Worker Wellness Blog: How History Tends to Repeat Itself
Date Posted: January 28, 2025
Posted In: Discussion,
by Dr. John Gaal
Editor’s Note: Each week, Dr. John Gaal, director of worker wellness for the Missouri Works Initiative, a non-profit workforce formed by the Missouri AFL-CIO, collects and comments on news and trends in workforce wellness and life balance. Construction Forum carries the Worker Wellness & Well-Being Blog as a regular feature.
The MO Works Initiative focuses on creating healthy and recovery friendly workplaces; connecting laid-off workers with job-search or upskilling resources for future employment; and collaborating with community partners to offer innovative points of entry to traditional apprenticeship opportunities.
This week’s edition of our Worker Wellness & Well-being blog looks at how the Sacklers get a second bite at the “opioids settlement” apple; to how sleep/diet/oral health impact one’s mental health; to the +/- of how K-12 school systems are utilizing technology in their classrooms.
This week I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the national spotlight of activities of the past week and how history tends to repeat itself.
Terms like oligarchy and gilded age have popped up in the press several times since the 2024 presidential election. A concentration of power and wealth in a few is something this nation dealt with in the late 1800s-early 1900s. Names like Morgan, Rockefeller, and Carnegie controlled entire industries. Thanks to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act their reign was brought under control for the benefit of the many versus the few!
Well, this past Monday, our nation was exposed to a revival of this reign when billionaires like Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerman were strategically seated on stage at Trump’s inauguration.
It is too early to tell what influence that the mega-rich might have on our nation as a whole in this new era. After all, some of the aforementioned recently resided in the Biden camp. Nonetheless, in times of danger (i.e., 9/11), we were told: If you see something, say something!
It would be naive to think that money does not influence politicians’ leanings. For if this was true, an entire group of people—lobbyists—may no longer be employed. As with most aspects in our lives, an issue like technology can be viewed as good or bad. Just think how nice it is to have a cell phone when one has a flat tire. However, that same wonderful device can be used for the sex trafficking of underage kids. To this end, over the next few months, it will be incumbent upon ALL of us to have open minds and watchful eyes…but more importantly, if you see something, say something!
Please check out the rest of this week’s blog: https://moworksinitiative.org/category/worker-wellness-news/
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