Construction America

Driving to work yesterday, I passed 2 separate construction crews. The first was a 6-man team with large trucks and lumber equipment. In this group, 2 members were being used to direct traffic holding "STOP/SLOW" signs on the road, on either ends of the site. They were not more than 25 yards apart. 1 member was cutting a log, or at least looked like he was partaking in some sort of actual physical activity. Around him, 3 other men who were huddled together watched. About 15 miles down the road another crew had 4 members and one piece of heavy machinery. The machine operator cleared some debris from the side of the excavated road. The other 3 members carefully watched the machine operator.

This typical scene of construction workers embodies the American work ethic. It is not the work ethic that Obama so glowingly praises and refers to all of the time. Construction serves as a microcosm of what is a nationwide epidemic. Unskilled laborers making $45/hour for simple assembly line jobs, business consultants spending over half their days chatting on AIM, corporate executives playing Ponzi with client's hard earned monies--this is the reality. Is it any surprise that jobs have been shipped overseas to places like India and China where workers actually work? Utter laziness is just one of many causes of America's diseased economy. Perhaps the one with the hardest cure.