Solutions, not vengeance, is the way forward in ‘year of the groper’

The speed of the cultural revolution sweeping through high-profile workplaces is breathtaking: Not only are women’s accounts of being harassed, groped or sexually assaulted on the job being taken seriously, consequences are ensuing.

Let’s not squander this moment. We must not respond with shrill vengeance but with constructive ideas that ensure the noxious behavior stops once and for all.

Rather than be satisfied to dance around the hot garbage of men toppled from prestigious jobs after sexual misconduct investigations, what actions can each of us take to make sure this movement sticks?

Those are the conversations with the potential to put the #MeToo campaign into the history books.

National columnist Kathleen Parker has ruefully labeled 2017 “the year of the groper,” as we’ve watch an almost daily unfolding of pathetic and revolting behavior as the firewalls of power and money crumble.

NBC fired longtime Today host Matt Lauer for inappropriate sexual behavior on the job. Public radio star Garrison Keillor was canned the same day because of improper conduct while he was responsible for the production of A Prairie Home Companion.

In Congress, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., faces a growing number of allegations of sexual harassment while Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., was popped Thursday with yet another groping accusation.

Who knows what new names may emerge between now and the time you read this editorial.

Was the catalyst for the ”no more silence” culture shift the election of President Donald Trump a month after his crass 2005 brag about grabbing women went public? Or the recent fall of Harvey Weinstein, one of the entertainment industry’s mightiest executives?

Whatever the reason, let’s not lose sight of what’s important here: Making workplaces safe for all employees, women and men.

While neon-light names have captured the nation’s attention, don’t forget about the mundane workplaces where similar bad behavior festers: The women waiting tables late into the evening, those up before dawn to begin changing hotel sheets, the ones standing in factory assembly lines.

Everyone at every job site needs to do better. We can all practice “see something, say something.”

For those of us who came of age when rules about acceptable behavior were still overtly tilted toward the men, outing old perpetrators likely is of little value. A far more effective strategy is to vow to be a strong mentor on this issue to younger female colleagues.

The many good men who make up our workplaces can do more as well, starting with taking a firm stand against demeaning talk about female co-workers.

Likewise, we can all be mindful of shades of gray. While some cases of inappropriate behavior are clear-cut, many others are complicated and even contradictory.

It’s worth a reminder to all who celebrate this #MeToo movement as a tipping point: Accountability falls on each of us to use this moment effectively.

When the Congress established Social Security in 1935 and established the age of 65 years as the time for retirement the average lifespan was about 66 years. This means that half of the people who paid into Social Security would die before reaching the age of 65 years and the retirees would only live for one to four years. With that plan it is easy to see how a 2 percent of income Social Security Tax would be adequate to take care of everyone with the employers matching the amount taken from the employees.

In my Daddy’s family of seven children, three of them died before they were 65 years old and did not take any of the money that was taken from their pay. The original plan was designed solely for retirement purposes. All of the rest of the payments that have been taken from Social Security, such as disability, have been added since Social Security was started.

The average lifespan for both men and women in the United States today is 79.3 years. We are country number 31 in the world while Japan is number 1 with a lifespan of 83.7 Years. Women average living about 5 years longer than men live. From 2 percent in 1935, the current employee under the new tax plan pays 7.65 percent on all of the income. The employer pays the same amount which means a payment equal to 15.72 percent of your income is paid to the government for Social Security and Medicare today.

Many folks do not know that the Bible tells us how long man should live. King David wrote in Psalm 90 verse 10 that our lifespan will be threescore and ten years ( 70) or perhaps fourscore years ( 80) if you are a person of strength. David added that our strength is labor and sorrow. It is soon cut off and we fly away. He warns us to number our days (make them valuable) so that we can apply our hearts to obtain wisdom.

We all go through stages in our lives. Numerically speaking 20 is known as a score. The first 20 years are essentially years of learning. We learn something every day for all of our lives but in these first years we learn