“We Must Pick Ourselves Up, Dust Ourselves Off, and Begin Again the Work of Remaking America.”
Yesterday, in his inaugural address, President Barack Obama called on all Americans to join him in the work of rebuilding our nation. Not only our nation’s economy, but our confidence: confidence in ourselves, and confidence in our ability to leave our children a better country and world than the one in which we are walking right now.
President Obama is correct. We need “the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together, …science [restored] to its rightful place, and … technology’s wonders” applied to health care. But we also need much more.
As he said, we must put away the “childish things” of divisiveness and refocus on the great American ideal:
That precious gift … passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
This “new era of responsibility,” this choice of “hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord,” requires healing divisions between management and workers as well as the political, racial, and other social divisions that have rent our country and contributed to one of the largest gaps between the wealthy and the poor in our nation’s history.
We are truly in this together, and this Blawg is in it for the long haul (May of this year we’ll celebrate six years of blogging!).
In the years to come we promise to look at solutions — for example, innovative ways to bring job-seekers and employers together, proposed changes to labor and employment laws, and positive workplace trends that will improve life for all workers, whatever color collars they wear.
We’ll bring you resources to find jobs, and strategies to better manage your human resources in an age of dwindling revenues. We’ll explore green jobs; how jobs continue to be impacted by technology, environmental concerns, and energy costs; and how public policy is being designed to stimulate job creation and employee training.
As our nation struggles through a serious recession and the highest unemployment in decades, we should keep in mind the President’s words today:
Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished.
We look forward to serving you, our fellow workers, managers, CEOs, and citizens, as together we find ways to put our capacity and talents back to use and restore our country’s greatness.
Photo courtesy: The White House
This is about the best thing that Obama has said so far. The only way we can “rebuild” our country is first by brinding the jobs back. The rest will fall into place. I cannot tell you the amount of college graduate friends I have that all have bachelors degrees and working at a fast food restaurant or being paid $7/hr. Bringing the jobs back will fix many of the problems. Bailing out GM? I think they need to bail out many of these small businesses in order to create jobs for local workers. Just my thought…..nice blog though Dont forget to check out my blog :)
We need to do exactly what he says. We NEED to pick ourselves up! And literally…grow from what we have done.
-Joslyn.