LEFT’S EXTREME INTOLERANCE LAID BARE

DEMOCRAT senator Chuck Schumer’s description of Brett Kavanaugh’s elevation to the US Supreme Court as one of “the saddest moments in the history of the Senate” (Mercury, October 8) is correct but for none of the reasons Schumer contends.

The protracted and squalid process to which Kavanaugh was subjected has been termed a “national disgrace” by 93% of Americans polled, the responsibility of which lies squarely with Schumer’s so-called Democrats. From the moment Kavanaugh’s nomination was announced, Schumer pledged to oppose it. For three months his colleague, Dianne Feinstein, sat on a letter she had received from a Dr Ford alleging Kavanaugh had sexually molested her in 1982 or 1983, she could not recall exactly.

Just when the Senate’s role of adjudicating Kavanaugh’s eligibility was nearing an end, Feinstein produced the letter.

What had been a job application up until that point turned into a vitriolic character assassination ordeal unprecedented in the history of appointments to the US Supreme Court. For Schumer now to claim that Kavanaugh “lacked the temperament” to be a Supreme Court Justice is contrived nonsense.

Kavanaugh’s robust defence of his integrity and his family in the face of the unsubstantiated claims by Dr Ford have nothing to do with temperament, as Schumer avers.

How else was Kavanaugh supposed to have responded in the face of false accusations being deliberately exploited for political ends?

Thanks to the obfuscating and delaying tactics deployed by Schumer and his ilk along with the George Soros-sponsored far left-wing fanatical demonstrations, violence and intimidation transcended the peaceful right to freedom of speech and the right to dissent.

The real loser in American politics is liberalism. Previously it resided in the Democratic Party. But sadly it has now been replaced by extreme intolerance and socialism.

| Durban THE much anticipated Jobs Summit has taken place which formed part of the president’s commitments made during the State of the Nation Address.

The collective agreement signed by the government, business, labour and civil society has been positively received but as always, the devil lies in the implementation thereof.

Karl Marx once remarked: “Employment confers dignity”. And by experiencing the unprecedented levels of unemployment, we have taken our people’s dignity away from them and this has created the environment of hopelessness that we sometimes feel.

Youth unemployment figures are terrifyingly high as well and we can lose a generation of our young people and not take advantage of our young workforce and youth bulge to truly become a global powerhouse.

Often when faced with a crisis we must adopt business unusual tactics to come up with tomorrow’s solutions.

In this regard we believe that there are a few game-changers that can impact on the unemployment crisis among young people.

The recognition of informal skills which young people have and their ability to impact positively on companies should never be overlooked.

For example, many companies hire social media savvy employees as part of their marketing and communications team.

One only needs to spend a day on South African twitter to see the articulated, humorous and viral thoughts and opinions that come across.

Many of these young people will not hold the required qualification for posts – but they have perception, communication and social skills beyond what is measurable on a piece of paper.

They can contribute massively to marketing campaigns and to companies wanting to reach out and expand to a massive demographic of young people.

Furthermore, we know that we have a multitude of young people without a matric qualification.

We equally need to change the narrative in respect of a minimum of matric to be hire-able.

Cognitive and personality skills can be spread across and often through psychometric assessment and a level of training, we can get young people up to the level they need to succeed in the workplace.

It takes a willingness to change the way we do things.

In changing narratives, entities both public and private must take a leap of faith and ringfence positions which are advertised for unemployed young people between the ages of 18 and 35.

If we are deliberate about it, we will start to see change.

Finally, the government must create the environment for job creation and be an enabler of success.

In this regard the accessibility to jobs remains a huge issue.

If there is an indirect outcome of the Jobs Summit it must be transportation systems to enable our people to be linked to jobs. These must be functional and cost effective.

We need to ensure that the ongoing train dilemma is resolved and that the government acts swiftly in the transportation sector.

We also need to increase access to broadband and lower the costs of data. As we measure access to electricity, water and sanitation, so too we should with broadband. It is a basic human right which gives citizens equal access to the economy.

Some of the greatest ideas and innovations have come out of unprecedented crises.

Let’s not waste what may be the last chance we have to make good on the better life we have promised our next generation.