This morning I listened to a piece that I think is worthy of comment. Apparently there is a shortage of labor to work in the tourist industry in New England and elsewhere around the country this summer. The jobs are temporary so they are normally filled by temporary workers from the Caribbean who come here to work, spend a lot of money and then return home.
It is very good for local economies. Small business owners, however, are complaining that they will have to cut back their businesses and cancel bookings because of the shortage.
It turns out that the Trump administration is reducing temporary worker visas, I presume in order to make those jobs more available to Americans. The problem is that these jobs don’t pay much and they are temporary. Not many Americans will take this part-time, low paying work. They can usually do better. What should we do?
It is news only in the sense that American workers have been complaining about the lack of jobs available. Of course they are talking about a lack of good jobs, you know, the ones that pay a living wage and provide health benefits, retirement, etc.
Well, those jobs have disappeared. Small businesses do not feel they can afford the luxury of providing fringe benefits. American workers cannot afford to live on less than a living wage. I do not use the term “minimum wage” because everyone knows that is not a “living wage.”
We can all see the problem. American consumers want high quality goods and services that are expensive, but they do not, or will not, pay what providers consider enough for them. So we are in a squeeze.
If we mandate a minimum wage that is a living wage (with benefits) we are told that it will eliminate jobs which will reduce goods and services. If we do not mandate a minimum wage that is a living wage the lower paying jobs will go unfilled even though there are plenty of workers who would take those jobs if they paid enough.
In the past we have opened our borders to temporary foreign workers who are willing to take these jobs as economic circumstances are even worse where they come from. Now, however, things have changed. We no longer want immigrants infecting our society and are unwilling to offer them a future here. Never mind that each and every one of us are descendants of immigrants who came here for the same reasons they come today.
Virtually everyone is angry and dissatisfied with the downward spiral of American workers. Let’s face it. This is not the same country it was 70 years ago when we were the greatest in the world and there were good paying jobs a plenty. What has happened? How could we let this happen?
Could it be that American workers have been sold out in favor of corporate profits? It is a lot cheaper to manufacture sneakers in Vietnam than America. I wonder why the big American corporations didn’t move their entire operations to the Pacific. I guess management didn’t want to live in Hanoi.
Let’s see. Make it cheap overseas, sell it high in the U.S. Good for the bottom line, bad for America. Clever game, isn’t it? Corporate profits trump patriotism. It’s the new American way.
Remember, we live in a self-governing democracy where there is equality for all and every citizen has a say in the affairs of government. Unfortunately since the rise of the corporate state, the people are left out of the prosperity.
We, the people, have stood by silently as our country has been taken over by the wealthy elite that feels that it has earned the right to govern. Dwight Eisenhower famously warned in 1961 when leaving office that we should beware of the unwarranted acquisition of power by the military-industrial complex.
Well, that“unwarranted acquisition of power” has occurred, except that it is not the “military-industrial complex” anymore. It is the “corporate controlled government” that has acquired so much power.
Ours is supposed to be a government “of the people, by the people, for the people,” but it isn’t. It is a government of the people, by the people, for the corporate state. What happened?
Now we must do everything within our power to re-assert our constitutionally given power. Enough of this plutocracy. Corporations are not people. They should not have the rights of people.
It is right and proper to demand fair government and even-handedness. According to our constitution, the government has a duty to serve the people, not corporations. We have the right to demand justice and fairness to all.
I don’t see that in this government. All I can see is bias in favor of corporate elites. That must change for the good of the country. Once elected, officials must abandon partisan politics and do what is right for all Americans.
David Browning
Peachtree City, Ga.
