Dee Dee continues the discussion started in her previous post on the disappearing act of goods made in America.
As we prepare for the Democratic Convention which starts next week, I am so glad that yesterday, Harold Meyerson’s article in The Washington Post , reaffirmed my belief that the loss of manufacturing plants is a critical issue for this country. It should be the primary issue during this presidential election season and beyond. Meyerson’s article assesses the destiny of manufacturing plants in America.
The Post article reinforced my last post on job drain. Take heed as the Presidential election will be the true turning point of no return to American manufacturing plants and the abundance of blue collar jobs they use to provide here in America. If the businesses who owned those plants don’t return, we need to take the bull by the horns. Use the lump sum baby boomers are getting at early retirement to reopen plants rather than fast food franchises. If we don’t, we will be in a true state of emergency.
America will be locked into being primarily an agrarian society with only service and sales jobs for the rest of us (Yes, we’re in the midst of being that now). If we don’t survive as the America we know and the America to which our forefathers came to start a better life, we will need to learn other languages. We will need to use the new language to follow our jobs to other countries for the same jobs we watched leave; otherwise we will have to learn the agricultural field!
Nor will going to college insulate us from the shipping of jobs overseas. College is already becoming the equivalent of a high school diploma in terms of its value in giving us a leg up on opportunities. Employers want cheap labor and are now diminishing the worth of college degrees unless you are certified in a skill and then, after about 10 years, you will be replaced by a graduate just out of school, i.e., more cheap labor. And its not about age discrimination, employers allege; it’s about cheap labor! this approach is pitting the older generation against the younger generation. Its illegal immigrants vs legal immigrants vs American citizens. It’s where experience and citizenship (translated to knowing your rights) is a liability. This is the world McCain and his identical cousin George Bush have shaped. America needs to break out of this cycle and outside this box!
