Why is unemployment so high?

For weeks now Congress has done what they've done best for years...nothing. They are bogged down trying to decide how big of a stimulus package they want to offer the American people. Each side accuses the other of harming the American public by not compromising on their stand. Perhaps due to it being an election year neither party wants to do anything that would not be acceptable to their base voters. In the meantime, it could be said that their grandstanding is hurting the public and small businesses who have been hurt by the pandemic and the restrictions placed upon them.

However, I think another question needs to be raised. Why do we have such high unemployment when so many businesses are trying to hire people? Do we even need additional unemployment benefits? Before you write off these questions are mean spirited, let's look at some facts.

Yes, many businesses have closed their doors for good which caused millions of people to become unemployed. At the same time, I drive past many places every day with signs out front wanting to hire workers. Many of these are industrial jobs paying good salaries and benefits. A few months ago I spoke to the owner of a machining company who had a sign in front of the business seeking machine operators. I asked if he had been able to hire anyone. He responded he had not had a single application turned in since he posted the jobs two years earlier. I asked if it was because people were not qualified for the job, and he responded the company would train anyone willing to work. There are many, many jobs going unfilled while Congress is debating on how much extra money to give people not to work.

Perhaps in high unemployment areas these jobs are not as readily available as they are in my area. I cannot speak to that, but there is nothing stopping people from going to where the jobs are. When the car industry began to take off many people migrated from the rural areas to the larger cities where the jobs were. When the Great Depression hit many moved west looking for work. I can assure you that if I couldn't find a job where I lived I would move to where I could find one, and there is nothing preventing people from doing that today.

Taxpayers should not be expected to pay for people to stay home and earn more than they had been making when they became unemployed when jobs are going unfilled. As a nation we should provide for those who are unable to work. That is the right thing any civilized society should do. At the same time, we should also begin ending unemployment benefits to those unwilling to work. Businesses and companies are hiring. It's time people quit depending on their government check and go to work. 

Why so many meetings?

 A colleague once told me she had never seen anyone who disliked meetings more than me. I explained that it wasn't that I disliked meetings. I dislike meetings that have little to no purpose. I dislike having meetings just because a meeting is scheduled. I dislike meetings that includes a lot of discussion and little action. I've seen meetings address the same issue for months before taking any action that was obvious the first time it was discussed. Too often a meeting is called simply to discuss information that could have been distributed through email or over the phone.

Because of the pandemic a lot of organizations have their meetings over ZOOM or another platform. I am hearing that some of these organizations are wondering if so many online meetings are necessary. They are hearing that their people are getting tired of having ZOOM meetings, especially if they have several scheduled the same day. If these meetings are found to be unnecessary perhaps the organization needs to determine if all of their live meetings are necessary as well.

No doubt, some meetings are important to the well-being of the organization. Such meetings should continue, but some guidelines are in order.

• No meeting should occur without a well-thought out agenda that is distributed prior to the meeting.
• Only those persons necessary to the meeting should be invited.
• All meetings should start on time to honor the commitments of those attending.
• Discussion should be limited to items on the agenda except in extenuating circumstances. Inviting people to a meeting to discuss something and then spending that time chasing rabbits is frustrating to those attending and not a good use of an organization's time.
• Everyone should be encouraged to participate in discussions, but no one should be allowed to dominate.
• Meetings should not be called without first deciding if it is necessary for the good of the organization.
• End the meeting when it has accomplished its purpose.

If leaders follow these guidelines they will find their meetings will be much more productive and people will feel better about attending them.

Why are so many people offended by everything?

 If someone says that something offends them it seems that the whole world has to stop to soothe the person's feelings. University campuses have "safe spaces" to protect the feelings of people who are hurt because someone said something that made them feel bad. Universities used to be places where persons heard opposing viewpoints as a way to help them be able to think for themselves and be prepared for life in the real world. That can't happen if students have to run to some safe space because someone said something that made them feel bad.

Safe spaces naturally led to the cancel culture where speakers are uninvited to speak on campuses because some group objects to their message. The speakers normally canceled are conservative speakers that people fear might say something that would offend the politically correct crowd. Because universities fear that persons protesting the speaker might cause damage or instigate violence they often give in the demands of a small group of people to cancel the speaker.

Of course, it's not only college students who are offended today. It seems everyone is offended by something or someone, and for some reason we seem to have found in the Constitution the right to not be offended.

Do things ever offend me? Of course. There are many things I find in our society that I find objectionable. I don't like the vulgarity that is so often found in public today. I don't like the divisions that exist in our country. I don't like the way Christians and their faith are marginalized by many in our society today. I'm offended that politicians believe we are too stupid to know when they are lying to us, and I'm even more offended that many in the media are willing to help them deceive the American public. There is much on television that I find offensive. I could go on, but I think I've made the point that there are things that offend me. The difference is how I respond to those things.

Just because things on TV offends me I don't demand that all televisions be destroyed or that I am given a safe space to stay until the offending program goes off. There is a knob on the TV that I can control. I can change the channel or leave the TV off completely. If I am offended by people in the news media I simply choose to not watch or listen to them. If I'm in a place where the language is offensive I simply leave. One way I've found to help slow down the divisions that exist in our country is to remember that I don't have to respond to every social media post with which I disagree. I have strong political and religious beliefs, but I don't hate someone who holds different beliefs. I don't try to silence them or prevent them from having an audience. I served in the Navy so that all Americans would have the right to hold the beliefs they have and to voice those beliefs.

When people demand protection from the things that offend them they are really saying that they are unable to control their emotions. Since they are unable to control their emotions they expect other people to eliminate whatever is bringing discomfort into their lives. It is another form of victim mentality. Everyone else is responsible for making them uncomfortable, so everyone else is responsible to stop doing that.

I encourage you to take responsibility for your life. We cannot control what people might say or do, but we can control how we respond. As we listen to people with whom we disagree sometimes we might learn something that will change how we think about certain things, or it can solidify the opinions we already held, and it will always give us insight into how they think and why they believe what they believe. It is when we listen to divergent ideas that we become more mature in our own thinking. Rather than immediately thinking how something offends you, begin to view the differences you encounter as growing opportunities.