Americans Get It Done 

by Mick Lindley

    The great treasure of America is not in the land, as beautiful as it is. Nor is it the gold and paper currency in bank vaults. Americas greatest treasure can be found in any telephone directory as a representative list of the thousands of skilled working men and women who make this great country function. As is the case with most blessings from God we tend to take this one for granted too. Were it not for this great army of people who know how to do things and how to do them right, America would collapse overnight. 

    They are mostly absent from television, movies, and newspapers. When a new high rise office complex or a similar project is announced the emphasis is placed on the people who will occupy it or the big name bank who will finance it. Hardly anything at all is said about the great army of workers who will start from bare ground and a set of blueprints and build it. The people in the building trades are only a small part of this treasure. The countless millions of men and women who make our industries, business, and service organizations operate are also a part of this untold story. 

    It is shamefully fashionable these days to talk about Americas decline. It is also fashionable to talk about the loss of the work ethic. This my friend makes me sick to my stomach and is a bunch of hogwash. America is not in decline. Ours is a growing economy and the productivity of our manufacturing industries is improving. So therefore the work ethic is not dead. More Americans are working now and the unemployment rate is low. Anyone who wants to work is working. 

    Lets look away from television and look at the real world. What do you see? Men and women working 24 hours a day seven days a week. They are the real heroes of this great nation, the ones who keep the economy going. Don't take our people for granted. All one needs to do is watch a world newscast and it will become quite clear that the Third World countries are missing that all important element of prosperity which is a skilled workforce. 

    The Third World countries are not short of university graduates, writers, artists, intellectuals, and soldiers. That element of society is very important. I have two daughters who are college graduates. They lack electricians, carpenters, mechanics, sheet metal workers, painters, plumbers, cement finishers, ironworkers, nurses, secretaries, medical technicians, doctors, machinists, bookkeepers, surveyors, and all the skilled people who are so abundant here. 

    Contrary to what many politicians and philosophers say, Americans are still admired abroad as a people who know how to make a country function. This is still a place where you can build a rocket, produce a million widgets, erect a great office building or staff an enormous medical complex, and I thank God for it. 

    Most Americans take great pride in knowing how to do the job right. My dad is a professional plumber and a good example. He will devote whatever amount of time it takes to do the job right. It makes no difference if its a small household project or a commercial plumbing job, he will "do it right". Because of my dad and literally millions like him we can have faith in this countries future. Whatever tomorrow may bring there positively won't be any job that Americas working men and women can't handle. Look at the real world, it's not so bad after all.