Hostess Brands — a lesson in economics and the job market.

By David R. Darrow

A young woman who was regularly in my life until a couple of years ago used to complain every day after work about how her job sucked, and how she was carrying most of the weight and how the owners rarely came in, and how she’s been there over a year and they have not given her a raise… She resented that they called her on Sundays from their boat in the ocean to see how sales were for the day. ‘Rich pigs.’

One day, when she was done ranting, I decided to voice my opinion, “The people you work for not only don’t owe you a raise, since you agreed to work for them for the wage you are getting, they also don’t owe you a job.”

From the look on her face, the idea that not getting an automatic and significant raise after a year was clearly a foreign thought to her, and I could tell she wondered how I could be so out of touch with reality.

At one point or another I have taught each of my own children the realities of the working world: You work for a dream and you work for wealth. If it’s your company, you work for your own dream and your own wealth, and if you work for anyone else, you are working for their dream and their wealth.

“They do not enjoy giving you money. They do not think you deserve a job. The only reason they hire you is because they will make more money if they do, or they will have more time to themselves and their other interests if they do.”

The problem I have always had with unions is where they fail to recognize (or believe) actual economics (“financial math”). They want to fight for all their members to receive “fair pay” and fair benefits, and so they make demands on other people’s money.

Well, the Union just killed 18,500 jobs at Hostess. All 18,500 jobs would still be occupied if there had been some flexibility on the part of all to take a little hit to the income to allow Hostess to attracted needed investor capitol. (Seems smart investors don’t want to put their money into a company whose operating costs are higher than their income. Weird, huh?)

Hostess’ CEO determined that there was a breaking point, a point of no return, and he named it in no uncertain terms.

An insufficient number of employees returned to to their jobs from the union-directed strike to operate the company at a profit, and the camel’s back snapped.

Just like that, 18,500 people are added to the unemployment statistics, falsified for political reasons though they may be..

And I will bet all 18,500 of them think they deserve their job.

The company is liquidating so they can pay back a portion of their debts to others who gave them credit. It’s more than just the company owners and the employees who lose.

Sometimes gratitude comes too late, when it could come, as a matter of the will, every day.

So it goes with Democracy, which America’s founders attempted at all costs to avoid: As one wise man put it, Democracy is two wolves and sheep voting on what’s for dinner.

A time may soon be coming when all we’ll have is our wits. That’s when it will really seem unfair.