Sue Bower
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
What are we doing?
Built-in obsolescence: We won't support your iPhone in two years, so you'll need a new one.
Send jobs overseas: cheaper clothes that come apart at the seams, Xmas décor whose pieces won't fit together, loss of jobs/income.
Desire for cheaper goods: send jobs overseas; poorer manufacturing; loss of entry-level jobs in the U.S.
Companies want cheaper labor: move to robotics, loss of jobs, need for higher wages.
Work from home: need fewer offices, no need for business dress, make-up or beauticians, eating at home.
Robotics: fewer factory jobs, growing reliance on automation, people don't think as clearly, move/exercise as much, work with other people cooperatively.
Online ordering: no impulse shopping, unchecked quality, harder to return merchandise, closing of stores/loss of jobs.
Businesses think about their bottom line, not quality, not keeping jobs in the U.S., not about what is best for our society.
Higher minimum wages: loss of entry-level jobs, less supervision of children when both parents work, more crime.
Both parents work: reliance on electronic games, TV, the internet to babysit so there's no structure in the home and children are exposed to inappropriate situations, the appeal of war games, mature content.
Schools: use of computers/calculators diminishes the ability of students to know math, research from primary sources, pronounce words, speak properly, cooperate with others in joint work, function with authority in a classroom setting.
Sports: winning is everything, using any means or method; sports isn't an extracurricular activity - it's a priority, and learning takes second place.
Parents: living vicariously through their children, setting unreal goals, devaluing education, religion, the respect of authority and hard work except in sports.
COVID-19: loss of wanting church, loss of connections with other people, more tension and anger in the homes, fear, loss of jobs, but also a +/- scenario of having more time with our children.
Solutions: bring our jobs back home, keep adult content/games away from impressionable children. Reading is the key for children. Reopen factories, build things that last. America First.
Listen businesses: I want shoes that last five years, not that wear out in one; puzzles that come with all their pieces; seams that stay sewn; people with jobs; self-esteem and feelings of accomplishment with people that confirm them; a true understanding of history; the ability to converse/interact with other people.