I know, it’s Facebook. I’m almost embarrassed to say that I use Facebook, but I do. It’s a great way to celebrate my friends’ birthdays, and to keep up on kids and families. And on the “business” side, it’s where I get track officiating updates, respond to pole vault questions, and one of the places I put my essays, political and otherwise. You might well be reading this one from a link on Facebook. And when I’m looking for a used mower deck for my little John Deere tractor – Facebook marketplace is the “where it’s at!!”. I’ve even sold a couple of cars on Facebook.
And then there’s all the “controversy”, here in our area usually involving the local municipalities. The Pataskala page sometimes gets some arguments going, but nothing is as controversial as the “Etna Community” page. They’re always fighting in Etna, over such terrific topics as garbage collection and whether the Township Hall video feed works. Seriously, there are two fundamental issues in Etna: the incredible industrial development that seems overwhelming to the area, and the “smell” of corruption in the township government; the old one, the new one, the next one, who knows?
When you say “Facebook” in a high school classroom, there’s a combination of rolling eyes and sad expressions. It’s kind of like listening to my Mom and Dad’s record collection (now that’s at least fifty-five years ago). Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Peter Nero; I still like the music, but it certainly wasn’t what I heard on the “new” FM Radio stations, playing the latest folk-rock-protest songs. The kids in today’s class just look kind of sorry for you – to be so old to actually “use” Facebook.
Looking for Work
But sometimes Facebook can tell you a little bit about the world, even if it’s overwhelmed with pro-Trump memes right now.
The post started like this:
Job search – My husband is searching for a new job. He is on different job sites and has even called numbers he sees when he’s out and about. He is exploring all avenues, so I thought I’d also post in our local Facebook group on his behalf since sometimes there are jobs that aren’t listed online. If anyone has any leads on full time jobs or if anyone is hiring, please let him or I know. If you want more info on him or his experience, feel free to ask. Thank you
This kind of post sometimes turns out “badly”. There are “trolls” on Facebook, looking for any excuse to turn a reasonable question into a “negative experience”. But this particular post, for some reason, was taken seriously. Here thirty-six hours later, there are eighty-eight responses, and fifty-four actual “leads” for specific jobs in the area.
Polling shows that many Americans are still struggling with the economy. This, in spite of the stock market performance (the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and the Nasdaq all set record highs in the past months); a national unemployment rate of 3.7%, and an inflation rate of 3.15%, half of what it was last year. It’s more of a “feeling” than a number; prices seem high, and while wages have also gone up, it doesn’t “feel” like we’re keeping up.
A Quarter-Million?
Or maybe think of it this way. My house is now worth almost twice what it was worth just a decade ago. But while it is really nice (we’ve done a lot of work on it), it doesn’t “feel” that different. It certainly doesn’t “feel” like a house worth more than a quarter-million dollars. But it is, according the appraiser, the online realty sites, and the county tax collector.
So how’s the economy on our little “micro” economic level? A woman, just “fishing” for her husband, got fifty-four direct leads on a new job. Everything from construction to skilled mechanic and driving, landscaping, to factory work. And, of course, “distribution center” (warehouse) work is always available in Etna. There seems to be plenty of work “out there”, if you are willing to — work.
Good News?
All that sounds look good news for the incumbent, Biden Administration. But there’s still a lot of fear out there. The Covid pandemic scarred (and scared) Americans. From the high of January 2020 to the low of April of the same year, Americans realized how ephemeral economic security, and daily life, can be. The memory of empty grocery shelves and missing paychecks is still fresh, and the wounds from that year are raw.
Kids still are struggling from the loss of time in school, and there are empty chairs, family and friends that vanished, without even a funeral to mourn or a “celebration of life” to remember them. 2020, despite being the last Presidential election year and a perpetual checkmark in future history books like the 1918 Spanish Flu, is a year intellectually forgotten, but emotionally still very present.
However you voted in 2020, Biden definitely got the burden of rebuilding the Nation in 2021 and beyond. And, in comparison with the rest of the world, the United States has done better than anywhere else. We got back to “normal”; to work, life, and moved on faster. So fast, that it’s easy to forget who was President, and who wasn’t, when the original crisis began.
Less Red?
Reading Facebook proves the point: Pataskala is still “Trump Country”. Pataskala is in Licking County, that voted more than 63% for Trump in 2020. But here’s an interesting “factoid”. In 2023, Ohio voted on a state constitutional amendment to guarantee abortion rights. It passed in Licking County 51% to 49%. The County also voted for Issue 2, to legalize recreational marijuana, 53% to 47%. Over 50% of the voters turned out in 2023 (73% came out for the 2020 Presidential vote).
That certainly doesn’t mean Biden will win Licking County in 2024. But maybe it will be a little closer. Those are the kind of inroads Biden (and Ohio’s Senator Sherrod Brown) will need. And one of the biggest arguments both can make is – you can get a job, a good job, here in Licking County. And, like it or not, that happened on Biden’s watch.
