I know, it\u2019s Facebook. I\u2019m almost embarrassed to say that I use Facebook, but I do. It\u2019s a great way to celebrate my friends\u2019 birthdays, and to keep up on kids and families. And on the \u201cbusiness\u201d side, it\u2019s 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\u2019m looking for a used mower deck for my little John Deere tractor \u2013 Facebook marketplace is the \u201cwhere it\u2019s at!!\u201d. I\u2019ve even sold a couple of cars on Facebook. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then there\u2019s all the \u201ccontroversy\u201d, here in our area usually involving the local municipalities. The Pataskala page sometimes gets some arguments going, but nothing is as controversial as the \u201cEtna Community\u201d page. They\u2019re 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 \u201csmell\u201d of corruption in the township government; the old one, the new one, the next one, who knows?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you say \u201cFacebook\u201d in a high school classroom, there\u2019s a combination of rolling eyes and sad expressions. It\u2019s kind of like listening to my Mom and Dad\u2019s record collection (now that\u2019s at least fifty-five years ago). Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Peter Nero; I still like the music, but it certainly wasn\u2019t what I heard on the \u201cnew\u201d FM Radio stations, playing the latest folk-rock-protest songs. The kids in today\u2019s class just look kind of sorry for you \u2013 to be so old to actually \u201cuse\u201d Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But sometimes Facebook can tell you a little bit about the world, even if it\u2019s overwhelmed with pro-Trump memes right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The post started like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Job search\u00a0 – 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<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This kind of post sometimes turns out \u201cbadly\u201d. There are \u201ctrolls\u201d on Facebook, looking for any excuse to turn a reasonable question into a \u201cnegative experience\u201d. But this particular post, for some reason, was taken seriously. Here thirty-six hours later, there are eighty-eight responses, and fifty-four actual \u201cleads\u201d for specific jobs in the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Polling shows that many Americans are still struggling with the economy.\u00a0\u00a0This, 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.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s more of a \u201cfeeling\u201d than a number; prices seem high, and while wages have also gone up, it doesn\u2019t \u201cfeel\u201d like we\u2019re keeping up.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019ve done a lot of work on it), it doesn\u2019t \u201cfeel\u201d that different. It certainly doesn\u2019t \u201cfeel\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how\u2019s the economy on our little \u201cmicro\u201d economic level?\u00a0\u00a0A woman, just \u201cfishing\u201d for her husband, got fifty-four direct leads on a new job.\u00a0\u00a0Everything from construction to skilled mechanic and driving, landscaping, to factory work. And, of course, \u201cdistribution center\u201d (warehouse) work is always available in Etna.\u00a0\u00a0There seems to be plenty of work \u201cout there\u201d, if you are willing to — work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All that sounds look good news for the incumbent, Biden Administration.\u00a0\u00a0But there\u2019s still a lot of\u00a0\u00a0fear out there.\u00a0\u00a0The Covid pandemic scarred (and scared) Americans.\u00a0\u00a0From 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.\u00a0\u00a0The memory of empty grocery shelves and missing paychecks is still fresh, and the wounds from that year are raw.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 \u201ccelebration of life\u201d 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 \u201cnormal\u201d; to work, life, and moved on faster. So fast, that it\u2019s easy to forget who was President, and who wasn\u2019t, when the original crisis began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reading Facebook proves the point: Pataskala is still \u201cTrump Country\u201d. Pataskala is in Licking County, that voted more than 63% for Trump in 2020. But here\u2019s an interesting \u201cfactoid\u201d. 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). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That certainly doesn\u2019t 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\u2019s Senator Sherrod Brown) will need. And one of the biggest arguments both can make is \u2013 you can get a job, a good job, here in Licking County. And, like it or not, that happened on Biden\u2019s watch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"