jobs due to the global trend toward outsourcing. For all of the individuals who are the focus of this project, the subsequent outcome has been a failure to transition through the "launching phase" into adulthood. Their vulnerabilities stem from a lack of preparedness, yet many of these individuals demonstrate resiliency by pooling what resources they possess into group endeavors or remaining within a setting where economic support is provided. Our fear is that the failures we are witnessing in many young people may be evidence of a downward mobility in the entire working class resulting from institutional failures in American society. These failures coupled with our unrealistic expectations for these young adults may constitute today’s version of the "golden fleece", and their perilous journey through adulthood could be deemed a fool’s errand indeed.

What do young adults need to succeed?

Do these individuals have a quest?

Do they know what the purpose of their quest?

Jason was given magical tools to help with his quest – what tools are we giving the Far-Go-Not’s?

References

Bauman, Z. (2004). Liquid life. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Buxton, R. (2004). The complete world of Greek mythology. London: Thames & Hudson.

Dalrymple, T. (2005). Our culture, what’s left of it. Chicago, Illinois: Ivan R. Dee.

Martin R. P. (1991). In T. Bulfinch (Ed.), Bulfinch’s mythology. New York: Harper-Collins.