Hard to believe it's been almost 3 months since my last post! So much has happened in that span of time... The multiple shootings in Tucson by someone who appears to be deranged, the spread of rioting in the middle east by citizens hungry for freedom, the protests in Wisconsin by Unions coupled with the abdication of 14 Democrats who were elected to represent their constituents, but who chose to leave the state to avoid voting on a measure to help reduce the state's deficit... these are indeed tumultous times!
My reaction to the shootings in Tucson ranged from shock to dismay to anger. Shock that someone would take the lives of innocent people, dismay when I realized it was an elected representative who was just trying to do her job: be available to talk with constituents... anger when I heard talk that it was a Tea Party member who was the shooter. There wasn't one shred of evidence to indicate that, but assumptions were made, political opportunists decided to capitalize on the event... shame on them! Shame on anyone who jumps to conclusions and uses a tragedy like this one to try and discredit their enemies or opponents.
Next came the riots and protests in Egypt, Tunisia, and the other middle east nations. I felt concern for the citizens of these nations, as well as visitors who were there at the time. I am always concerned when people rise up against tyranny... knowing that tyrants will not sit by quietly and bow to the will of the people. Sure enough, violence erupted and there were deaths and injuries. What I found very interesting, however, was the fact that Egypt tried to stymie communications via the internet or cell phones, but people were still able to get information, videos and photos out to the rest of the world. In the age of technology, it is difficult to suppress information, especially as it pertains to oppression and tyranny!
As for the incidents in Wisconsin... what I have heard is that teachers are afraid they will lose their jobs if they do not have collective bargaining, and they are sure the Governor is trying to break up the unions that represent public service employees, including the teachers. I worked for many years for a private company that had unions representing non-management employees. In all the years I worked there, there were only a few times where a strike either took place or was threatened by the unions. I found that the negotiators for the company did what they could to stay competitive with the other companys in our industry as far as wages and benefits. But one thing they did not do was allow the unions to force them into contracts they couldn't afford to keep. It's a different story when the government is the employer. There is something missing in the equation: the bottom line! Private companies must show a profit and stay fiscally healthy. The government has simply either raised taxes or borrowed money, increasing the deficit, and now we are on the brink of fiscal disaster nationally because of these ill-conceived practices. The only way we can recover is to rein in government spending, and if it takes legislation to ban unions from public service employees to accomplish a reduction in our deficit, then that must be considered along with a whole host of other changes to the way our government conducts its business.
I don't think the protests in Wisconsin, or the tactics currently being used by the Democratic legislators, are likely to go away any time soon, and I fully expect to see similar episodes of this type elsewhere in the nation. Too bad clearer heads can't prevail so we can come up with some workable solutions to our problems!
