It’s been too long since I published an edition of THE ENTERPRISE… My fault is from "waiting for the dust to settle" on so many issues—and realizing that "the dust never settles.” Thus I am adding two versions of columns I wrote first ten years ago. They are more appropriate now than ever. We have millions of unemployed people and millions of jobs going unfilled. That conundrum is, in my opinion, a result of the accumulated effect of political policy, current conditions and human nature.
A wise person once said, “The behavior rewarded is the behavior repeated.”
TWO 2011 ARTICLES BELOW EXPAND ON TWO ASPECTS OF A MALAISE THAT AFFLICTS AMERICA TODAY
Current political leaders believe government knows best and must do everything to drive that point home. That includes every imaginable form of welfare and government largesse, and some that no rational person ever thought were imaginable (until Bernie Sanders, the Democrat Socialist weighed in with his personal form of foolishness.)
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” is a quote from the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, founder of Taoism. This quote assumes the man is willing to "learn how to fish," and will expend the effort to feed himself. These days, that is not so true. By spending inconceivable amounts (Trillions) of borrowed money (that it doesn’t have), the USA has convinced millions of people that they don’t need to work to feed themselves. They can just expect the government to “take care of them!” As they buy into this concept, they are putting themselves into a form of “Economic Slavery” where the government is their de facto “master."
About half of Americans no longer pay income taxes—they live off the efforts to the other half. Many people can stay home and have more government supplied income than their skills could earn—if they were willing to work for a living, in regular jobs. The American government led by Obama’s compromise VP, “Clueless" Joe Biden (a long-term Senator with no real achievements except getting elected, and no real experience except how government can spend taxpayers earnings). He is now the President. His policies seem to be controlled by liberal Socialists (now marketed as “progressives”) within the Democratic party. Socialism has been proven over and over to be an unworkable system.
I guess I’m old fashioned to think that people should earn their living by working, rather than being wards of the government welfare state. The government and its programs create NO wealth. All government income is collected from taxes on the wealth creating (working) Americans or levying/collecting tariffs on goods coming into the US from foreign entities.
The government was created to work for the people, not vice versa—(to do for them what they alone couldn’t do for themselves.) Disagree if you wish, but that statement is a fact.
To finish let's consider the other aspects of America’s plight.
“Slavery" comes in many forms — to control people’s behavior— to serve other masters:
Ironically, we need more "willing workers" in the USA. Immigrants have always filled the gap in our falling birth rate. Fewer willing workers leads to lower national productivity and less wealth creation.
Finally, someone needs to remind the people in charge of our country, our states and cities: There is no such thing as a “free lunch! Somebody always pays, even if the person “paying" is unknown, unwilling, hidden or simply unaware.
• Worker Shortages—(Already described.)
• Inflation—Printing more money, with nothing of value backing it, creates inflation and devalues the money. BIG Problems follow.
• Covid—Allowing hundreds of thousands to suffer and die when vaccines exist to stop this is inhuman, immoral and irresponsible
• Supply Chains—Finely tuned “just in time” supply chains lack the capacity/resilience to respond to unexpected surges in demand
• Welfare—If excessive largesse creates “Economic Slavery,” so does excessive reliance on China, et.al. to create "Supply Chain Slavery”
• Climate—Misguided political/media alarmism re: short-term Climate Change adds widespread panic to create “Climate Change Slavery”
• Information—Mis-information & big tech censorship creates “propaganda” & widespread disbelief & "Information Confidence Slavery”
• Immigration—No Border control leads to chaos, and adds countless unfortunate people to our country…A Human Tragedy
• Foreign Policy—Confusion creates chaos and mistrust, and contributes to weak, Ineffective Leadership
Finally, someone needs to remind the people in charge of our country, our states and cities: There is no such thing as a “free lunch! Somebody always pays, even if the person “paying" is unknown, unwilling, hidden or simply unaware.
The natural tendency (in families and organizations) to economize in one place to compensate/pay for an economic need in another has been completely forgotten (ignored) in American government—especially at the Federal Level.
THAT’S ALL FOLKS
Just “Telling it Like it Is”
JOHN
==================
THAT’S ALL FOLKS
Just “Telling it Like it Is”
JOHN
==================
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT
Mar 24, 2011,04:43pm EDT
Forbes.com
A Nation of Grown-up Children?
@2011 John Mariotti, Contributor
Now we have the massive government entitlements: Social Security (A Ponzi scheme if there ever was one), Medicare and Medicaid driving our country rapidly toward insolvency. Few politicians have the courage to tackle and cut these unaffordable programs because they know that many of these dependent, grownup children can vote—and will likely vote them out of office. So instead, they nibble around the edges, trimming smaller (but still huge and wasteful) “peripheral” budget accounts. While these cuts will help, they are like pruning a few small the limbs on a dying tree—too little, too late. Where is the leadership? What are they showing us?
Union “Tantrums”
Unions are now exhibiting the same kind of “tantrums” that spoiled children use to get what they want, whether they deserve it or not. After a decade or two of negotiating unaffordable pay and benefit packages, and then redirecting union dues to elect sympathetic politicians, the unions are now being called to “fess up and pay up.” Citizens of so many states are now supporting too many public employees (and their unions) unaffordable pay and benefits (especially under-funded and un-fundable pension plans). These unions, the members, the officers and liberal political friends believe that if they have bad enough tantrums, they’ll get to keep their non-competitive, unaffordable pay and benefit plans.
We cannot let that happen. Spoiled grown-up children, like our own children at formative ages, learn what kinds of misbehavior they can get away with. It’s time to stop this nonsense.
Endless Unemployment
Another area of “spoiling grown-up children” is the practice of extending unemployment benefits almost forever. Before you accuse me of being unsympathetic to the plight of the unemployed, I am not. I do feel bad for them and their families. BUT—I have heard far too often the comment, “What’s the point of going out looking for a job which is hard to find, I have to get up everyday to show up, and my take home pay is hardly more than unemployment—where all I have to do if fill out a form and stand in line.”
“The Behavior Rewarded is the Behavior Repeated”
Once again, we train these dependent “grownup children” that if they wait long enough, someone will rescue them; relieve them of their “grownup responsibilities.” And the government does, time after time. If there are no negative consequences of the failure to accept responsibility, so what? That unemployment check comes out of the pockets of employers and indirectly out of the potential pay for working people: grownups who are being responsible—that’s what. The longer we teach people that there are no consequences of their actions, the more they avoid responsibility. We call companies “too big to fail” and then bail them out, when their fate should be bankruptcy. We feel sorry for cities and push unfunded mandates on states to help them—even if the state is flat broke.
Bright Spots—Courageous Governors
Courageous governors are facing these issues and trying to bring fiscal responsibility back to the U. S.: Chris Christie in NJ; Mitch Daniels in IN; Scott Walker in WI, to just name a few. Other states, such as CA and IL are so deeply mired in their own irresponsible spending that they are functionally, intellectually and morally bankrupt.
But then what would you expect from a government whose leadership calmly proposes a budget that spends $1.40 for every dollar of income. Perhaps we have found the “grownup-child-in-chief” and he lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC. When the President of the United States fails to accept his responsibilities, why should the rest of us worry?
John Mariotti
© John Mariotti 2011
DOES AMERICA HAVE THE WILL TO BE GREAT?
There is an apocalyptic piece that has been circulating around the Internet for several weeks, entitled “Changes are Coming.” It is written in two parts, and is quite long. I’ll summarize it and just include a bit of the language—which is that of a very concerned author.
The first part says “Big Changes Coming” and cites the evolution of our way of life and the disappearance of familiar things we have known:
§ The post office (failing),
§ The personal check (replaced by debit cards),
§ The newspaper (replaced by on-line news),
§ The book (replaced by e-books),
§ The land-line telephone (replaced by cell phones),
§ Music (“discs” being replaced by “downloads”),
§ Television (broadcast and cable replaced by “streaming video”),
§ Privacy (becoming non-existent—being replaced by total transparency).
The loss of these old, familiar part of our lives is troubling but more so, it is sobering. Change is constant—some would call it “progress.” Life evolves and we adapt. Or we don't--which is usually a bad decision.
Many people long for the "good old days," but those days are gone forever. Some would say they weren't so good either. They were simpler. But so was life a century or more ago--but few would argue that our predecessors had it so good either. Pioneers led harsh and brutal lives—and simpler was not better.
But adapt and evolve we must. With change come opportunity and our lives and the possessions and services we surround ourselves with will continue to change with accelerating speed. We must deal with change; but better yet, we should capitalize on change to make our lives better.
The second part of this lament is troubling. It is titled “The Deindustrialization of America.” But it can also be interpreted as either tragedy or opportunity in the face of change?
This blogger describes the symptoms of America’s "deindustrialization" in terms of the loss of manufacturing jobs and factories, but the way the data is presented and interpreted is designed to support only one point of view—“the glass is half empty!” The words that follow are from “The Economic Collapse Blog”—I have inserted some different explanations where I believe it is either misleading or could be interpreted differently.
The United States is rapidly becoming the very first "post-industrial" nation on the globe. All great economic empires eventually become fat and lazy and squander the great wealth that their forefathers have left them, but the pace at which America is accomplishing this is absolutely amazing. America was at the forefront of the industrial revolution. America showed the world how to mass-produce everything from automobiles to televisions to airplanes. The great American manufacturing base crushed Germany and Japan in World War II.
The preceding is true but that was then, and this is now. The rest of the world has “caught up.” Germany and Japan were war torn and have been rebuilt, as has South Korea. China and Taiwan have grown into industrial powers. Nothing the USA could have done would have slowed or stopped this from happening. What is important is what the USA does now that this is the global reality.
But now we are witnessing the deindustrialization of America. The United States has become a nation that consumes almost everything and produces almost nothing. Once upon a time America could literally out produce the rest of the world combined. Today that is no longer true, but Americans sure do consume more than anyone else in the world.
In fact, the US is still the world’s largest manufacturer out-producing the manufacturing output of China, India, and Brazil combined, despite manufacturing being a very small portion of the entire US economy as compared to most other countries.
The U.S. produces approximately 21% of the world's manufacturing output, a number that has remained largely unchanged for the last 40 years. The job loss during this continual volume growth is explained by record-breaking productivity gains. In addition, growth in telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, aircraft, heavy machinery and other industries along with declines in low end, low skill industries such as clothing, toys, and other simple manufacturing have resulted in U.S. jobs being more highly skilled and better paying.
If the deindustrialization of America continues at this current pace, what possible kind of a future are we going to be leaving to our children? Any great nation throughout history has been great at making things. So if the United States continues to allow its manufacturing base to erode at a staggering pace how in the world can the U.S. continue to consider itself to be a great nation?
There is no doubt that the measure of industrial and commercial greatness in the past century was measured in terms of manufacturing competence and output. However, in this century, I contend those metrics must be reevaluated. The explosion of global electronic communications has made it possible for knowhow in manufacturing (and many other areas) to be quickly and easily transported to wherever it can be best implemented—and that is not always a high standard of living, developed country like the USA, Japan or Germany!
We have created the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world in an effort to maintain a very high standard of living, but the current state of affairs is not anywhere close to sustainable. So what happens when the debt bubble pops?
Sadly, most Americans do not have any idea what is going on around them. Perhaps what they read below will shock them badly enough to awaken them from their slumber.
---------------------------
The following are facts about the deindustrialization of America, (circe 2011, when written).
The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001. About 75 percent of those factories employed over 500 people when they were still in operation.
According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.
As of the end of July, the U.S. trade deficit with China had risen 18 percent compared to the same time period a year ago.
The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million manufacturing jobs since October 2000.
In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.
The manufacturing share of the USA economy dropped from 21% in 1980 to 18% in 1990, 16% in 2000 and 13% in 2008. Still as previous posts show the USA manufacturing output has grown substantially: over 300% since 1980, and 175% since 1990.
The proportion of manufacturing output by the USA (for the top 14 manufacturers) has declined from 31% in 1980, 28% in 1990, 32% in 2000 to 24% in 2008. The proportion of USA manufacturing has declined from 33% in 1980, 29% in 1990, 36% in 2000 to 30% in 2008. While manufacturing output has grown in the USA it has done so more slowly than the economy overall.
As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing.
As we approach this holiday season, I am including this "anonymous" author's perspective to make us all think
What kind of America do we want? Are we willing to make the sacrifices to return it to a solid financial footing? Will we find and elect leaders who want to serve us and help us and not oppress and control us? When we find those, will we support them--and hold them accountable? We may not ever be able to return to the good old days, but we can create good new days. However, it will be neither simple nor easy. But it is not our only choice--but it is our best choice. Do we have the will to choose correctly? Do you?
We are just seeing the end of the second era, the industrial era. The first era was agrarian, when small farms were all over and much of the population was engaged in farming, and now it is only a small percentage.
Congress created the (farm) extension system nearly a century ago to address exclusively rural, agricultural issues. At that time, more than 50 percent of the U.S. population lived in rural areas, and 30 percent of the workforce was engaged in farming. Extension's engagement with rural America helped make possible the American agricultural revolution, which dramatically increased farm productivity:
In 1945, it took up to 14 labor-hours to produce 100 bushels of corn on 2 acres of land.
By 1987, it took just under 3 labor-hours to produce that same 100 bushels of corn on just over 1 acre.
In 2002, that same 100 bushels of corn were produced on less than 1 acre.
That increase in productivity has allowed fewer farmers to produce more food. Fewer than 2 percent of Americans farm for a living today, and only 17 percent of Americans now live in rural areas.
Then came the industrial era, when factories proliferated, and now that activity is in decline, finding its "steady state" at some level.
BUT--A total of 3.2 million – one in six U.S. factory jobs – have disappeared since the start of 2000. The manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy has experienced substantial job losses over the past several years
In January 2004, the number of such jobs stood at 14.3 million, down by 3.0 million jobs, or 17.5 percent, since July 2000 and about 5.2 million since the historical peak in 1979. Employment in manufacturing was its lowest since July 1950.
What is the next era? Knowledge and information workers--service businesses--or perhaps AI and "systems integrators?" Enough for now—there is always some transition taking place and change is scary—but necessary.
[1] http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/19-facts-about-the-deindustrialization-of-america-that-will-blow-your-mind
Mar 24, 2011,04:43pm EDT
Forbes.com
A Nation of Grown-up Children?
@2011 John Mariotti, Contributor
When I see the reaction of so many Americans in the polls and the demonstrations, I am reminded of the days when my children were growing up. I often had this same reaction when leading a large group of corporate employees. I felt like these “grownups” were exhibiting the same reactions my children had (in their formative years) to discipline, good behavior and accepting responsibility for their actions (and the consequences). This is one of the most important responsibilities of parenting—to teach their children to be accountable, responsible and practice good behavior and judgment in the face of difficult situations.
I fear that what our U. S. (and State) government(s) have done over the past few decades is to “train” a huge number of people in America that they don’t have to be responsible for their actions, their financial affairs or the consequences of misbehaving. Somehow, the government—“Uncle Sam”—or another “big brother” (such as the union, the welfare agency, etc.) would take care of them—somehow. And someone else would pay for it. YOU!
Katrina’s Bad Example: New Orleans and Louisiana
Nowhere was this mentality more evident than during the catastrophe of hurricane Katrina, when thousands of New Orleans residents failed to heed the warnings to leave the city. They had plenty of time. The buses were just sitting there, but no leadership demanded their use. Then these people were finally driven by flood waters to converge on the Superdome where they sat, whining “help me, help me,” while demonstrating vociferously and generally acting like petulant children who had been denied their allowance. It was both tragic and appalling at the same time. Misguided mainstream media made it worse with their bleeding-heart sensationalism—interviewing a few of the most outrageous “victims” over and over.
Katrina’s Good Example: Mississippi
It was instructive that the other state as hard hit by Katrina, as Louisiana was its neighbor Mississippi. There its governor, Haley Barbour, took an entirely different tone in what he said, as he spoke “hitching up his pants,” saying to Mississippians and the world (paraphrasing), “We really got slammed; now we have to get on with cleaning up the mess and rebuilding our state and cities. After all, it’s our state and if we don’t do it, who will?” Barbour led Mississippians in a positive direction, and the results were notable. Mississippi immediately rebuilt the coastal casinos that provided such a large source of the state’s revenue. Then they pulled together to get on with the massive job of rebuilding other parts of their state and cities. Some areas are still devastated, but unlike New Orleans and Louisiana, Mississippians showed a sense of resolve, of courage, responsibility and a mature, can-do attitude—derived from their governor’s leadership.
Unaffordable Entitlements
I fear that what our U. S. (and State) government(s) have done over the past few decades is to “train” a huge number of people in America that they don’t have to be responsible for their actions, their financial affairs or the consequences of misbehaving. Somehow, the government—“Uncle Sam”—or another “big brother” (such as the union, the welfare agency, etc.) would take care of them—somehow. And someone else would pay for it. YOU!
Katrina’s Bad Example: New Orleans and Louisiana
Nowhere was this mentality more evident than during the catastrophe of hurricane Katrina, when thousands of New Orleans residents failed to heed the warnings to leave the city. They had plenty of time. The buses were just sitting there, but no leadership demanded their use. Then these people were finally driven by flood waters to converge on the Superdome where they sat, whining “help me, help me,” while demonstrating vociferously and generally acting like petulant children who had been denied their allowance. It was both tragic and appalling at the same time. Misguided mainstream media made it worse with their bleeding-heart sensationalism—interviewing a few of the most outrageous “victims” over and over.
Katrina’s Good Example: Mississippi
It was instructive that the other state as hard hit by Katrina, as Louisiana was its neighbor Mississippi. There its governor, Haley Barbour, took an entirely different tone in what he said, as he spoke “hitching up his pants,” saying to Mississippians and the world (paraphrasing), “We really got slammed; now we have to get on with cleaning up the mess and rebuilding our state and cities. After all, it’s our state and if we don’t do it, who will?” Barbour led Mississippians in a positive direction, and the results were notable. Mississippi immediately rebuilt the coastal casinos that provided such a large source of the state’s revenue. Then they pulled together to get on with the massive job of rebuilding other parts of their state and cities. Some areas are still devastated, but unlike New Orleans and Louisiana, Mississippians showed a sense of resolve, of courage, responsibility and a mature, can-do attitude—derived from their governor’s leadership.
Unaffordable Entitlements
Now we have the massive government entitlements: Social Security (A Ponzi scheme if there ever was one), Medicare and Medicaid driving our country rapidly toward insolvency. Few politicians have the courage to tackle and cut these unaffordable programs because they know that many of these dependent, grownup children can vote—and will likely vote them out of office. So instead, they nibble around the edges, trimming smaller (but still huge and wasteful) “peripheral” budget accounts. While these cuts will help, they are like pruning a few small the limbs on a dying tree—too little, too late. Where is the leadership? What are they showing us?
Union “Tantrums”
Unions are now exhibiting the same kind of “tantrums” that spoiled children use to get what they want, whether they deserve it or not. After a decade or two of negotiating unaffordable pay and benefit packages, and then redirecting union dues to elect sympathetic politicians, the unions are now being called to “fess up and pay up.” Citizens of so many states are now supporting too many public employees (and their unions) unaffordable pay and benefits (especially under-funded and un-fundable pension plans). These unions, the members, the officers and liberal political friends believe that if they have bad enough tantrums, they’ll get to keep their non-competitive, unaffordable pay and benefit plans.
We cannot let that happen. Spoiled grown-up children, like our own children at formative ages, learn what kinds of misbehavior they can get away with. It’s time to stop this nonsense.
Endless Unemployment
Another area of “spoiling grown-up children” is the practice of extending unemployment benefits almost forever. Before you accuse me of being unsympathetic to the plight of the unemployed, I am not. I do feel bad for them and their families. BUT—I have heard far too often the comment, “What’s the point of going out looking for a job which is hard to find, I have to get up everyday to show up, and my take home pay is hardly more than unemployment—where all I have to do if fill out a form and stand in line.”
“The Behavior Rewarded is the Behavior Repeated”
Once again, we train these dependent “grownup children” that if they wait long enough, someone will rescue them; relieve them of their “grownup responsibilities.” And the government does, time after time. If there are no negative consequences of the failure to accept responsibility, so what? That unemployment check comes out of the pockets of employers and indirectly out of the potential pay for working people: grownups who are being responsible—that’s what. The longer we teach people that there are no consequences of their actions, the more they avoid responsibility. We call companies “too big to fail” and then bail them out, when their fate should be bankruptcy. We feel sorry for cities and push unfunded mandates on states to help them—even if the state is flat broke.
Bright Spots—Courageous Governors
Courageous governors are facing these issues and trying to bring fiscal responsibility back to the U. S.: Chris Christie in NJ; Mitch Daniels in IN; Scott Walker in WI, to just name a few. Other states, such as CA and IL are so deeply mired in their own irresponsible spending that they are functionally, intellectually and morally bankrupt.
But then what would you expect from a government whose leadership calmly proposes a budget that spends $1.40 for every dollar of income. Perhaps we have found the “grownup-child-in-chief” and he lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC. When the President of the United States fails to accept his responsibilities, why should the rest of us worry?
John Mariotti
© John Mariotti 2011
DOES AMERICA HAVE THE WILL TO BE GREAT?
There is an apocalyptic piece that has been circulating around the Internet for several weeks, entitled “Changes are Coming.” It is written in two parts, and is quite long. I’ll summarize it and just include a bit of the language—which is that of a very concerned author.
The first part says “Big Changes Coming” and cites the evolution of our way of life and the disappearance of familiar things we have known:
§ The post office (failing),
§ The personal check (replaced by debit cards),
§ The newspaper (replaced by on-line news),
§ The book (replaced by e-books),
§ The land-line telephone (replaced by cell phones),
§ Music (“discs” being replaced by “downloads”),
§ Television (broadcast and cable replaced by “streaming video”),
§ Privacy (becoming non-existent—being replaced by total transparency).
The loss of these old, familiar part of our lives is troubling but more so, it is sobering. Change is constant—some would call it “progress.” Life evolves and we adapt. Or we don't--which is usually a bad decision.
Many people long for the "good old days," but those days are gone forever. Some would say they weren't so good either. They were simpler. But so was life a century or more ago--but few would argue that our predecessors had it so good either. Pioneers led harsh and brutal lives—and simpler was not better.
But adapt and evolve we must. With change come opportunity and our lives and the possessions and services we surround ourselves with will continue to change with accelerating speed. We must deal with change; but better yet, we should capitalize on change to make our lives better.
The second part of this lament is troubling. It is titled “The Deindustrialization of America.” But it can also be interpreted as either tragedy or opportunity in the face of change?
This blogger describes the symptoms of America’s "deindustrialization" in terms of the loss of manufacturing jobs and factories, but the way the data is presented and interpreted is designed to support only one point of view—“the glass is half empty!” The words that follow are from “The Economic Collapse Blog”—I have inserted some different explanations where I believe it is either misleading or could be interpreted differently.
The United States is rapidly becoming the very first "post-industrial" nation on the globe. All great economic empires eventually become fat and lazy and squander the great wealth that their forefathers have left them, but the pace at which America is accomplishing this is absolutely amazing. America was at the forefront of the industrial revolution. America showed the world how to mass-produce everything from automobiles to televisions to airplanes. The great American manufacturing base crushed Germany and Japan in World War II.
The preceding is true but that was then, and this is now. The rest of the world has “caught up.” Germany and Japan were war torn and have been rebuilt, as has South Korea. China and Taiwan have grown into industrial powers. Nothing the USA could have done would have slowed or stopped this from happening. What is important is what the USA does now that this is the global reality.
But now we are witnessing the deindustrialization of America. The United States has become a nation that consumes almost everything and produces almost nothing. Once upon a time America could literally out produce the rest of the world combined. Today that is no longer true, but Americans sure do consume more than anyone else in the world.
In fact, the US is still the world’s largest manufacturer out-producing the manufacturing output of China, India, and Brazil combined, despite manufacturing being a very small portion of the entire US economy as compared to most other countries.
The U.S. produces approximately 21% of the world's manufacturing output, a number that has remained largely unchanged for the last 40 years. The job loss during this continual volume growth is explained by record-breaking productivity gains. In addition, growth in telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, aircraft, heavy machinery and other industries along with declines in low end, low skill industries such as clothing, toys, and other simple manufacturing have resulted in U.S. jobs being more highly skilled and better paying.
If the deindustrialization of America continues at this current pace, what possible kind of a future are we going to be leaving to our children? Any great nation throughout history has been great at making things. So if the United States continues to allow its manufacturing base to erode at a staggering pace how in the world can the U.S. continue to consider itself to be a great nation?
There is no doubt that the measure of industrial and commercial greatness in the past century was measured in terms of manufacturing competence and output. However, in this century, I contend those metrics must be reevaluated. The explosion of global electronic communications has made it possible for knowhow in manufacturing (and many other areas) to be quickly and easily transported to wherever it can be best implemented—and that is not always a high standard of living, developed country like the USA, Japan or Germany!
We have created the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world in an effort to maintain a very high standard of living, but the current state of affairs is not anywhere close to sustainable. So what happens when the debt bubble pops?
Sadly, most Americans do not have any idea what is going on around them. Perhaps what they read below will shock them badly enough to awaken them from their slumber.
---------------------------
The following are facts about the deindustrialization of America, (circe 2011, when written).
The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001. About 75 percent of those factories employed over 500 people when they were still in operation.
According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.
As of the end of July, the U.S. trade deficit with China had risen 18 percent compared to the same time period a year ago.
The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million manufacturing jobs since October 2000.
In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.
The manufacturing share of the USA economy dropped from 21% in 1980 to 18% in 1990, 16% in 2000 and 13% in 2008. Still as previous posts show the USA manufacturing output has grown substantially: over 300% since 1980, and 175% since 1990.
The proportion of manufacturing output by the USA (for the top 14 manufacturers) has declined from 31% in 1980, 28% in 1990, 32% in 2000 to 24% in 2008. The proportion of USA manufacturing has declined from 33% in 1980, 29% in 1990, 36% in 2000 to 30% in 2008. While manufacturing output has grown in the USA it has done so more slowly than the economy overall.
As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing.
The last time less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941
In the United States today, consumption accounts for 70 percent of GDP. Of this 70 percent, over half is spent on services.
The United States has lost a whopping 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.
In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per capita broadband Internet use.
In the United States today, consumption accounts for 70 percent of GDP. Of this 70 percent, over half is spent on services.
The United States has lost a whopping 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.
In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per capita broadband Internet use.
Today it ranks 15th.
The agrarian age passed by, and the numerous farmers who fed themselves and rural America decades ago are now largely gone too. The industrial age came and now it too is moving on. The jobs that created the golden age of America have been taken by people in faraway countries, who can and will do them for far less in compensation, and the global economy is a hyper-competitive marketplace. The new age of America is clearly based on knowledge and information, and on being what I would call "systems integrators."
America of the 21st century must also evolve and adapt to the new world realities. The question is not "will America evolve and adapt? It is "does America have the will to evolve and adapt? Or have we created a country of lazy dependency, unrealistic youthful expectations and governments populated by people that have forgotten that government was created to work for the people and not vice versa.
The America "of the people, for the people and by the people," must be recreated by a new group of leaders. We need leaders who practice common sense and fiscal responsibility. We need leaders who realize the extreme positions in any matter are a great risk. We need leaders who listen--and hear--what the vast majority of Americans are saying. Help us, serve us, but do not oppress us or burden us with a bureaucratic monstrosity that is unmanageable, unaffordable and dysfunctional.
The agrarian age passed by, and the numerous farmers who fed themselves and rural America decades ago are now largely gone too. The industrial age came and now it too is moving on. The jobs that created the golden age of America have been taken by people in faraway countries, who can and will do them for far less in compensation, and the global economy is a hyper-competitive marketplace. The new age of America is clearly based on knowledge and information, and on being what I would call "systems integrators."
America of the 21st century must also evolve and adapt to the new world realities. The question is not "will America evolve and adapt? It is "does America have the will to evolve and adapt? Or have we created a country of lazy dependency, unrealistic youthful expectations and governments populated by people that have forgotten that government was created to work for the people and not vice versa.
The America "of the people, for the people and by the people," must be recreated by a new group of leaders. We need leaders who practice common sense and fiscal responsibility. We need leaders who realize the extreme positions in any matter are a great risk. We need leaders who listen--and hear--what the vast majority of Americans are saying. Help us, serve us, but do not oppress us or burden us with a bureaucratic monstrosity that is unmanageable, unaffordable and dysfunctional.
As we approach this holiday season, I am including this "anonymous" author's perspective to make us all think
What kind of America do we want? Are we willing to make the sacrifices to return it to a solid financial footing? Will we find and elect leaders who want to serve us and help us and not oppress and control us? When we find those, will we support them--and hold them accountable? We may not ever be able to return to the good old days, but we can create good new days. However, it will be neither simple nor easy. But it is not our only choice--but it is our best choice. Do we have the will to choose correctly? Do you?
We are just seeing the end of the second era, the industrial era. The first era was agrarian, when small farms were all over and much of the population was engaged in farming, and now it is only a small percentage.
Congress created the (farm) extension system nearly a century ago to address exclusively rural, agricultural issues. At that time, more than 50 percent of the U.S. population lived in rural areas, and 30 percent of the workforce was engaged in farming. Extension's engagement with rural America helped make possible the American agricultural revolution, which dramatically increased farm productivity:
In 1945, it took up to 14 labor-hours to produce 100 bushels of corn on 2 acres of land.
By 1987, it took just under 3 labor-hours to produce that same 100 bushels of corn on just over 1 acre.
In 2002, that same 100 bushels of corn were produced on less than 1 acre.
That increase in productivity has allowed fewer farmers to produce more food. Fewer than 2 percent of Americans farm for a living today, and only 17 percent of Americans now live in rural areas.
Then came the industrial era, when factories proliferated, and now that activity is in decline, finding its "steady state" at some level.
BUT--A total of 3.2 million – one in six U.S. factory jobs – have disappeared since the start of 2000. The manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy has experienced substantial job losses over the past several years
In January 2004, the number of such jobs stood at 14.3 million, down by 3.0 million jobs, or 17.5 percent, since July 2000 and about 5.2 million since the historical peak in 1979. Employment in manufacturing was its lowest since July 1950.
What is the next era? Knowledge and information workers--service businesses--or perhaps AI and "systems integrators?" Enough for now—there is always some transition taking place and change is scary—but necessary.
[1] http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/19-facts-about-the-deindustrialization-of-america-that-will-blow-your-mind
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