We live in a consumer-driven economy.
Your actions and how you spend your dollars directly affectsevery single aspect of our lives, whether you acknowledge it ornot.
In the '70s and '80s, Japanese cars flooded the American market.They were far cheaper, got better gas mileage and were often timesbuilt better than American autos. People bought them and it createda need for a lot of changes to the American economy.
Now many auto parts are made in foreign countries because laboris cheaper. Many American jobs in light manufacturing have beensent overseas and to Latin America.
I see and hear arguments all the time that it's the bigcorporations and their greed that caused this fundamental shift inthe economy. Of course this is bologna, and any person who canevaluate the situation will realize the simple truth: OnlyAmericans can cause jobs to leave America.
They cause jobs to leave in two ways, and the first is throughconsumerism. When someone buys a foreign car, or a car that is madeby a foreign owned company, they cause a market shift. The dollarsthat could have bought American made goods and
employed American workers now go overseas.
During the '70s and '80s, people wanted those cheap andefficient foreign cars, so the big three had to find a way tocompete. They stopped paying an American $25 an hour to run apress, and started paying someone in a developing nation $.25 anhour to do the same job. Why? So they could lower the price oftheir car to boost sales. Then they could boost profits to increasetheir stock prices and grow the company.
This brings us to the second way Americans cause jobs to leave,and that's through their poor choices.
If you watch the news and read the papers, you know thatmanufacturing facilities across the country are closing and movingjobs to other states, or even other countries. Usually before thishappens, the company will go to the employees and explain that forwhatever reason, they need a wage concession. Almost every singletime (more so in union environments) the employees refuse to giveup any wages, and then the plant closes alltogether.
So what did they gain? Show me an unemployed steel worker whowouldn't take $5 an hour less to have his job back. Show me anunemployed auto parts line employee who wouldn't have taken $10 anhour less.
But they don't; they fight tooth and nail to keep what they feelthey "deserve" as an employee and then end up losing their jobsaltogether.
This is America; all anyone "deserves" is the right to do theirvery best and the fairness and equality to succeed. But a highpaying job, financial security, a new car or jobs at all are notguaranteed by the Constitution.
The only future we have for ourselves is the one we work hard tosecure, even if that means making $5 less an hour than we didbefore.
Write to Russell at rlg@temporalfront.com
visit http://www.temporalfront.com
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