Today we are at a crossroads as a nation and as a society, one path will lead us down the road to becoming an entitlement society and the other will allow us to become independent individuals once again. To become independent individuals again where we are not reliant on handouts from the government or indentured to the philosophy of communal salvation, we have to swallow our pride and realize that the hard thing needs to occur and it will come on an individual basis by each and every one of us.
It is said that Americans will not do certain jobs, that it is below us. That is the first thing that needs to change! It is said that we could not survive without the labor of immigrants both legal and illegal and this attitude is the first that needs to be overcome. American citizens at this moment in time are averaging 9.5% reported unemployment and between 14 - 17% under employment. In contrast the immigrant population both legal and illegal is averaging around 4.5% and this is has many factors that Americans helped bring upon themselves.
We have all heard of those that would rather sit on unemployment for the duration until the benefits run out than seek out employment in fields that they did not previously hold. This is part of the problem and this attitude will have to be overcome, be it by force to reduce length of the time that people can be on unemployment or the reduction in moneys paid out. This is swallowing the pride folks and this is something that we all have to do if we ever want to get back on our own two feet and come off of the cycle of borrowing money from foreign countries to pay for our own laissez-faire.
Traditionally the American worker is one who has taken pride in leading the world in productivity, we were the ones who became the arsenal of Democracy around the world out producing the countries that were allied against us during two world wars and the cold war that followed. We led the standard in producing the peacetime products that were sold around the globe, and we became the breadbasket the world over with our agriculture production. Along the way though Americans did the jobs that many refuse to do so now and look to others to do in our steed.
Somewhere along this path the American worker decided that they were too good to do the jobs that we turn over to immigrants to do now. At one time not too long ago high school kids and college students would fill the need at fast food establishments, they would bus tables, and seek out grounds maintenance jobs. Twenty something's would fill the entry level positions and Thirty something's would soldier on in mid level seniority positions. The pay was not always the best, but it still created the environment of independence that many today seem to have lost the desire to seek out.
At one time in this country the worker was willing to take on jobs that may not have been glamorous and high paying such as picking vegetables or working on the line at some chicken processing plant. They still choose to do so instead of turning to a handout that someone else has to pay for. If they lost these positions they did not cry foul, instead they would seek out employment on the same level or take on jobs that might be at a lower scale. Yes they may have to work two jobs to do so but they took pride in the fact that they were able to provide for themselves and were independent from being a burden unto others.
We all know the current climate of employment and the fact that many of the high paying jobs have exited this country for various reasons and various blames. In many senses we are as much to blame for this as any company or any action that the government may have for this occurrence, we just refuse to do the hard thing and acknowledge this fact.
We have demanded cheaper products and higher salaries, we have demanded higher retirement packages and more government entitlements and this has led to higher taxes that drives business from our shores. We allowed for public sector employees to make salaries in many cases twice what the private sector employee makes, and guaranteed that they will receive six figure retirement packages when the private sector is cutting back across the board. We have refused to swallow our pride and take those jobs that may pay less, but still were traditional jobs that we would take on. For this we are as much to blame as any CEO or Congressman and the time has come that we may have to reexamine what path we will go down in the future.
In Europe today we are seeing the net results of over immigration and entitlement mentality. In America we are coming to realize that we are facing the same thing but with a debt load that out paces all of the countries in the EU combined. We will not be able to sustain the growth in entitlements and the over abundance of growth in the public sector at the behest of the private sector, and this is on full display in California, Illinois, and New York to name a few.
We will have to start changing our mentality and do the hard thing as American workers and take on those jobs that " Americans " won't do once again. We are going to have to start weaning ourselves from the mentality that we are all owed something, and if we have to we are going to have to take on multiple jobs and lower paying jobs if we ever want start digging our way out of the hole that we all helped place ourselves in. To do this the time has come to swallow our pride!
