Help Wanted

In a recent article in a news blog called The Huffington Post, Robert Reich, the current Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, writes about the recent increase in new jobs in America. Reich informs us that 227,000 new jobs were added in February, and that it is the third month in a row that news jobs exceeded 200,000.  Not only this statement, but the article in its entirety, appears to be directed at those currently unemployed, as well as the nation as a whole.  

Reich takes the stance that the increase in new jobs could be fleeting, and that this increase is based upon public spending, which in turn affects corporations creating new jobs.  He also states that the ratio of profits to wages is currently higher than ever, meaning that although corporations are profiting much greater than before, employee wages are shrinking.  After reading this article, I feel that I somewhat disagree with Mr. Reich. Yes, in an ideal world public spending would directly affect business growth, and that would in turn create new jobs and would generate a profit allowing for higher wages of employees. I do not think that is exactly what is happening though. In regards to public spending, Reich says that “spending is anemic” in the US. Really? I haven’t driven past an empty mall parking lot recently, and two women I work with both just received $400 Dooney & Burke handbags last month. As gifts. For Valentine’s Day. People are definitely spending. This leads me to corporation profit and new job creation as a result. I disagree with Reich here as well. I think that no matter how much money people spend, corporations are not going back to the employee force that once was. Businesses have learned in the past 5-6 years that they can run their business on skeleton crews. So now that the economy is starting to look up, why would corporations hire large numbers of employees, when they can continue with the employees they currently have, and keep the extra profit from the upturn in the economy? If I were a business owner, and learned by way of an economic downturn, that I can run my business just as efficiently with 10,000 employees versus the previous 15,000, hiring those 5,000 employees back and paying out my profit in wages, well, that would just be bad business sense on my behalf. So, while there has been an increase in new jobs, I disagree with Reich that public spending has much to do with it, but I do agree with him that the growth won’t last. 

Political Religion

Recently, Michael McGough, a senior editorial writer for The Los Angeles Times, wrote an article regarding a current disagreement between Mitt Romney and Elie Wiesel.  The article, obviously written for a Los Angeles based newspaper, is one that many from across our nation could probably benefit from reading. In the article, McGough explains that Wiesel is apparently pressuring Romney to taking responsibility for the Mormon Church and its “proxy baptisms” of holocaust victims.  In his column, McGough expresses that in his opinion, though Wiesel has the right to be upset, he is also being unreasonable in expecting change regarding an issues Romney has no control over.  

I more than agree with McGough in regards to this issue. Though on the surface, this appears to be a minor tiff between two prominent men, with little concern to the American people, in actuality it is a topic of high concern. The topic: politicians and their religious/personal lives.  As Americans, we like to pride ourselves on being a country of religious freedom, and a nation that separates church and state, but do we? As McGough points out, it is as ridiculous to request that Romney make changes in the Mormon church as it would have been to ask Kennedy to make changes in the Catholic church. It’s quite comical that so many Americans are concerned that Romney will allow the Mormon church to influence him if he were to reach presidency, and therefore expects him to separate his political self from his religious self, but on the same line, requests that he make changes to the Mormon church that they don’t approve of. These men are politicians, trying to participate in our government, not pastors and/or priests trying to convert an entire country. I personally find religion as a whole to be an unnecessary waste of time, but even with my beliefs being as they are, I would never judge a political candidate of any kind based upon their religious faith. Whether a politician attends a temple, takes a sacrament, wears a cross around their neck or a kappa on their head, should make zero difference to any American voter.

To Teach or Not To Teach...

In an article published on February 9, 2012 in the USA Today, some say President Obama over reached his authority by releasing 10 states from having to follow the No Child Left Behind law. I disagree completely. President Obama acted correctly and appropriately in waiving this law. He acted on behalf of the millions of students and teachers nationwide affected by this law. The No Child Left Behind law is a strict standard of education that was established a decade ago under the presidency of George W. Bush, and this law requires that all students be up to certain standards in math and reading by 2014. In following this law, teachers nationwide spend the majority of class time training students to pass a series of test so that the school can show yearly improvement. This is not teaching. Teaching is the act of imparting knowledge, of guiding, of instructing by precept, example, or experience.  Teaching is the act of cultivating the growth of an individual. Teaching, on the other hand, is not the act of preparing a group of students to memorize certain material that they can then regurgitate in order to simply pass a test, yet this is what the teachers of our nation have been forced to do. President Obama bypassed Congress in waiving this law, and I applaud him in his actions. I agree that our education system is in need of a change. I encourage everyone to not only read this article, but to also become more familiar with the No Child Left Behind law. Understand why this law needs to be done away with, and learn how allowing our teachers to really teach, will only improve our nation.