Where Have The Workers Gone?

It was almost as if you could hear a sigh of relief from a world that had just come out of the greatest economic recession since the 1930s. After 8 long years of Golden parachutes and pallets filled to capacity with unmarked bills for every crook, con artist, influence peddler and terrorist responsible for our rapid descent down the toilet bowl. Finally day light began to peek over the horizon. At long last we were beginning to see a new day. A day where the tax payers were not having the bill for lavish lifestyles that most have only seen in movies poured down our throats with a wide mouthed funnel as though we were spies in a Nazi interrogation camp. Finally our captors decided to let us live. Even if just barely and gasping and pawing for fresh air and freedom. As we hobbled out of the interrogation chambers with deep scars and years lashed from our backsides. At last, we were free. Free to build, free to begin to stretch and reach. Freed to the arms of a new captor, one that was not near as slick as the last. Blunt, crude, abrasive. Perhaps this was the Stockholm syndrome speaking but there was something refreshing about our new captor. Oddly enough he was only exactly as crude as he wore on his sleeves. What an invigorating sensation that for the first time in many of our life times, Instead of a smooth and polished grand specimen of cardboard cut out of a man who seemed so likable to your face but would spring at every opportunity to extort and exploit us behind our backs. This was different. At first glance one couldn’t help but notice all of his short comings. But the real difference was that this one was actually doing the things that all of the previous captors promised they would do and it was as if a switch was flipped that simultaneously triggered convulsing and foaming at the mouth from the elite in Hollywood, big tech, big pharma and big business. The more the economy began to roar and post positive returns never before seen. The madder they got. The higher the stocks, wages and economic confidence reached and the lower theft , illegal immigration, poverty, and murder plummeted. The more Information peddlers anxiously hung in despair Like a windsock just waiting for the slightest breeze. Finally a north wind began to roll in the form of racial divide. All of the so called news channels filled wall to wall with every day coverage about an altercation between a black drug addict hopped up on fentanyl and a white officer resulting in a death from a combination of enough fentanyl to kill a horse and suffocation from the officers knee firmly placed on his back. At that very moment an epitaph of Saint Floyd was erected in the minds of the people and every major city was set at its feet as a burnt offering by white college aged Antifa and anarchists who took to the streets burning businesses and police precincts to the ground in predominantly black communities. while elitists raised funds to continue to throw logs on the fire. Finally, they found the shiny object that moved enough people to stir the pot and deflect attention from the warm fuzzy feeling the American people were beginning to get. One can only blow a single incident out of proportion for so long before people catch on. Luckily for them, their new power grab was just over the horizon. With a jarring urgency governments all around the globe began, forcing their populations to stay home and shutting down entire economies with zero rationale, or reason taking on massive waves of debt washing over the sides of their sinking ships. All of the governments that generally have an affinity for over bearing regulations And suppressive policies oozed out of the woodwork with the mentality of a 16 year old valley girl with daddys credit card. When it came to paying pharmaceutical companies and political activists yet very little if any being paid to the people who were forced out of work. States across the country mandated that kids stay home for remote learning which unwillingly took parents captive as well. All the while the printing press burned through dollars for payouts to elites and governments by the trillions. But it seems as though the printing press days are doing down and yet there’s no employees to be found. One needs to look no further than the nearest business in any direction to realize that we are all having a massive labor crisis. What happened? Where did everybody go. As a small business myself I feel like the terrified old man in the 90’s Arby’s commercial running through the abandoned streets. Screaming “Where is everybody?” Where did everybody go? “ Only I don’t believe that a roast beef sale is the answer to the question. I’ve heard lots of theories. Side hustles like Uber, Grub hub and Fivre or even perpetual charity cases. The reality of the matter is that only 60% of the work force is even showing up anymore. One thing is for certain that until we figure out how to get them back, prices will continue to sky rocket. Using my industry as an example. If I can no longer get a crew to do remodels and it all rests squarely on my shoulders including even the lowest skilled aspects of the job then you can rest assured that the prices will necessarily rise dramatically and this is what we’re seeing right now. Prices are soaring because we’re all feeling the pinch and whats worse is that none of us are seeing an end in sight. As a matter of fact this orchestrated inflation that we were promised was going to be minor and transitory has begun to show signs of becoming massive over the next coming year. I don’t know about you but I’m certainly ready for a shift from dumpster fire back to even an ounce of normalcy. From hostage negotiations to free to live and build back once again. We’ve been through enough. We need change.