Posted on 02/09/2011 7:00:27 PM PST by upsdriver
IN ECONOMICS as in apparel, most fashions come and go. But like the navy blazer or the little black dress, bewailing the decline of American manufacturing never seems to go out of style.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Jacoby disproves the myth that we don’t make anything anymore.
We make more stuff than ever with less people, the age of automation is upon us. The only way to compete with low wage oversea work forces is to automate everything. This is exactly what has been done.
The more important question is how much of the industrial base that is key to our long term economic health have we shipped overseas simply so we can make more short term profit. This requires strategic thinking to address. The Chinese are strategic thinkers, they have systematically taken low tech industry and moved up the ladder into high tech industry. It is only a matter of time before they are cranking out autos, planes, and space vehicles because we thought it was a great idea to outsource everything. Their star is rising and ours is falling because we have foolishly allowed greed and stupidity by our financial and political class to undermine our countries long term economic health.
Listening to the uneducated masses (which includes liberals) you’d think that a pencil maker job is more important than a brain surgeon ob.
But there are millions of young Americans who do not aspire to become anything of worth, unfortunately. Obama wants us to spread our wealth around to support these lazy bums who consume the products that the rest of us make.
Yes, but there are also millions of young Americans that do strive to succeed. The tendency is to focus on the bad while ignoring the good. We are missing a leader who will put the focus back where it belongs, on the greatness of America.
My last factory job went automated which was fine because I learned to program, operate, and maintain the robotics. Then someone in Mexico was trained to do the same for a quarter of the whopping $12 an hour I made and that was the end of that.
One problem I saw in American industry are the idiots who weren’t about to let their precious babies get their hands dirty. Better that they get their hands dirty in a nation that belongs to them than to keep clean in a nation that belongs to someone else.
Automation has done that.
I worked in a steel mill in Pittsburgh, you know, the college kid that gets to sweep the floors. At that time we had appx. 21,000 working three shifts.
Today at the Mittell, Steelton, PA plant they out produce us 10-1 with 3,000 employees.
American corporations’ overseas manufacturing output continues to rise. Such great news!
You are right. Looking at the raised-for-welfare cases - in the millions - sometimes it is easy to overlook those who are not welfare cases which are many more. Forrest, trees and all that.
Liberals have somewhat re-created the hippy thing with this generation like they did with the boomers. Few take them up on it when they mature.
There’s a great deal of wisdom in the words of our founders that have been completely lost to our pure consumer society.
Last questions asked by the house of commons of Ben Franklin in 1766.
>>Q. What used to be the pride of the Americans?
A. To indulge in the fashions and manufactures of Great Britain.
Q. What is now their pride?
A. To wear their old clothes over again till they can make new ones.<<
All the trinkets in the world didn’t make them free. They knew it and risked everything for the true freedom to make their own way in the world.
I hear you. We used to have a steel plant among other plants here in South San Francisco. Now all the steel going into rebuilding our SF Bay bridges is being imported from China.
Every coffee cup in my house is made in China, even the Charlie Brown one, except for the Royal Dalton cup I got from a girl whose father made them in England. My new toaster-over (DeLonghi, Italian-designed) and radio are made in China. I looked for American-made and couldn’t find any.
I want an air purifier and even Honeywell is made in Red China (Holmes), etc.
Star War action figures are made in Red China. Used to be made in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Tools - mainly made in China except Stanley and Estwing?
I’ll pay more for American-made because I want to support our workers and our country.
Enough Red China junk. Give me the good stuff and I’ll pay for it.
We can compete with anyone in the world but we need to get government off the backs of entrepreneurs. Reducing regulations and cutting business taxes would be a good first step. Slashing federal spending and tax cuts for everyone too. We may not make the same old stuff but the private sector unleashed will find numerous ways to create wealth.
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