Bitter Portends
Spring has arrived at the bruig and normally it is a time for hope. However this Beltaine suggests bitter portents for the future.
I work in the ever-cylical automotive semiconductor business. The business is clearly in recession but has a feel of depression. The auto industry leadership woke up a few years ago and decided that it had been far to generous with wages and benefits for it's hourly employees. So it bought them off and sent them into retirement en-masse, replacing them with new hires at half the pay. But industry leadership also saw opportunities to slash salary wages and benefits in this global economy.
The net effect is that I'm doing the same work as last year at a third less pay. And with less than a decade to work, my pension is frozen. However I can contribute to a relatively generous 401k plan that I can't afford to contribute to because I'm making less income.
Meanwhile government continues to spend, raise taxes and promise even greater taxes to pay for socialist healthcare and climate mitigation. Since I chose to get a modest education and work for 40 years whence I was one of the few net tax payers, I will have the opportunity to have my modest wealth spread amongst those who didn't in the name of social justice.
I will be living smaller this year at the bruig and probably for years to come. No big dreams in this small man's world. There is no-one in America's business or political leadership who knows or cares about my opinions nor my future.
I work in the ever-cylical automotive semiconductor business. The business is clearly in recession but has a feel of depression. The auto industry leadership woke up a few years ago and decided that it had been far to generous with wages and benefits for it's hourly employees. So it bought them off and sent them into retirement en-masse, replacing them with new hires at half the pay. But industry leadership also saw opportunities to slash salary wages and benefits in this global economy.
The net effect is that I'm doing the same work as last year at a third less pay. And with less than a decade to work, my pension is frozen. However I can contribute to a relatively generous 401k plan that I can't afford to contribute to because I'm making less income.
Meanwhile government continues to spend, raise taxes and promise even greater taxes to pay for socialist healthcare and climate mitigation. Since I chose to get a modest education and work for 40 years whence I was one of the few net tax payers, I will have the opportunity to have my modest wealth spread amongst those who didn't in the name of social justice.
I will be living smaller this year at the bruig and probably for years to come. No big dreams in this small man's world. There is no-one in America's business or political leadership who knows or cares about my opinions nor my future.
posted by lugh lampfhota at 8:17 AM
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