It’s not as though we are all starving, in the cold, in the dark. Some things are in short supply, but there is no reason for mass suicides, not just yet.
So, we have slowdowns in the supply chain. I wonder what might have happened if someone, say a person in authority, had actually begun to take positive actions about 2 years ago when there were the beginning signs of what could be a nationwide pandemic, and had offered positive suggestions for combating the pandemic rather then downplaying it and telling people that it would magically vanish when the weather got hot, so millions of Americans wouldn’t have gotten sick, and several hundred thousand hadn’t died, therefore shutting down businesses, and disrupting the lives of people whose jobs it was to keep supplies flowing, like dock workers, and truck drivers. Maybe this mess might have been averted, or at least minimized. But, I guess we’ll never know…
Fox News and the GOP have already folded the supply chain crisis into their all-consuming culture war
Sean Hannity tackled the story in trademark head-on style, putting up a cheerily amateurish collage of Biden backed by towering, snowy pines and the words “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”. His follow-up, the sharper-eyed and darker-hearted Laura Ingraham, fell a bit short: having gone the whole hog and caricatured the president as a green-skinned elf rubbing his hands with glee, her team captioned it “The Biden who stole Christmas” – then got cold feed and shoved the words “Biden = The Grinch” into her chyron, hardly implying confidence in their viewers’ associative capacity.
So far, so ludicrous. Coming on the heels of 2021’s assortment of lurid right-wing cultural freakouts – the non-cancellation of Dr Seuss, the wipeout of the US women’s football team, an army recruitment ad that declined to revel in muscle mass and physical abuse – the prospect of delayed Christmas deliveries feels like thin gruel indeed.
The current situation shines a bright light on the absurdity of the anti-globalist position. Trade has been the fuel of human commerce and interaction from the beginning of post-hunting & gathering organization. Though many are reluctant or resistant to recognizing reality, the world has become increasingly interdependent.
Why Literally Millions of Americans Are Quitting Their Jobs
“For at least two generations, workers have been on their back heels,” he explains. “We are now seeing a labor market that is tight and prospects are becoming increasingly clear that it’s going to remain tight. It’s now going to be a workers’ market, and they’re empowered. I think they are starting to flex their collective muscle.”
There’s no single factor driving workforce behavior, economists add. It’s more of a grab bag of diffuse burdens. Wages aren’t keeping up with surging prices. Low-wage jobs often lack opportunities for career growth. A crumbling childcare industry is driving up daycare costs, making work unaffordable. Those who have remained in jobs face increasing responsibility and grueling work conditions punctuated by fears of the next variant of COVID-19.
The numbers also offer further proof that expanded unemployment insurance was not a significant factor in keeping people out of work—since more people are quitting their jobs now than they did before the expanded benefit ended in September.
In both June and July, the rate of voluntary quits was 2.7% of the U.S. workforce. In August, the turnover rate was 2.9%. Those numbers mark unprecedented churn: the 4.3 million people who quit in August 2021 was roughly 20% higher than the number of resignations in August 2019, and more than 40% higher than the number who quit in August 2020.
“Workers have more bargaining power than they have had in the immediate past or the recent past. If you look at the ratio of unemployed workers, job openings, or just even just the quit rate itself, that does suggest that there’s more power for workers in the form of exiting,” says Nick Bunker, economic research director for North America at the Indeed Hiring Lab. “
I remember back in 1996 I went to go work part time at JFK loading and unloading planes. Back then the minimum wage for part time was $5/hour. For one, the hours were nuts! 5 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Two, loading those planes was really back breaking work because JFK is an international airport and it seemed like a lot of passengers were trying take back half the city! Plus at that time both the SST British Airways and Air France Concordes were in operation. We did the Air France. It only seated 100 passengers so there wasn’t a lot of luggage. And its cost was $5,000 one way. And it had to be packed and ready by 8 a.m. because that’s when the pilot turned the engines on. You could not be around that plane without earplugs! I remember standing next to it assisting in its refueling and just feeling the power of those engines was mind boggling! And when it took off, its sound rumbled all through the airport! But after a while I quit because for one, I already had a full time job and two, I couldn’t see doing all that for $5 an hour! Even at that time, that was very easily a $30 an hour job! Most folks have no idea what a dangerous job that is! And those planes are huge! Especially the 747s and the Airbuses. But I said all of that to say that there are many people mostly immigrants who will gladly work for minimum wage and put up with abuse because back where many of these people come from, $600 a week is SIX THOUSAND dollars a week! We Americans for the most part have become too spoiled and complacent!
It was inevitable. With the way wealthy CEO’s went to extremes to cut jobs and production to ensure their acquirement of wealth went uninterrupted, it was inevitable this would happen when people started working and spending again. Of course, instead of bringing things back gradually as people gradually started working again, they dragged their feet and chose the route of blaming the jump in inflation on other things. Mostly, so that they can now price gouge under the terminology of supply and demand. Even though the shortage of supply was an artificial creation of their own.
On the other hand, a lot of us have realized we can live without some of the over inflated products.
I see plenty of toys on the shelves and suspect there won’t really be a problem this Christmas. Oh sure, maybe they won’t find the latest greatest video game or console in time for Christmas, but seriously if your kid is that selfish, sold into cult mentality of having to have whats popular in the moment, and spoiled, perhaps it’s for the best anyway.
ajmsdca over 2 years ago
Yeah, that "JUST IN TIME’ stuff relied on everything going perfectly. Any one knows that Murphy will mess that up eventually.
FrankErnesto over 2 years ago
It’s not as though we are all starving, in the cold, in the dark. Some things are in short supply, but there is no reason for mass suicides, not just yet.
Radish the wordsmith over 2 years ago
Due to anti public health republicans spreading covid every where in the country.
Masterskrain Premium Member over 2 years ago
So, we have slowdowns in the supply chain. I wonder what might have happened if someone, say a person in authority, had actually begun to take positive actions about 2 years ago when there were the beginning signs of what could be a nationwide pandemic, and had offered positive suggestions for combating the pandemic rather then downplaying it and telling people that it would magically vanish when the weather got hot, so millions of Americans wouldn’t have gotten sick, and several hundred thousand hadn’t died, therefore shutting down businesses, and disrupting the lives of people whose jobs it was to keep supplies flowing, like dock workers, and truck drivers. Maybe this mess might have been averted, or at least minimized. But, I guess we’ll never know…
Radish the wordsmith over 2 years ago
Fox News and the GOP have already folded the supply chain crisis into their all-consuming culture war
Sean Hannity tackled the story in trademark head-on style, putting up a cheerily amateurish collage of Biden backed by towering, snowy pines and the words “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”. His follow-up, the sharper-eyed and darker-hearted Laura Ingraham, fell a bit short: having gone the whole hog and caricatured the president as a green-skinned elf rubbing his hands with glee, her team captioned it “The Biden who stole Christmas” – then got cold feed and shoved the words “Biden = The Grinch” into her chyron, hardly implying confidence in their viewers’ associative capacity.
So far, so ludicrous. Coming on the heels of 2021’s assortment of lurid right-wing cultural freakouts – the non-cancellation of Dr Seuss, the wipeout of the US women’s football team, an army recruitment ad that declined to revel in muscle mass and physical abuse – the prospect of delayed Christmas deliveries feels like thin gruel indeed.
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/fox-news-gop-supply-chain-b1938562.html
Fascist lying Republicans continue their phony wars to cancel American culture.
Gen.Flashman over 2 years ago
Actually you are likely to flip over the top if the front wheel stops and the back wheel doesn’t.
The Nodding Head over 2 years ago
The current situation shines a bright light on the absurdity of the anti-globalist position. Trade has been the fuel of human commerce and interaction from the beginning of post-hunting & gathering organization. Though many are reluctant or resistant to recognizing reality, the world has become increasingly interdependent.
mourdac Premium Member over 2 years ago
Funny how workers, even/especially in the U.S. have had enough of low salaries, poor working conditions, and lack of benefits such as health care.
ibFrank over 2 years ago
Made in China. Need a made in the USA bike.
Redd Panda over 2 years ago
Oh no! We may not have X-boxes for Christmas! Horror!
Radish the wordsmith over 2 years ago
Why Literally Millions of Americans Are Quitting Their Jobs
“For at least two generations, workers have been on their back heels,” he explains. “We are now seeing a labor market that is tight and prospects are becoming increasingly clear that it’s going to remain tight. It’s now going to be a workers’ market, and they’re empowered. I think they are starting to flex their collective muscle.”
There’s no single factor driving workforce behavior, economists add. It’s more of a grab bag of diffuse burdens. Wages aren’t keeping up with surging prices. Low-wage jobs often lack opportunities for career growth. A crumbling childcare industry is driving up daycare costs, making work unaffordable. Those who have remained in jobs face increasing responsibility and grueling work conditions punctuated by fears of the next variant of COVID-19.
The numbers also offer further proof that expanded unemployment insurance was not a significant factor in keeping people out of work—since more people are quitting their jobs now than they did before the expanded benefit ended in September.
In both June and July, the rate of voluntary quits was 2.7% of the U.S. workforce. In August, the turnover rate was 2.9%. Those numbers mark unprecedented churn: the 4.3 million people who quit in August 2021 was roughly 20% higher than the number of resignations in August 2019, and more than 40% higher than the number who quit in August 2020.
“Workers have more bargaining power than they have had in the immediate past or the recent past. If you look at the ratio of unemployed workers, job openings, or just even just the quit rate itself, that does suggest that there’s more power for workers in the form of exiting,” says Nick Bunker, economic research director for North America at the Indeed Hiring Lab. “
https://time.com/6106322/the-great-resignation-jobs/
rlaker22j over 2 years ago
yet they are still better off , than 3/4 of the workers in the rest of the world
djtenltd over 2 years ago
I remember back in 1996 I went to go work part time at JFK loading and unloading planes. Back then the minimum wage for part time was $5/hour. For one, the hours were nuts! 5 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Two, loading those planes was really back breaking work because JFK is an international airport and it seemed like a lot of passengers were trying take back half the city! Plus at that time both the SST British Airways and Air France Concordes were in operation. We did the Air France. It only seated 100 passengers so there wasn’t a lot of luggage. And its cost was $5,000 one way. And it had to be packed and ready by 8 a.m. because that’s when the pilot turned the engines on. You could not be around that plane without earplugs! I remember standing next to it assisting in its refueling and just feeling the power of those engines was mind boggling! And when it took off, its sound rumbled all through the airport! But after a while I quit because for one, I already had a full time job and two, I couldn’t see doing all that for $5 an hour! Even at that time, that was very easily a $30 an hour job! Most folks have no idea what a dangerous job that is! And those planes are huge! Especially the 747s and the Airbuses. But I said all of that to say that there are many people mostly immigrants who will gladly work for minimum wage and put up with abuse because back where many of these people come from, $600 a week is SIX THOUSAND dollars a week! We Americans for the most part have become too spoiled and complacent!
GiantShetlandPony over 2 years ago
It was inevitable. With the way wealthy CEO’s went to extremes to cut jobs and production to ensure their acquirement of wealth went uninterrupted, it was inevitable this would happen when people started working and spending again. Of course, instead of bringing things back gradually as people gradually started working again, they dragged their feet and chose the route of blaming the jump in inflation on other things. Mostly, so that they can now price gouge under the terminology of supply and demand. Even though the shortage of supply was an artificial creation of their own.
On the other hand, a lot of us have realized we can live without some of the over inflated products.
I see plenty of toys on the shelves and suspect there won’t really be a problem this Christmas. Oh sure, maybe they won’t find the latest greatest video game or console in time for Christmas, but seriously if your kid is that selfish, sold into cult mentality of having to have whats popular in the moment, and spoiled, perhaps it’s for the best anyway.
freshmeet2030 over 2 years ago
You don’t fly over the handlebars if the chain breaks. Have you ever ridden a bicycle?