I've prided myself in having a realistic but generally positive attitude on life. In the last few years, it's taken more effort. Admittedly, I've fallen down on the job as of late. Many of you won't care ... but you should ... or will.

People in general seem to function at a lower level of integrity than they used to. I'm not going to try and convince you that a lack of integrity is something new or that past generations were known to have higher standards. Frankly, I never paid that much attention beyond my own actions. It just seems that way. Then again, maybe I'm paying closer attention nowadays.

From the age of twenty-seven, I was primarily self-employed. Your hand shake and your word were your bond. Your name and reputation built your business faster than any ad in any newspaper ever could. In returning to the work force, I had always felt that my experience would have value, especially to some budding entrepreneur who could save themselves untold miseries by having a source of experience and wisdom to draw upon. I was wrong. Most are too stupid to realize the resources that walk among them untapped and unwanted.

I read with interest that the unemployment rate is at an all time low at the moment. I also read in the next paragraph that employee turnover has never been higher. The reason is as obvious as the nose on your face. People are trying to inch their way up the wage ladder as their ability to live a middle class life bleeds away like a Chinese water torture.

Many of today's employers are greedy and don't care. Until key jobs go unfilled or companies like individuals are victimized by the Peter Principle (research it) things won't change. It's the price we pay for a world economy where labor unions have gone the way of the leisure suit. Outsourcing isn't some political thing to blame on one party or another. It's the reality of survival on the world's economic stage. The little Texan with the big ears who tried to become president to put a stop to it all told us to listen for the big sucking sound as our good manufacturing jobs left the country as soon as we signed the North American Free Trade Agreement. It's worse than even he thought. Illegal immigration is the frosting on the cake that contributes to the sad state of American wages. Do we really want to become like the countries these people are running from?

On a smaller scale, employee employer relations are strained as employers continue to use outdated Florida models to build their businesses. Employees respond by dumbing down resumes to get jobs where they work at half pace for half price with one eye on the clock and the other on the want ads hoping for an upgrade.

Head hunters and job counselors have taken to advising job applicants to submit resumes devoid of dates and details because age discrimination is at epidemic proportions. If you're over forty-five, you're deemed behind the curve and untrainable, not to mention too smart for your own good. A potential leader who is capable of undermining the authority of poorly skilled or low self-esteemed management who compensate for a lack of ability with authoritarian bullying. Something older workers would never tolerate when things were right with America.

What in the world are they teaching in our business colleges today? How to dump older workers, run companies with constant turnover and no benefits, and destroy the American family as an institution? Sure seems that way some days.

We better wake up. Yeah, you too.