Why's the participation rate so low?

In a shocking departure from historical precedent, a sitting American president acknowledged one of the major issues actually facing real American citizens. In a conversation with David Simon, creator of HBO's The Wire, President Obama mentioned that the economy has rebounded and many new jobs are being added. Standard stuff, but then he actually referenced the historically bad labor force participation rate, according to which, 37.2% of eligible American citizens are not in the labor force.

Obama and Simon seemed to agree the reason so many people aren't in the labor force is because so many millions of nonviolent offenders have criminal records making it all but impossible to get a job. This was all in the context of Simon pleading for a less insane drug enforcement policy, using the low labor force participation rate as exhibit A of the unintended negative effects of the draconian war on drugs.

This certainly has some impact on the unprecedentedly, disastrously bad labor force participation rate. But even with a reduction in the number of people given criminal records for nonviolent, marijuana related crimes, that 37.2% would likely still be in the high 20s. There is a deeper problem. And even if these people could get the newly added jobs Obama boasts of in our rebounding economy, they aren't jobs that anyone would want. They aren't good jobs, and the reasonable response of these people would be returning to whatever "deviance" got them in trouble in the first place.

But there is of course a much deeper problem. The insidious, entrenched issue is that even college educated citizens with no criminal records and every possible advantage to have a shot at starting a reasonably respectable career are met with rejection at every turn. It is all but impossible for someone with good grades from a good school to get a job in a career that they are interested in. The reasonable response to spending years and years sending out thousands of resumes, many of which are paired with personalized, painstakingly crafted plaintive pleas to be able to start a life cover letters is to give up. At a certain point, being discouraged is not only merited, but the only reasonable thing to do.

Getting your resume past the robotic gatekeepers is only the first step, and most people will not even be able to do this. Being rejected after a few seconds of consideration from an actual human hiring manager is considered a victory. Being rejected after being invited in for an actual in-person interview is an amazing, kingly coup. Actually getting a decent job and joining the middle class is an absurd, rock-star scenario reserved for only the luckiest and most exceptional.

Withdrawing from the labor force, as so very many millions have done, is a vote of no confidence in a system that could not possibly have made it any clearer that it is completely closed off from you. It has nothing to do with the excessive criminalization of drug-related activities. It has everything to do with people who do everything right and are ready, willing, able, and qualified to work, with very pricey degrees and certifications, having absolutely no chance to do so.