My trip home was contemplative and eye opening.  I noted the following:  While the workers  of the United States may be experiencing a recession, I do not believe that those who are 'large and in charge' are  suffering at all.  As most everyone knows, by now, I took the train home and as I was transported along, I saw cars and cars and cars full of goods being transported along the railways.  And guess what?  Quite a lot of them, Costco comes to mind, have loading and unloading instructions written in CHINESE!  At least, I'm assuming it was loading and unloading instructions.  I cannot think of what else would be written on the sides of box cars.  Now, I am as big on world economic growth as the next semi educated person, but the thing is.....these goods have been bought from China, providing work for Chinese people while our own workers are running out of unemployment benefits??? This can't be right.

Some people blame our unions for this increasing imbalance, but I never did.  My Uncle Worden, a very bright man, explained to me one time that wages and benefits for American workers were the last thing to rise in an economy.  These things only went up, he said, after the owners had taken their profits.  Given that, as I said, I never blamed unions.  Of course, as time has gone by,  I'd have to say that I have changed my opinion  on that issue.  When, after my little health care issue,  I called my old union headquarters seeking support,  I made the following discoveries:  The full-time jobs that my cohorts and I were privileged to be able to work, complete with health benefits and pension plans no longer exist.  They have all been outsourced to part-timers who work at a far, far lower hourly rate and have no benefits whatsoever.  My former union leaders?  They all have cushy state jobs working for  the very bureau chiefs to whom they used to 'defend' and 'represent' us.  I have to admit, some of the things that went down right before I retired seemed a little fishy to me, but I never, for a second they were selling us out for their own benefit.  The thing is, the state budget is more bloated than ever.  Since, the legislature is  not replacing workers as they retire, where IS the money going?

However, back to my train trip:   The next thing I noticed, as we rolled through acres and acres of what was, obviously, farm land, signs that read (and I paraphrase), 'So and So County Industrial Park'.  Industrial Park????? Translation:  Factory Farm, I'm thinking.

So, as I said, our citizen:  our factory workers, our farmers, and the civil servants are suffering through a recession.  Big Business, Big Unions and Big Government are doing fine, thank you very much.