Human Events Daily host Jack Posobiec recently invited Human Events and Post Millennial Editor-in-chief Libby Emmons onto the show to discuss the tough financial situation many Americans find themselves in, and why there are so many young Americans who do not want to work. This is light of the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which contained deposits from companies across the tech sector.
Posobiec kicked off the segment by conceding that Americans are living in “very tough times,” drawing attention to the rising prices of essential goods, such as eggs, bread, and milk.
He went on to say that Americans are privy to the increase in inflation and how the dollar has lost much of its value. In tandem with the sudden financial crisis, Posobiec mentioned the suspicious lack of workers across the country.
After mentioning that his family has been enjoying breakfast for dinner on Sunday afternoons, Posobiec mentioned that when he and his family recently went to Denny’s, “there were like two people working there.”
“And actually, when we went to get a seat, the server, slash, hostess, slash, everything, manager, said to us, ‘Look, I’m just going to be honest with you: It’s gonna be a 35-minute wait, and I have no idea when your food’s going to be ready, because we’ve got one person working behind the counter, and she’s a server, she’s not even a cook, but she’s cooking the food tonight…’”
“And then I just kind of like, I realized, as I’m looking around, that there are signs up all over the entire diner that say ‘Help Wanted,’ ‘Now Hiring,’ etc, etc.”
Posobiec continued by saying that the mix of inflation and people not wanting to work is bewildering, noting that working in food service used to be a good first job for many high school kids. He added that there were high schoolers who worked in construction and contract jobs.
He then turned it over to Emmons, who began by saying that her first job when she was 18 years old was “scooping ice cream for the summer,” adding that she does not understand why people are not working.
She continued by saying that she has consistently worked throughout her adult life, including through college.
Emmons said: “I don’t understand how these people who are not working…I don’t know how they are eating, I don’t know how they are driving around in their cars or getting anywhere… What are they doing? Why are they not working? Why are they not interested in doing something productive and earning their own money?”
She went on: “I love having my own money, I gotta say, I love spending my own money.”
Posobiec chimed in: “I think it’s also because three years ago, during the lockdowns, we started sending money out to people for free, and I understand that by the way, I did understand it at the time.”
Posobiec noted that if the government prevents you from doing your job, which it did during the pandemic, then it does have to step up and help out. He suggested that people, especially young people, came to understand that you can get money without having to do anything.
Though people are not receiving COVID-19 money from the government anymore, Posobiec has suggested that the pandemic “broke the loop” in people’s understanding that they have to work in order to get paid.
He stated that instead of putting in hard work and garnering value, people started tucking their money into stocks, cryptocurrency, and banks such as Silicon Valley Bank, where the results were highly speculative.
He concluded that people appear to believe that there are easier ways to make money than “making pancakes and flipping sausage.”
According to a 2022 Gallup poll, lack of employee engagement at work could be a sign of global mismanagement, with 86 percent of those polled saying that they are not actively engaged at work, according to Forbes. The data seems to suggest that there are many factors at play when it comes to workers leaving the workforce.
