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Dear {name}:
This Labor Day, I’m reflecting on the state of working men and women. A shallow review indicates things aren’t good and a deeper one reveals they’re downright precarious.
Last week the Bureau of Labor and Statistics revised its 2023 employment figures a whopping 818,000 jobs downward, validating the stubborn assumption many Americans have that things are not all that rosy.
MacroEdge which tracks job cuts, estimates 102,600 jobs were lost in July and 665,320 since January. And Layoffs.fyi, announced that in 2024, tech companies have shaded 136,782 workers.
The ADP National Employment Report, based on the aggregated and anonymized payroll data of more than 25 million U.S. employees, reported the U.S. averaged 165,000 monthly private sector job gains in the second quarter. This is down 52% from 2023.
In Men Without Work in 2020, Nicholas Eberstadt writes “nearly 7 million civilian non-institutionalized men between the ages of 25 and 54 are neither working nor looking for work — over four times as many as are formally unemployed.” The employment rate for this income earning age group mirrors the Great Depression, only it’s not a jobs crisis; it’s indicative of a spiritual crisis.
Millions of illegal immigrants and hundreds of thousands of white-collar foreigners arriving with employment visas aren’t helping. Steve Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies has calculated that since 2019, three-fourths of U.S. employment growth has gone to immigrants.
So, what are we to do? Fight back and recognize globalization is the culprit.
Globalization, the movement of people, capital and goods across borders for the purpose of maximizing profit has led us to single-mindedly ship jobs overseas to reduce labor costs. Today, that’s being augmented by our annually importing roughly 1.5 million foreigners through employment visa programs.
Author and blogger C.J. Hopkins opines that ’global capitalism’ decodes society of religious values, racist values, socialist values, traditional values, any and all values that interfere with the unimpeded flows of capital.”
In the face of this the middle class has been shredded and Neoliberalism, which favors free-market capitalism, deregulation, and curbing social spending now reigns supreme and controls both sides of the political aisle.
And it’s here we make our stand. We can no longer tolerate politicians that subscribe to the cult of neoliberalism. Politicians who do not prioritize bread and butter issues over frivolous social justice talking points, must go.
As you relax this weekend with family, friends and colleagues, take some time to discuss globalization and the risks it poses to your livelihood.
Onward,
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