Dear "Job Creators,"
We all understand. Times are tough. Profits aren't where they used to be. Costs are up. Minimum wage has gone up as recently as two years ago. You're trying to run a business. We totally get that. So you have to raise the cost of membership, Netflix. We may not like it, but hey, who really does like to pay more for stuff? So RIM has to lay off employees. Android and iPhone competition has really stepped it up, and besides, application development and media integration are where it's at. You see, not all of us are anti-corporation hippies with liberal agendas. But at the same time we're not conservative sheep seeking to enshrine corporations as the panacea for all things American. We are Americans. And as such, we understand our role in things. We understand that consumers purchase goods and services, which drives need for business, thus creating a desire to employee workers, and in turn puts money into the hands of the consumer so they can ultimately continue purchasing goods and services. For us, it's a neat little cycle that has kept the lower and middle classes just happy enough to not revolt. We have purpose. Without us, Big Macs don't need to be served, and World of Warcraft accounts don't need to be created.
With us you have consumer slavery. You have us convinced that satellite and cable television are just as necessary utilities as electricity and water. You have us maxing out credit cards to purchase the latest gadgets we can't possibly live without, have us spending billions in healthcare costs because we eat your unhealthy, preservative-filled fast food in order to save time and money in the short term. We mindlessly observe your scripted reality television shows in an attempt to learn what passes for popular fashion these days, despite the fact that clothing designers supply your shows with their newest clothing lines with just that fact in mind. Our consumer habits create a false sense of need within our own minds, while creating an environment in which to peddle your wares.
That being said, we’re not completely mindless. We’re not completely in the dark. Please don’t tell us that operating costs are forcing you to raise fees, or even institute fees, when your overall profits are significantly out of the red. We get it, you have to pay yourselves; you have to pay to keep the lights on. It’s just difficult for us to show sympathy for you when you treat us only as transactions and not as people, put us on hold for 15 minutes before letting us speak to a service rep in another country, or refuse to give us full time employee or family benefits. We totally get it that in this economy something has to give, so to speak. We only ask that it not always be on our end. Some of your companies failed to make a profit, so if you’re going to cut labor to save, why would you reward yourselves with a bonus? In fact, shouldn’t you and the rest of your Board of Leeches take a pay cut, as a way to show you care about your employees? I realize that you have nannies, golf outings, private jets, and expensive bottled water to pay for, but come on, your employees have expenses too; electricity, groceries, medical bills, just to name a few. Oh, we’re sure you have those same expenses; it’s just that they don’t account for nearly half of your paycheck.
Let’s be blunt. You cut hours in the name of profit, so instead of working full time, we have to do part time, and supplement with a second job. We work second shift and even third shift, we have family members watch our kids, and if we’re lucky, we get two weeks of vacation a year. We’re chastised if we take sick days (children get sick occasionally, I’m sorry to have to be the one to break it to you). We’re encouraged to work through breaks and lunches. Our weekends and nights have been taken away from us, while you and your corporate cronies enjoy 9-5working hours, Monday through Friday, holidays off. Many of us work on holidays.
In the end, we understand our role in the big picture. Someone has to lay the track for the railroad. We understand that it has to be us. All we ask is that you acknowledge that the next time you’re parading yourselves around as the creators of that proverbial railroad. You may be job creators, but without us, there wouldn’t be a need for those jobs. And ultimately, there wouldn’t be a need for you. Think about that when you’re sitting at home this Thanksgiving, enjoying dinner with your families, while some of us are stuck in grocery stores and gas stations working. Without us, without the labor, corporate America is nothing more than hungry pigs waiting to be fed at the trough.
Sincerely,
Just Another Tax-Paying Consumer
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