Early on in the pandemic there was a sudden rush on toilet paper. Obviously, today’s generation doesn’t know that our parents and grandparents used the Montgomery Ward’s catalogue for toilet paper in the outhouse. But, since there are no longer many outhouses and no Montgomery Ward’s catalogues, we have all become used to nice bathrooms inside our homes and soft toilet paper. And so, everyone was freaked out by the possibility of having NO CHARMIN!!!!
Things improved as the toilet paper companies and the paper towel companies upped their production and distribution, but there were still times when those spots on the shelves of stores were empty. In fact, store shelves had lots of empty spots on them, and some of the products would disappear for weeks on end. One dog treat that is popular with our furry babies (I know, I know, dog treats aren’t exactly a life and death matter!) disappeared from the shelves of our Walmart not to reappear until just a few weeks ago. Perhaps the Old Roy dog food company that manufactured the treats had changed over to making those useless face masks. Who knows? I was just happy to see them back.
But not everything is back. Empty spots still appear on store shelves and always just when you really need that item. With only Walmart and Save-a-Lot to shop at in Paris, we often find ourselves going without until we find time to drive to Terre Haute. I have more than once gotten back into the car only to announce to Russ that some food item does not exist in Paris, Illinois!
Some building supplies are even harder to get. We ordered a new door for our back porch in March of 2020 and it finally arrived and was installed in September. Someone else I know recently ordered a new window. It will take until at least October to get to the store and then another 3 weeks before it can be installed. I tried to buy a quart of paint at Walmart this week, and the clerk, a former student, had to hunt and hunt before she finally found two cans. Neither of them was the “flat” that I wanted, so I settled for the “semi-gloss” rather than wait and go to Terre Haute to hunt there.
RVs on dealers’ lots are often “not for sale” but only examples of what you can “order.” Cars and trucks are parked on racetracks and in fields, waiting for chips to complete them so they can be sold. Diepholz here in town usually carries an inventory of 120 new vehicles on its GM and Chrysler lots. Earlier this week when we were in there, they had 16 between the two lots. None of them a Traverse, which is what we were looking for. The salesman told us if he could find what we wanted somewhere in a 2021 model, it would take at least 10 weeks to get here. So instead, he will order a 2022 for us when they begin making them and several months from now, we will have a new car! This is beginning to sound like East Germany under communism when people paid in full for a new car and then waited 10 years on a waiting list until they finally got their car!
Joe’s Pizza in town has a sign posted apologizing for any delay in service caused by their fewer than normal servers. The Main Street Café, another local eatery, announced in the newspaper than it was reducing its hours because of insufficient help. Every business seems to have a ‘help wanted’ or ‘now hiring’ sign outside and salary offers are increasing to as much as $17 an hour in an attempt to attract those who are getting unemployment plus the extra $300 a week into coming in to work. Some companies and even some states are giving people “signing” bonuses for going to work and another bonus if they stay at that job for at least six months. Sadly, for restaurants and other businesses looking for unskilled workers, the outlook is not good. Those who were laid off because of COVID are making well over $32,000 a year by staying at home, double the minimum wage. For those who have no pride in earning their own way or in a job well done, staying at home until the money runs out is a no brainer!
Almost all Republican state have stopped paying out the additional $300 per week from the federal government. And, according to the Wall Street Journal, every one of them now has a lower unemployment rate than the Democrat-controlled states still paying out the increased benefits. One article which tried to refute this, listed each of the states individually and showed that its unemployment rate in March of 2021 was in fact higherthan in February – – – of 2020 just before the pandemic began to cause shutdowns!
In communist countries in the 20th century, people were “treated equally” which meant that no matter how poorly you did your job or if you even did your job, you got the same pay as someone who did his job and more besides. Soon, people figured this out and everyone became equally lazy. Hence the 10 year wait for a new car that you had already paid for in full and which was probably poorly made. This is much like our country which is currently paying people to stay home rather than to work.
This “Nanny state,” where the government takes care of everyone and no one is responsible for themselves, doesn’t produce a good life for anyone. It does result in the “equity” that the Critical Race Theory promotes; that is, equal outcomes, not equal opportunities. Unfortunately, when you force equal outcomes on a group of humans who are of differing intellects, differing skills, differing interests, and differing work ethics, you achieve equity of poverty! Most of the communist countries began to move towards some capitalism, and, with the exception of North Korea, China, and Cuba, eventually failed totally as communist countries and embraced capitalism. China has survived by allowing some market capitalism while still closely governing the rest of the lives of their populace. Cuba is currently undergoing massive freedom demonstrations. North Korea just kills people who cause problems. Capitalism, where companies are privately owned, where supply is driven by demand, and where those who work harder get rewarded monetarily, has raised countries out of poverty and made the United States’ “poor people” affluent by most world standards.
But wait, some economists suggest that there are other issues keeping workers at home besides the doubled, free salary. Child care is an issue, they suggest, as is the continuing fear of contracting COVID. But neither one of those is a valid argument. Before the pandemic, those same stay-at-home-and-take-tax-payer-money people were working. Whatever arrangements they had made for child care then could surely be made now. As for COVID, its fatalities have been among the obese, those with underlying health problems, and those 65 and older. Most current “loafers” are considerably younger. If they contracted COVID, they would be sick, but probably not even need to be hospitalized. The overall survival rate is about 99%, but some can suffer long term effects from the disease. However, the easy solution to that is to get vaccinated. All three of the vaccines now used in the U.S. give 90% or more protection against the original disease and seem to protect as well against the variants, even the easily spread Delta variant. Most give 100% protection against serious illness, and any serious complications for the vaccines are extremely rare.
The more people whose bodies carry antibodies either because they have had COVID or have gotten vaccinated, the closer we come to eradicating this disease from the United States entirely. In July, about 20% of unvaccinated people who donated blood to the Red Cross had COVID antibodies, and were, therefore, immune to further illness from COVID. By July 22, nearly 50% of Americans had been vaccinated with both shots, including most who are 65 or older, and another 7.5% had had their first shot,. That means that close to 80% of Americans are currently protected from getting COVID. Thus, fears of COVID should no longer play a part in a worker’s reluctance to go to work.
I don’t know how soon the economy of this country is going to get back on track. When the shutdowns began at the insistence of Dr. Fauci, the April 2020 unemployment rate skyrocketed from the 3.5% rate we had been enjoying to over 14%. However, as businesses found ways to operate without person to person contact and as eventually, more and more Republican states allowed their businesses to open back up, the unemployment rate did a precipitous nose dive, reaching 6% unemployment by the start of January 2021 and dropping to to 5.8% by the end of the month where it remained for the first five months of Biden’s administration before climbing to 5.9% again in June.
The cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline and a ban on further drilling or fracking on government lands and in arctic waters has pushed the cost of gasoline from under $2.00 a gallon in Terre Haute before the election to well over $3.00 a gallon there and $3.33 here in Paris. Heating oil will be more expensive to buy for next winter as well. Lack of laborers forcing higher salaries and the high cost of transporting goods is raising the price of everything from groceries to cars to houses. A realtor friend in Terre Haute told us that the moment a house there is listed on the market there are multiple offers on it, some in cash, and some exceeding the asking price. No one worries about asking for termite inspections or is bothered by needed repairs. They just plunk down the money, hoping to beat everyone else out.
Inflation is soaring. Unemployment is stagnant. Shelves continue to have empty spaces in stores. Popular cars and trucks can no longer be bought off the lot because except in extremely large markets, they just aren’t there. We, who have had everything when we wanted it, are now living in a world where we have to wait long periods of time for things or simply go without. And that doesn’t even consider the increased taxes that will soon be coming in order to pay for all of the Democrats’ pet little projects. It is not a world that we like, and Biden is doing nothing to help it.
Wouldn’t a businessman like President Trump have done a better job? I think so. He brought back manufacturing jobs to the U.S. that President Obama said were gone for good. He lowered unemployment. He saw the stock market skyrocket. He negotiated several new trade agreements that no longer penalized American workers. He oversaw a country in which most Americans, according to polls, were pleased with the way things were going and most were confident that their lives would be even better in the future. But as is human nature, many Americans blamed the pandemic and their lost jobs on the man in the White House and Democrats both fueled those feelings and extended the shutdowns to increase voters’ misery. That and a very lot of fraud, won them the White House, and in six months, has already made our lives miserable.
If we don’t win the House and the Senate in 2022, America as we have always known it, will disappear. It has already begun. What we need to improve our lives is Republicans back in power!