I've heard several so-called "experts" talk about what's wrong with the economy. I don't have a major in economics, but common sense should tell us a lot.
You can't outsource good-paying manufacturing jobs and replace them with service jobs that pay half as much. Now allow 20 million illegal aliens into the country to fill the jobs you can't outsource. Their willingness to work for less drives down the wages. Triple the price of gas and increase the insurance co-pays along with reduced benefits in health care. It's becoming easier to see why things are going to hell.
People say this has happened before and the economy will bounce right back. True in part. Except we have nothing to bounce back to. The jobs are gone. Americans are the largest consumers in the world. In corporations' haste to exploit cheap labor, they never realized they were destroying the buying power of their own customers. It doesn't matter how cheap a product is when you're spending all your money to survive. The term "global economy" means let's exploit cheap labor.
Heard of the war on terror? There is also a war going on against the American worker. It's always been there, but it has gained momentum since the 1980s. Remember the air traffic controllers' strike? Remember the personnel department? It's now called human resources. You're now just a resource and an expendable one at that.
I heard a radio talk show host say General Motors' problem is paying people to do nothing. He was referring to the retirees' pensions. Think about this for a minute. CEOs get pensions. So do all federal, state and local politicians. Let's include all federal, state and local employees. The armed services? Don't forget police, firefighters and paramedics. He's saying everyone deserves a pension, except the men and women who go to work and pay for these services. Without them, you have none of the above.
Many people complain about labor unions. Their ignorance should worry us. Many benefits we enjoy today were paid for by a striking employee. They paid with lost wages. Some even paid with their blood and lives. Do people think that corporations got together and came up with these benefits? A few of the things that unions have brought us are the 40-hour work week; time and a half for overtime; paid holidays, vacations and health insurance along with pensions and increases in wages. There are numerous other health and safety issues they fought for. We stand by while they're taken from us one at a time. Take time to read about the working conditions that drove employees to strike in the first place.
I will write again soon concerning how I feel these issues can be addressed. I know some of you will keep voting for the idiots who brought us to this point. Thanks for dragging the rest of us down with you.
