Has anybody else noticed that a lot of the ads on the radio recently seem different than they used to be? It seems like at least a third of the ads are from government agencies. For example, on my drive Friday evening I heard an ad telling me to go to the official government website called www.usa.gov. Really? Is that necessary for my tax money to be spent advertising for the government website? How about they spend that money to make social security viable again or to fund the military?
Let's see....what are some other ones I've heard recently......a government agency telling me to clean as I go and make sure I handle my meats correctly when I cook.....some government agency telling me how easy it is to get health insurance....the benefits of breast feeding.....all kinds of stuff. What is sparking this trend I wonder?
Speaking of interesting ads on the radio, I heard one this evening. Landmark legislation was signed into law today to make my state a "right to work" state. The ad was one of those "scare tactic" ads with the scary music and the deep voiced, angry guy speaking slowly. He was saying how our state is going to purgatory in a handbasket because big companies can now "own" us without the great power of the unions to stick up for us. What really cracked me up was that the guy said we can blame ourselves. I was thinking these guys finally saw the light and realized how unreasonable some of the union bargaining is and they promise to be more reasonable in the future. Not at all. Apparently we can blame ourselves for putting all those Republicans into the state legislature and into the governor's office. That totally cracked me up, especially when the ad ended with the guy saying "God help us." A little dramatic, no?
Is "right to work" that bad? I don't think so. As I may have said before, I believe in the power of choice. Sure, it may seem more convenient to keep working for "the man" and let corporate America "own" you. However, if you really don't like working for corporate America, then make a choice to do something different. They're not obligated to employ you for your lifetime, and you're not obligated to stay there for your life. God never promised that we'd be able to live and work in the same place our whole life. Start your own business. Go work for someone else. Companies are always looking for good people and are willing to pay for those good people. If you're not a desirable employee, then improve your skills to become desirable. If you're not willing to go through some hardships to not work for corporate America, then don't complain about it. By staying where you are you've chosen the "evil" you know over the uncertainty of going to a different company or starting your own business. Like my boss at work says, don't have that "victim mentality." If you don't like it, work to change it or leave. Don't just sit there and complain.
Probably the thorniest issue related to this is teacher unions. I know a lot of teachers, and I know a lot of them are in favor of the teacher union because they do help negotiate benefits for teachers. So I'm still waffling on this one. Is a public school that much different than a corporation? One thing I've heard that's different is that in some states all teachers' salaries are publicly published, which could make a difference. In corporations there are people who don't get paid as much as others because their skills aren't as good. Is it bad for teachers to be held to a performance standard? I guess the problem is figuring out what the performance standard should be, which is complicated by government bureaucracy. It seems like schools without teacher unions would have the same incentives as corporations. They would want to have good administration so you can attract good teachers and thus attract students. I'm sure word will get out quickly if school districts don't treat their teachers right. The key would be to have open enrollment / school of choice in tandem with that to keep the "good school" incentive going. Just some food for thought. I'm sure I'll hear from some of my teacher readers on this.
Enough pontificating for today folks! I guess it's been too quiet around here, so I'm stirring the pot a little.
