No Labor Day

Today is Labor Day.  I understand the meaning of most holidays, but I really don’t understand Labor Day.  I had to look up in Wikipedia what really Labor Day is.

Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September (September 6 in 2010).

The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City.[1] It became a federal holiday in 1894, when, following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with the labor movement as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike.[2] The September date was chosen as Cleveland was concerned that aligning an American labor holiday with existing international May Day celebrations would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair.[3] All 50 U.S. states have made Labor Day a state holiday.

Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer. The holiday is often regarded as a day of rest and parties. Speeches or political demonstrations are more low-key than May 1 Labor Day celebrations in most countries, although events held by labor organizations often feature political themes and appearances by candidates for office, especially in election years. Forms of celebration include picnics, barbecues, fireworks displays, water sports, and public art events. Families with school-age children take it as the last chance to travel before the end of summer recess. Similarly, some teenagers and young adults view it as the last weekend for parties before returning to school, although school starting times now vary.

I appreciate having Labor Day to celebrate.  Our tradition has been to go to the Geauga County fair and look at the animals and indulge on onion rings, gyros and 4-H milkshakes.  It is the one time of the year that we purposely gorge ourselves on stuff that is hopelessly bad for us. 

In this country having a place to work is viewed as part of the fabric of the society.  We are a country that is used to going to work.  The industriousness of our labor is what built us into the economy we have.  That is why it is depressing to see an unemployment rate of 16%.  You saw that correct – if you actually counted people who are out of work and have given up, you would see that number, not 9.6%.  This recession has taken a toll on the psyche of the American worker.  At the rate we are going, it will be many years before we even get close to a historical unemployment rate of under 5%. 

Have you seen these signs?

I have ridden my bike past this one on the corner of  Mennonite and Page Roads many times and I have yet to see a single worker.  The Obama administration chose to devote billions of our taxpayer dollars to “generate or save jobs”.  The most recent rhetoric is no longer that the stimulus actually generated jobs, but saved jobs and the unemployment rate would have been far worse if they hadn’t.  This is because virtually every statistic shows that this taxpayer money was one of the grossest misuses of money ever.  Who are they kidding? If that money had been put to use in the private sector, it would have made a difference.  Now we are looking truly at a jobless recovery and our deficit is all the worse because of fiscally irresponsible and shortsighted decisions like this one. 

Our economy will recover I believe and our unemployment rate will get back to under 8%.  However the days of 5% unemployment are a thing of the past.  This country is in a hole financially, one that will be very hard to dig out of, particularly with entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare looming large. 

This is still the greatest nation on earth.  It is our work ethic that got us here.  I pray we can return here.

Have another onion ring!