About the same number of Americans are working today as the middle of 2006 – and more than almost any time in American history. This country will not collapse – we have both the means and the will to survive and thrive.We’ve all heard about the rising unemployment rate – and if you’ve lost your job, it’s a crisis.
But people are working. One year ago, American employment hit an all-time high, of 146.2 million people. The latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics put American employment at 145.5 million.
Look at the chart below. That’s the number of people working in America, and it’s a far cry from the image Photoshopped by the gloom-and-doom crowd.
And people are spending money. Based on the Wall Street Journal’s report on the drop in spending, retail trade in December should still top $400 billion.
There are major, structural problems in our economy – and they may be worsened by our liberal friends’ spend-and-nationalize policies. But the great engine of the American economy is still strong.
Those 145.5 million Americans are still working, still spending money, still paying their bills. The auto mechanic’s paycheck will buy groceries and insurance. The grocer and insurer will use that money buy gasoline and clothing. The gasoline station and clothier will spend that money again, and so it will go, as money turns over again and again.
America is great because of her people. She does not cease to be great because of greedy boys on Wall Street, or inept leadership in the boardroom or in the halls of government.
We, the American people, will not surrender our dreams. We will not stop working. We will not settle for a future of indolence and dependency.
Like a family that got in over its head, America will work its way through these dark times, and one day soon it will again be Morning in America. That shining future will not be produced by a political party or a government program or even some great leader. It will be produced by Americans in the American way, living free.
