Help Wanted … Everywhere

I recently spent nearly two weeks traveling through portions of the western U.S., some of it prime tourist country (Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse) and some of it a little less traveled (Thermopolis and Riverton, Wyoming). For grins, we took a side trip to Wall Drug to shop, to eat and to gauge the mood of the traveling public. All totaled, we visited nine states.

I wanted to get a feel for the economy, the perception of the reality behind the numbers. What I found was disturbing.

There were “Help Wanted” and “Now Hiring” signs everywhere, no exceptions. There were businesses shuttered because of the lack of workers. Hotels apologized for the lack of room service, laundry and fresh towels. “We appreciate your patience,” I was told more than once. “What little staff we have is running itself ragged just to keep up with the basics.”

At one restaurant in Hill City, South Dakota – a place that gets rave reviews for its food – an obviously weary assistant manager seated guests, brought drink orders, delivered the eventual platters of food, handled refills and extra requests, was the cashier when it came time to collect, and then bussed the tables, clearing the old dishes and making the tables ready for the next customers.  He might even have helped cook the food. I couldn’t say for sure.

Service was slow, and some patrons were not understanding. When I had a chance, I complimented him on his hustle and his patient demeanor. How long, I asked, is your shift?

“I came on just before our breakfast this morning. My relief called in sick, so I will be here until midnight.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I wish I could say this is rare, but it’s happening a lot. We’re all worn out. We need more help but no one really wants to work.” I tipped the young man well but I doubt very many of the other diners did, judging by their grumbling.

His was a common refrain. A successful bar-b-que joint in Florida closed its doors, at least temporarily because “no one really wants to work.” Job openings are at an all-time high, wage offerings are up, but the desire to take those jobs isn’t there. In my home town, a seemingly successful automotive and truck tire store went under because they couldn’t find the workers needed to deliver prompt service. Husband AND wife are now working jobs and paying off debt. And not happy.

This is America?

It isn’t easy to kill a market economy, but it can be done. You do it by creating barriers to employment. You impose lockdowns (“for two weeks, to slow the spread”) that go on for months. You pay millions of workers extra unemployment money (out of compassion, of course) to wait it out. You send out stimulus checks to everybody, even people who are “essential workers” and you promise more to come.

Some people, those of a certain maturity, decide to retire, to live on pensions or social security. It’s hard to blame them. Other people get comfortable with not working, instead waiting for the next handout. Some people were living on the margins anyway, and their new reality is not that different from the old reality, except that they more fervently believe that the government will step in to save them; indeed, that it has a moral obligation to do so.

Expecting government of any kind to exercise moral judgment is an iffy proposition. Human nature being what it is, you can count on government to do only a couple of things well: wield power and levy taxes. Everything else, no matter how well meant, is usually inefficient.

In a year and a half, we have seen one of the most vibrant economies on record stripped of its robust character. I am not referring to the former president, although the phrase certainly fits. We have replaced one administration with another that is using many of the old collectivist techniques that have failed everywhere they have been tried. It should be no surprise that people who do not trust or understand market economies will insist on policies that work against them.

The overarching excuse is that we have a pandemic that threatens lives. This, despite the fact, that the overall numbers compiled by the Centers for Disease Control do not make the case for it.  Recent headlines screamed that 1 out of every 500 people who contract Covid-19 die (it’s actually 1 out of 528). That sounds horrible, right?  But do the math. I know, it’s kind of scienc-y, but as bumper stickers across this fair land declare, “Science is real!”  The percentage of death is .002 percent. Which means that if you contract Covid you have a 99.8 percent chance of survival. I’m in the supposed “high risk” group, but I’ll take those odds. Read that again: 99.8 percent chance of survival. Of beating the 21st Century version of the Black Plague. Which it obviously isn’t.

And yet we have turned our economic house upside down. Small businesses, not just restaurants but all sorts of enterprises, have closed by the thousands. Small business, in case you did not know, hires more people than the big corporate entities.  And now the government is pushing a mandate that would bar employment for workers of any business that hires over 100 people. Explain why 100 is the magic number? If this is a good idea, then why not 50? Or 10? Or 5?  Federal Covid policy changes every week, sometimes every day.

Should I be barred from working because I won’t get “the shot” of a vaccine that, scientifically speaking, isn’t a vaccine but an experimental therapeutic that tricks the body into thinking it has the coronavirus?

How much power do once-free Americans continue to transfer to politicians who take their orders from unelected bureaucrats and administrators?

The people at the top do not seem to care. You should.

Now for a brief sermon. If you believe that human beings are created by God with certain unalienable rights – life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness – then you understand that we have both conscience and free will.  Our Creator wants us to learn to use both responsibly, and He will not deprive us of them.  Unfortunately, there are plenty of mere human beings who are only too happy to inform me that my conscience doesn’t count, and my free will (along with my rights) is conditional and can be modified or eliminated if “the experts” declare it necessary (“for the common good”, of course). Perhaps this is why the federal government, and some state governments, work so hard to diminish and muzzle Christians.  God-talk about the dignity of the human individual, including the right to meaningful work, goes against a “one-size-fits-all” philosophy that sees us as a collective of interest groups that must be controlled.

On a closing note, I have been silent for too long. Busy in life, but quiet. That must change. For me and for everyone who believes that freedom is worth preserving. We have to use our rights of free speech and press to avoid being rolled over by those who seek power over us. It is important that we know what is going on. It’s vital that each day we do the right, moral things so that we can provide hope to the hopeless, and help to those who are confused.