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 ...
Marx (among other things) had in common with freemarketeers the strong and blind belief in Smith/Ricardo theories. So he logically concluded that workers will be reduced to the subsistence, that capital will become monopolized/concentrated, that global trade will fuse the world economy into one and that capitalism will reach dead end.
Was Marx's logical conclusion based on his blind belief in Ricardo and Smith? What theory of Smith leads to any of the conclusions of Marx?
Or maybe the economy is only a part of larger whole and society can influence it in various ways? That is why Ricardo/Marx's scenario cannot occur. The things like government regulations, religious influence, trade unions, redistribution are not some abnormal weird deviations, they are the proof that life is larger than the market.
Hegel, when some scientific discovery negated one of his theories, he said "If the facts do not agree with theory it is too bad for the facts". Freemarketeers see the real life events as aberrations. People will not agree to become the cogs in the economical machine and they will react.
Well the market should be a level playing field on which competitors are on an equal footing.
However, that does not exist in today's globalized economy.
INDIVIDUAL American entreprenuerial opportunity is stifled by excessive government regulation as well as by the economic barriers to market entry enjoyed by transnational corporations and their economies of scales. It is these ARTFICIAL entities who are undermining our INDIVIDUAL economic freedoms with their corrupt manipulation of governmental policies and demands for misnamed "free" trade under economic restrictions that are detrimental to individual Americans.
I'm a freemarketeer and I have no problem with a 40 hour work week, prohibition of child labor, retirement funds and abolishment of slavery. I would prefer a flat tax to a progressive tax.
Maybe you shouldn't guess at what us freemarketeers want? It doesn't sound like you can twist your Communist mindset to fit into our free market thinking.
Freemarketeers differ from Marx that they do not look into the logical consequences of their theory.
We saw what the logical consequences of Marx's theory were. Gulags, misery and poverty. We see the logical consequences of the free market have been much higher standards of living in those countries which have freer markets as compared to those that have less free markets.
free trade will lead to socialism...where do you think displaced workers will get healthcare benefits, pensions etc. This country never became as prone to socialism as Europe because we had a strong manufacturing sector. These jobs are being replaced by service oriented jobs-few - if any benefits - the benefits will come from the government if this trend continues. The American worker has been completely sold out by both parties.
If you don't have a job, you can't afford to buy shoes of any kind-quite simple really.
You had a program, these workers do not.
They are now exporting white collar jobs...!
You sure about that? Doesn't Germany have a stronger manufacturing sector? Don't they have a large trade surplus? They've got a pretty strong case of socialism going on.
These jobs are being replaced by service oriented jobs-few - if any benefits - the benefits will come from the government if this trend continues. The American worker has been completely sold out by both parties.
You have any proof that service jobs offer few benefits? I work in the service sector and my benefits are pretty damn good.
Jesus was in favor of government intervention in a market economy?
And people with a job are not going to start paying double, triple and quadruple for the exact same product, just because it was made my an American.
I worked for accountants who were hired as Temps at Mirant (happy for the job). They received no benefits and were paid nothing. Many confided that an influx of Indian workers (guest workers) took their jobs...the government says they take jobs employees can't find Americans for...total BS just like free trade which is reall unfair trade.
Gospel was given to the Church of Christ at the time of His earthly sojourn, death and resurrection and through sending of the Holy Spirit during the Pentecost.
The holy books and passages were written AFTER the Gospel was given. So the Books of New Testament are based on the Gospel and Gospel is not based on them. The pillar and ground of Truth is the Church (1Tm:3:15). The Church wrote, selected and canonized the Scriptures under inspiration of Holy Spirit, first were the Apostles and then there were the books of New Testament, first were the patriarchs and prophets and then there were the books of Old Testament.
Maytag. National Security. Laughter.
You don't get it...the jobs are not being replaced with good paying jobs. People can't afford to buy anything.
I tell you what. Why don't you check...Starbucks is about to end benefits for their workers. Most service jobs do not offer benefits to workers. Did you never work in a low paying retail, security type job...born rich I guess. Well, I worked my way through college and have had part time jobs and full time jobs over the years for various reasons. I have seen the employment picture for service (retail, food, security)up close . It is not a pretty picture. Also, Mexican workers have really lowered the salaries in many of these industries-double edged sword-immigration and free trade.
I've always wondered about that line of rhetoric: accusing someone of believing that which you yourself believe. What's the purpose? Is it deliberate sophistry, or simple inability to comprehend contradiction?
It should be fairly simple to post some data that show real wages falling. Go ahead.
There's nothing funny about that whatsoever.
During WWII, Maytag converted their production facilities to produce Aircraft hydraulic cylinders, bomb bay mechanisms and speed reducers, electric landing gear mechanisms, tank track pins, bomb nose fuzes, etc. etc. (source)
Can't do that if the facilities are located overseas.
This is a cute line of reasoning as well. "Free trade will lead to socialism, so we should enact socialist policies now and avoid the wait."
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