If Only Kamala Had Really Worked at McDonald’s!
by Andy Caldwell
If only she had really worked there…
Let’s look at one fundamental difference between progressives and conservatives as it affects the nobility of work. Kamala Harris falsely claimed she had worked at McDonald’s. This was a desperate and shallow attempt by somebody who grew up in an upper-middle-class family to relate to the one-in-eight Americans who began their career working for this fast-food giant.
But the left doesn’t value or respect entry level jobs and the role they play in our economy. Take, for instance, the recent law requiring fast food workers to earn $20 per hour in California. The premise of this wage hike is to force the industry to replace workers with technology (or go out of business) because this type of work represents exploitation not opportunity. Moreover, consider AB5, the law that destroyed independent contractor jobs in California. The author of that bill plainly stated that she didn’t care how many jobs were eliminated because they weren’t good-paying jobs to begin with.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, has been called the “blue collar billionaire” for decades because of his understanding of the value of blue-collar work and his respect for the people in these occupations. Trump knows that people need to start somewhere, and he knows that there is more dignity in work than government handouts.
It’s a lesson lost on progressives like Harris.
Pulling Down the Ladder of Success
Progressives have nothing but scorn for the working class. They would have us believe there are other options to end poverty rather than starting at the bottom, if necessary. One primary path is via the distribution of wealth to eliminate poverty by way of government largesse. That is: tax the “rich” and give to the poor. Their expectation is that there should be no such thing as the “working poor,” including immigrants who come here illegally with no education and no English language skills, along with career criminals, high school dropouts, and the like. Yet for generation after generation, previous waves of immigrants and people from poor backgrounds have found meaningful work, leading to upward mobility, by working with their hands in the fields of agriculture, construction, mining, manufacturing, and industry, not to mention a slew of other professions, that the left considers demeaning forms of exploitation.
I know this because this is my own story. I was a janitor in high school. And, after having graduated college with a degree that was not marketable, I worked in industry for 11 years before I began working for COLAB, which has as one of its main goals the preservation of and valuing all job sectors in our region.
Opportunity Costs of College
That brings us to the second path favored by progressives- the college career path. The website CollegeNPV (net present value) estimates, compares, and contrasts the return on investment by immediately going to work after high school versus going to college. To estimate return on investment, CollegeNPV calculates the net present value of schools and programs. The following factors are the primary drivers behind each return on investment: graduation likelihood and time frame; expected earnings versus debt for graduates and non-graduates, and opportunity costs of not entering the workforce immediately after high school. Guess what? Starting at McDonalds or virtually anywhere else and using that as a springboard to better-paying jobs in the future beats out a slew of college degrees in the long run!
Except for mainly STEM-grounded (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) occupations, “Welcome to McDonalds” is not a bad way to go for starters. Yet the left in CA is destroying these opportunities. Nevertheless, having an undergraduate degree in family and human sciences, liberal arts, psychology, education, visual and performing arts, and even communication technologies, are all guaranteed losers compared to an honest day’s work in any number of jobs that don’t require a college degree.
In essence, the left is systematically destroying jobs that comprised many a rung on the ladder to success to the detriment of the people who need these jobs the most, resulting in the elimination of entry-level jobs and blue-collar middle-class jobs.
That is why I am urging you to vote for the blue-collar billionaire.
Andy Caldwell, Executive Director, COLAB
Join Us for Election Eve! Tickets are going fast!
Santa Barbara Current (www.SBCurrent.com) is throwing an Election Eve Get-Together at Cody's Cafe (4898 Hollister Avenue, Goleta, CA) on Tuesday night, November 5th, from 7pm to 10pm. We would very much like you to join us.
For your admittance pittance, you’ll be privileged to enjoy a Cash Bar, Heavy Appetizers (provided by Cody's Cafe), Mutual Nose-Rubbing, Friendship (real and imaginary), multiple television coverage,and a chance to be among friends and mutual acquaintances as you root for your favorites and against your nemeses.
Will Donald J. Trump become our President-in-Waiting? Will Republicans Sweep the House, Senate, and White House? Will Santa Barbarians defeat the unwanted and unnecessary school bonds? Will common sense school board members and city council members be elected? If the answer to most of these questions is YES, this will be THE place to celebrate. If things go south, you’ll have company drowning your sorrow in a stiff drink.
Please invite your friends. The results of this Presidential Election– from the top of the ballot all the way down –is sure to be pivotal for Santa Barbara, America, and the world. Tickets are $20/in advance (or $30 at the door if still available). Only 150 tickets will be sold, so to ensure your place please order well in advance.
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Thanks Andy. Entry level jobs are meant to be just that: entry level. They are the beginning of a career paths: not the destination. The initial reaction to the minimum wage for fast food workers has been to squeeze the restaurants competing with fast food for employees. These restaurants, such as McCormicks in Shell Beach, have to increase prices or close.
You are all too correct in your assessment Andy as usual. I know you don’t listen to these clowns/trolls telling you to do your homework. You’re one of the best researched speakers/writers in the area. Some peoples brainwashing will never be undone no matter how many facts are presented to them. The fact that Kamala’s pictures of her working in a McDonald’s uniform have been shown to be Photoshopped onto another girls body is all over the Internet. And of course it’s well-known that President Trump never wanted to shut everything down. That was forced on us by unelected bureaucrats and other weaklings in Congress because of the horrible advice that the midget Fauci was spouting while enriching himself.
Keep up the good work