JACKSON, Ohio — After 30 years at a factory making truck parts, Jeffrey Evans was earning $14.55 an hour in what he called “one of the better-paying jobs in the area.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/us/16 ... ?th&emc=th
Blue-Collar Jobs Disappear, Taking Families’ Way of Life Along
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RedGlitter
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Blue-Collar Jobs Disappear, Taking Families’ Way of Life Along
This story depicts my worst predicted nightmare come true. Ohio isnt the only state where this is happening.In my area 14.55 is big money. People drive 40 and 50 miles rountrip to work at the Walmart, or Target distribution centers. A big percentage of people work two jobs, and there are families living together, pooling their resourses in an attempt to survive. The man working in the factory should have been saving money for all those years. Firstly, its hard to do, and secondly people still believe in the fantasy of things getting better and better, not collapsing. So, they try to enjoy a little bit of life.We will be reading this scenario over and over again, as corporations continue ( with the help of our government) to take over our country. I really do not know where all of the working poor are going to go.
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Blue-Collar Jobs Disappear, Taking Families’ Way of Life Along
This is one of the problems when the entire economic system is based on the requirements of capital and capital markets and does not take into account the wider needs of the society that actually supports the free market system and its wealthier members. I am all for robust capitalism, but there is a wider dimesion to any society and culture than just the year on year requirements of shareholders and companies to increase their profits.
Which is why I don't think Europe should adopt the extreme lassie faire system that operates in the States, as ultimately it doesn't result in a secure, or particularly pleasant society, all it does is ensure that the maximum profit is made from short term decisions for a small minority of people who have large capital reserves.
Its this environment that creates people who can't understand that perhaps allowing the entire manufacturing base to be located in China or India has implications for any sovereign technological industrial society that are outside of profit margins, or that a society where more and more people are being forced into insecure part time jobs, and where both (if you have them) parents are forced to work 60 hour weeks to pay for an overpriced house is not sustainable in the long term, despite the wonderful profits being made short term by property speculators and hedge fund managers.
Which is why I don't think Europe should adopt the extreme lassie faire system that operates in the States, as ultimately it doesn't result in a secure, or particularly pleasant society, all it does is ensure that the maximum profit is made from short term decisions for a small minority of people who have large capital reserves.
Its this environment that creates people who can't understand that perhaps allowing the entire manufacturing base to be located in China or India has implications for any sovereign technological industrial society that are outside of profit margins, or that a society where more and more people are being forced into insecure part time jobs, and where both (if you have them) parents are forced to work 60 hour weeks to pay for an overpriced house is not sustainable in the long term, despite the wonderful profits being made short term by property speculators and hedge fund managers.
"We are never so happy, never so unhappy, as we imagine"
Le Rochefoucauld.
"A smack in the face settles all arguments, then you can move on kid."
My dad 1986.
Le Rochefoucauld.
"A smack in the face settles all arguments, then you can move on kid."
My dad 1986.
Blue-Collar Jobs Disappear, Taking Families’ Way of Life Along
Well said Galbally,
However it is not all about profit shares, the consumer has a lot to be accountable for as well. It is very easy to blame the companies and not take any responsibly ourselves.
We create our own nightmares though don’t we? We all want to get really good stuff cheep, but then we also want great salaries so we can afford our holidays a broad and our x-boxes and I-pods etc.
The problem is that the two do not go together… well they do but what happens is exactly what we see.
We start with good jobs and good salaries, so we can afford to buy all that stuff, but we want more and more stuff and we want it cheep so we can give our kids absolutely everything they want for Christmas with it costing us a fortune.
So then manufacturing jobs start go to where the labour is cheep so that the companies can continue to provide us with the cheep stuff we want, because if they kept making it locally the high unionized labour costs would mean that they cannot sell us cheep stuff.
As jobs go to China, we get nervous and start wondering if our job is next, so we start watching our money and start shopping at the discount shop that bring in even more cheep stuff from China. Then even more jobs are lost because no one is buying stuff made here.
It is one thing having cheep manufacturing labour, but companies also need strong ‘skilled labour’ as well. So those jobs stay in the west, and the highly skilled workers know they are needed so they ask for more money so that they can buy even more cheep stuff.
Resulting in what is called a ‘shrinking middle class’. The high end jobs pay more and more and manufacturing jobs close down creating higher unemployment.
And… lets say it all together.. ‘the rich get richer and the poor get poorer’.
However it is not all about profit shares, the consumer has a lot to be accountable for as well. It is very easy to blame the companies and not take any responsibly ourselves.
We create our own nightmares though don’t we? We all want to get really good stuff cheep, but then we also want great salaries so we can afford our holidays a broad and our x-boxes and I-pods etc.
The problem is that the two do not go together… well they do but what happens is exactly what we see.
We start with good jobs and good salaries, so we can afford to buy all that stuff, but we want more and more stuff and we want it cheep so we can give our kids absolutely everything they want for Christmas with it costing us a fortune.
So then manufacturing jobs start go to where the labour is cheep so that the companies can continue to provide us with the cheep stuff we want, because if they kept making it locally the high unionized labour costs would mean that they cannot sell us cheep stuff.
As jobs go to China, we get nervous and start wondering if our job is next, so we start watching our money and start shopping at the discount shop that bring in even more cheep stuff from China. Then even more jobs are lost because no one is buying stuff made here.
It is one thing having cheep manufacturing labour, but companies also need strong ‘skilled labour’ as well. So those jobs stay in the west, and the highly skilled workers know they are needed so they ask for more money so that they can buy even more cheep stuff.
Resulting in what is called a ‘shrinking middle class’. The high end jobs pay more and more and manufacturing jobs close down creating higher unemployment.
And… lets say it all together.. ‘the rich get richer and the poor get poorer’.