Life in the land of many...

 

 

"Where have all the workers gone, long time shopping...."

One of our local grocery stores in the area has an occasional "Wild Wednesday" or "Dollar Days". Today was the day. When the store first started putting on this sale many years ago, I would go over very early in the morning before work. There would be some other people shopping who were dressed for work once their shopping was over. Today and as of late, there are practically no people shopping who are dressed for work. There are however, a multitude of young adults all dressed up for the day off.

When my wife and I go to the YMCA during mid-day, we notice the same thing. Years ago when I worked out of my home, I would sneak over to the "Y" at noontime for a workout. There were only some retired folks there using the facilities. Now it is packed with young adults from sun-up to sun-down. The same is true of the shopping malls. Often times the parking lots look like a weekend. And in the stores there are - you guessed it, many, many young adults.

Most know that the workforce participation rate has hovered slightly less than 63% for many of the past months. It is an astoundingly low rate. That means in a country with a population of 320M people, almost 93M are not working. Being retired and being and out and about, I did not need to read up on how many people are not working - I see it every day.

I know, I know. Some have non-traditional work hours, some are stay at home moms. Factoring those out, that would still leave a whole bunch of people who are not working. As Rush would always say, "These people may not be working, but they are all eating." Welcome to the Obama welfare state.

There is plenty of work available right now in Minnesota. Most every store we pass has a help wanted sign. Good work for people who are not concerned with making a livable wage. However the good jobs, the ones paying over $50K with some kind of benefits, are not so easy to find. The ones paying over $75K, even harder. Over $100K, harder yet. And for those who have been working for years, have discovered what many have found. The needle is stuck. Take home pay has not moved much. For some, not at all.

So, here we are living in the land of plenty. Plenty of people that is. Those who are pulling the wagon are getting very tired, as the number of those riding in the wagon keep growing. Where will it end? Where it must, with the wagon breaking. And when the wagon breaks, life in the land of plenty will be plenty miserable.