Posted on 09/18/2005 9:19:51 AM PDT by Willie Green
Angel Mills worked at GST AutoLeather in Williamsport, Md., most of her adult life. She cut, inspected, packed and shipped leather upholstery until she was laid off in June 2003 as the company scaled back local operations and shifted production to Mexico.
"It's sad. It's scary. I've been a factory worker all my life, and I didn't know what I wanted to do," said Ms. Mills, a 38-year-old Williamsport resident with a teenage son.
But by March 2004 she was taking a half-year course to become a state-licensed massage therapist. A federal program that helps workers who lose jobs owing to foreign competition paid for her training and offered extended unemployment benefits.
In July, she started working at Venetian Salon and Spa in Hagerstown, Md.
~~~SNIP~~~
Mr. Thomas said that for all trade adjustment program workers passing through the consortium, the average wage was $14.36 an hour before the layoffs, while after retraining it was $11.87 an hour, a decline that is common for factory workers who have to restart their lives.
U.S. Labor Department figures indicate that among the retrained, those that find new jobs end up making only 70 percent to 80 percent of their old wages on average.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
I give up. You think protectionist tariffs "to protect workers" are the Will of God now? They're special favors given to big contributors - the unions and manufacturing interests. They become an utter blight to the rest of the economy as an extra tax. It's a indirect redistribution of wealth from the importer to the producer - from a productive individual to a less productive one. Not to mention that the revenue raised by the government is wasted just as much.
The secular socialists in this country are egging you on as you advocate ever more destructive taxes and tariffs to prop up decayed special interest producers.
You deserve all the commensurate misery those destructive economic policies will reap.
Valid science and commerce must stand on a spiritual foundation. Someone has 'integrity' when values and actions are integrated. Let's agree that it's silly to try and salvage half baked economic arguments by calling the other guy a heretic; that reverence for the One has to include self-discipline and study. I believe that free markets, even banks charging interest, are good; I base this on a wealth of scripture that includes Mathew 25;27 ("oportuit ergo te committere pecuniam meam numulariis, et veniens ego recepissem utique quod meum est cum usura."). Perhaps you'd agree that it's morally wrong to end an argument by calling the other guy 'evil'. Please continue and tell us how increasing tariffs is reconciled with your understanding of "the One Who created human beings"?
Yup, amongst whom is the tax payer stuck with the tab of paying for the retraining, with lower tax values on the land and paychecks, with unemployement costs, higher police costs due to higher crime due to lower employment, and many other "little" costs.
If we had FREE trade, I would be ecstatic. We do not. FREE trade does NOT involve government in any form except to get out of the way. We have more the type of thing that Italy had under Mussolini. Ostensibly private companies dancing to the government's tune. Getting rid of the welfare "net" and getting GOVERNMENT out of the trading business (and no longer protecting certain favored companies and industries) would, indeed, lead to an economic rebirth and a sustained boom. Would that we could achieve that in my lifetime.
Unfortunately FT agreements have more to do with greasing palms than benefiting the market as a whole. The labor market's interests are supposed to be represented by the government. Since FedGov Inc. operates based on a favor system those with the most $$ get their interests represented and the rest are told "it's good for everyone" or "there will be newer and better jobs on the way".
Absolutely correct. We would not NEED FTAs in a FREE marketplace. Just an absence of government interference. All these FTAs do is protect one segment of the corporate entities and screw the rest of us. Labor and capital need to realise that they are BOTH indispensible to each other but the remains of the militant unions keep both at each others' throats and the MUTUALITY OF INTERESTS is lost. I daresay we could live well with a lower prevailing wage rate if we had the lower domestic costs to go along with it that would come from a vastly lowered cost of government interference and regulation.
Yeah, pretty soon they'll have all the secrets of Maytag washers and IBM desktops. I'm shaking.
Economics is no a hard science like physics is. And even physics is not set in stone - it evolves, just look up the history of physics over last couple centuries.
The economical theories are about people, are made by the people and influenced by the political interests. The free market theories were created at the time when slavery was still existing in civilized countries, when child labor was wide spread, when the the leading Western countries waged war on China in the name of free drug trade and when Ireland was experiencing the famine.
Traditional Christian doctrine on economics was focused on the interest of all human beings whether they be slaves, serfs, hirelings, merchants, entrepreneurs, knights or kings. And it was worked out with fear of God. That is why after thousand of years of Christian culture the Europe (with hers outposts) rose from barbarism to the high civilization.
Free market theory is built from the one perspective - of the owner and his profit. All else is subjugated as tools and material. Free marketeers are parasites who feed on the moral/spiritual capital accumulated over several centuries.
So according to you, the treason, drug trade, usury, slave trade (in ancient Rome you could become slave because of debt), prostitution is just if based on contract.
How do you define the "absolute need" and how do you determine where it applies?
I think that you are like the ones who promote homosexuality while condemning bestiality or incest. The line is arbitrary and is moving on downward slope. What appears unacceptable today will be a norm tomorrow as we move away from God.
???
Are yours based on actual scriptural passages or are they part of a later tradition?
The Gospel is not based on passages and the tradition was before the books. Books are written down tradition. Christ did not write anything with the exception of the sins of the accusers, and He wrote it on the sand.
Is there anything sacred to you?? National security and the general welfare of the country??
you have the scruples of a nat.
I agree. Still there are various efficiencies and that inhuman system might change people into soap or sausages more efficiently is not necessarily efficient advancement of the general welfare.
could do a lot of good if the only other person has the only coconut tree, a fresh water spring, a gun, plenty of ammo, and you don't.
And many more trade secrets like rare-earth magnets technology. According to you profit sanctifies everything.
Almost. To truly have a market, businesses should not be protected by things like OPIC ( sort of an FDIC for businesses investing overseas ). You want to move production off shore, you should be fully prepared to take the risks of things like--nationalization of your industry by a foreign govt, wars, etc.. Right now, the government indirectly subsidizes some of this off-shoring phenomenon. The funny part is, there are some hidden costs that short sighted types in management don't see, which is why there is usually staff on hand domestically to put out the fires ( aka, fixing all the screw-ups ), and the slow movement of things like call centers back on shore because things weren't 'working out'.
If you think the Chinese buying the IBM desktop line and the Maytag appliance line is a threat to our National security or general welfare then you have the IQ of a gnat.
Wrong my commie friend. The Chinese should not be allowed to buy rare earth magnet technology. That sale should not have been allowed. If the Chinese had bought Unocal, they should have been forced to divest Unocal's rare earth division.
Yeah, unlike Communism where all else is subjugated as tools and material. LOL!
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