Today, September 7, is Labor Day in the U.S. -- a day set aside each year as a tribute to the American worker.
But what is there to celebrate this year?
Sure, the American labor force is worth honoring. Very much so. But a day of hollow, gratuitous honor can hardly atone for the abuse that the workforce has taken in recent years, especially since so many people associate the holiday with a last trip to the beach rather than acknowledge its real meaning.
A day of hollow, gratuitous honor means little when U.S. companies continue to ship our jobs overseas to places like China and India, where workers cost a small fraction of what their American counterparts would be paid, and where labor laws are much looser.
A day of hollow, gratuitous honor means little when the official unemployment rate in this country is nearing 10%, and the actual rate is probably much higher.
A day of hollow, gratuitous honor means little when corporations continue to intimidate workers who want to form unions, and who pay lobbyists royally to fight against workers' rights in Washington.
A day of hollow, gratuitous honor means little when a serious illness or injury could wipe out everything you've worked so hard for all your life.
And a day of hollow, gratuitous honor means little as the gap between the rich and the poor in this country grows wider, the middle class continues to shrink, and the American dream becomes a nightmare.
Ah, yes, the American dream. It was nice while it lasted.
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