Okay, now I’m getting mad!
No, not the insane
kinda’ mad. The SEEIN’ RED kinda’ mad! It’s not unexpected: I’ve been
fighting it for about six years now but yesterday I saw something on the news
that finally made me want to kick the wall (never the dog) and shout
impolite words. On TV yesterday I saw a bunch of (and watch out for the
political incorrectness that’s coming your way)
loony-toons carrying signs demanding $15 an hour for entry-level workers
at fast-foods joints.
Obviously the crowd
wasn’t divided according to population – the 12% African minority probably
accounted for over 90% of those in attendance. Their shouted epithets broadly
indicated they were not candidates for the English as a First Language
award.
You probably noticed
right off I said “African” and not “African-American.” The only people
who can rightfully use that hyphenated nationality are those with
dual-citizenship. The rest are either Africans or Americans and must decide
which and conduct themselves accordingly. I’m not a European-American. You’re
not a “Whatever-American.” We can’t have it both ways. Like Hemingway said,
we’ve gotta be either beast or foul. “Beast-Hyphen-Fowl” is not acceptable. I'd
guess not one out of every 1,000 black Americans also has African citizenship.
I’m aware that statement will cause the hair to rise on the necks of the
“political correctness” nuts. They’ll hurry to respond with accusations like
“racist” and “Bigot.”
Know what? I couldn’t
care less! And know why? Well --
These finger-pointers
simply don’t have a clue. To begin with, a “racist” is someone who believes
that members of certain races have distinctive characteristics. This then possibly
involves the idea that one’s own race is somehow superior to all others. In
“enlightened correctness” (as opposed to political correctness) racism is an
understandable “general characteristic” of ALL races on this planet.
Everyone with an ounce of pride can't help but be prejudiced.
Checking with Noah Webster, a “bigot is “Someone who is intolerant of any
creed, belief or opinion that differs from his own.” My goodness, doesn’t
that sound just like an Obama liberal? Those exact people who are quick to
point an accusing finger are often the biggest racists and bigots of all!
My second reaction to
those protesters was, I hoped that most of those dingbats (and I can’t even
guess where they were shipped in from) never set foot in a fast-foods
restaurant in my neighborhood. From the looks of many of those sign-toters, I’d
hate to eat the food that they had a hand in preparing. I'll stop there
-- I'm getting close to profiling, and I'd hate to have them call me
unconstitutional as well. (Although "unconstitutional racist
bigot" does have a certain ring to it . . .)
Modern-day success is all too often measured solely in dollars and cents. In a
Republic such as the United States, ambition and hard work are the acceptable,
yet diminishing, path toward success. Using threats and force to get there are
NOT a substitute for the American way. Such demonstrations as we are seeing are
a form of intimidation that can quickly develop into a physical confrontation.
What do you consider “If you don’t give in to our (unreasonable?) demands,
we’ll put you out of business”? How much does that differ from pointing a gun
and saying, “Give me your money or I’ll shoot you”? Actually, it's not
too far different … just using a more direct approach. How often
have we seen orderly coercion jump to physical mayhem (old enough to remember
the Watts Riots of the 1960s?)
It is not unusual for
American home owners or renters to have their lawns mowed by self-proclaimed
landscapers. It is not unusual for these services to be performed by
independents who drive pickups and hire “casual laborers.” Now what if your own
lawn-mower were to appear in front of your house one morning with a bunch of
workmen you’d never seen before all carrying signs that said, “We want $100 an
hour to mow your lawn!” You’d likely call one of the other lawn-mowers in your
town and tell him to come by. It wouldn't be that easy if the government and a
union were helping him. Okay, that’s likely a poor simile, but you get the
point. And the franchisee that owns your local hamburger joint is powerless to
resist a government edict.
I'm not going to
finger-point and use the word "unAmerican" but individuals and organizations
that move to restrict job-availability aren't helping get us out of the
predicament we're in. The BLS reported that in August 142,000 jobs were
created. That is .00044 in percentile-speak. That would be like the entire
County of Los Angeles hiring the big toe of one worker in a month.
What’s worse, the BLS had to use their magic wand to put 80,000 of those
supposed new workers into the equation. To save you counting on your fingers,
that makes the real total for the month of August only 62,000 new jobs. In L.A.
County, that wouldn’t even make a toenail on a worker. In the entire nation,
zip!
A scant 62.8 of the
labor force have jobs. There is a Real 12% unemployment. The country is in the
worst financial shape since the Great Depression. Yet, the unions are hiring
protesters with dirty hands to threaten a bunch of small franchisees with
possible extinction if they don’t get a $15 an hour minimum wage. Where’s the
fairness in this? Have the unions -- along with the entry-level workers -- lost
their minds? To satisfy this outrageous demand, the average fast-food
restaurants would have to raise their prices by 38% and/or fire workers. Even
then, their profits would generally plummet by nearly 80%. Friends, these
idiots are basically trying to force small-businesses to commit suicide!
Those few legitimate
fast-food workers that are protesting are being used as unwitting stooges by
unions who pay the remainder of the mobs to join the marchers. These
same unions once played a beneficial role in the development of America. Today,
they’re purposely accelerating the decline of American business.
Is it any wonder I get
mad?! Oops! Is anger now on the list of political incorrectness? What's
next, thinking?
