Too many want to run to the economic past that doesn't exist
Some say that we must get tougher in the world
market, because other countries subsidize their industries. They
say that we need a level playing field, or that consumers need to
'buy American'. I think it's all a diversion. Why invoke the past
when the 'playing field' is more like a constantly shifting ocean?
We also subsidize our businesses. We give them all
sorts of tax breaks and allow them to shelter their incomes in
foreign repositories. Why vilify your fellow citizens who had
nothing to do with these upper level policies and idiocy?
Examples;
Steel
We gave our steel industry away, and it had NOTHING to do with
consumers. The dinosaur steel industry whined to their political
hacks through their lobbyists to get subsidies and suppots to stay
alive and squeeze out a few more dollars out of the old machinery,
when in reality they should have died out. There were innovators who
wanted to develop leaner, more modern steel factories but could not
compete with the dinosaurs who had NO capital costs. So other
countries, like China, said 'we need lots of steel, we have open
space...come on over."
Forests
market, because other countries subsidize their industries. They
say that we need a level playing field, or that consumers need to
'buy American'. I think it's all a diversion. Why invoke the past
when the 'playing field' is more like a constantly shifting ocean?
We also subsidize our businesses. We give them all
sorts of tax breaks and allow them to shelter their incomes in
foreign repositories. Why vilify your fellow citizens who had
nothing to do with these upper level policies and idiocy?
Examples;
Steel
We gave our steel industry away, and it had NOTHING to do with
consumers. The dinosaur steel industry whined to their political
hacks through their lobbyists to get subsidies and suppots to stay
alive and squeeze out a few more dollars out of the old machinery,
when in reality they should have died out. There were innovators who
wanted to develop leaner, more modern steel factories but could not
compete with the dinosaurs who had NO capital costs. So other
countries, like China, said 'we need lots of steel, we have open
space...come on over."
Forests
Another example of where our anger gets
misdirected--on the West Coast, years ago, Ivan Boesky and some other
Wall Street conmen bought up a bunch of Pacific forest land, closed
down a lot of small lumbermills and replaced them with more efficient
machinery that needed a fraction of a work force to run. They
replaced thousands of forestry workers with machines that could clear
a hillside with 2 people. They clear cut millions of old growth
trees, destroying creeks and streams, decimating the salmon
population (no spawning streams). They even got someone to pass a
regulation that people weren't allowed to fly over their land to show
the clear cutting. And to top it off, most of the trees they cut down
were sold to Japan. when people tried to stop this rape, they were
thwarted left and right. Until someone found a possible stopgap in
the Endangered Species Act. Of course, the immediate response was to
launch a major media shitstorm claiming that a bunch of 'tree
huggers' were destroying American enterprise and blaming THEM for
everything from rising home costs (though the wood wasn't going to
that), the unemployed forestry workers and worse. They slammed,
libeled and lied about people who asked for rational use of our
resources and got a few blind politicians to come out to look at
their facade trees- areas that masked the clear cut. When rains came,
they had avalanches, mudslides,flooding, and general devestation of
the land that was now covered with slash instead of tree roots.
People today STILL talk about the 'radicals' who valued owls over
progress. So, again, a handful of parasites destroys resources for
their own gain and all the fingers point at the wrong people.
misdirected--on the West Coast, years ago, Ivan Boesky and some other
Wall Street conmen bought up a bunch of Pacific forest land, closed
down a lot of small lumbermills and replaced them with more efficient
machinery that needed a fraction of a work force to run. They
replaced thousands of forestry workers with machines that could clear
a hillside with 2 people. They clear cut millions of old growth
trees, destroying creeks and streams, decimating the salmon
population (no spawning streams). They even got someone to pass a
regulation that people weren't allowed to fly over their land to show
the clear cutting. And to top it off, most of the trees they cut down
were sold to Japan. when people tried to stop this rape, they were
thwarted left and right. Until someone found a possible stopgap in
the Endangered Species Act. Of course, the immediate response was to
launch a major media shitstorm claiming that a bunch of 'tree
huggers' were destroying American enterprise and blaming THEM for
everything from rising home costs (though the wood wasn't going to
that), the unemployed forestry workers and worse. They slammed,
libeled and lied about people who asked for rational use of our
resources and got a few blind politicians to come out to look at
their facade trees- areas that masked the clear cut. When rains came,
they had avalanches, mudslides,flooding, and general devestation of
the land that was now covered with slash instead of tree roots.
People today STILL talk about the 'radicals' who valued owls over
progress. So, again, a handful of parasites destroys resources for
their own gain and all the fingers point at the wrong people.
We had a great economic run supplying
the rest of the world with goods because a lot of civilized nations
had been decimated during WW2. That is not the case now. China
is trying to turn from a mainly agraraian society to a more modern
one. India is doing the same. We have to work together because we all
live in the same fish bowl, and destroying the air, oceans and
climate effects us all.
the rest of the world with goods because a lot of civilized nations
had been decimated during WW2. That is not the case now. China
is trying to turn from a mainly agraraian society to a more modern
one. India is doing the same. We have to work together because we all
live in the same fish bowl, and destroying the air, oceans and
climate effects us all.
Think about it, just because some jackass in China sells screwed up toys to some jackass distributor in
the US who doesn't want any regulation, does not cancel out that we
are benefiting from the state of the art factories being built there
(mainly by established companies like Apple). We get quality goods at
affordable prices like flat screen TV's, Ipods, solar panels and
more. Things are constantly changing and as more work in those places
and their standard of living goes up, they demand more money. That
will bring up the price of some of those goods and force us and
them to innovate.
the US who doesn't want any regulation, does not cancel out that we
are benefiting from the state of the art factories being built there
(mainly by established companies like Apple). We get quality goods at
affordable prices like flat screen TV's, Ipods, solar panels and
more. Things are constantly changing and as more work in those places
and their standard of living goes up, they demand more money. That
will bring up the price of some of those goods and force us and
them to innovate.
If we don't subsidize the oil industry in the many ways, hidden and not, that we do, there will
come a time when shipping our recylcing materials to China and getting consumer goods back will be too costly and we will have to find ways to supply our own goods. One way might be to make things
'on demand'. Part of the cause of the crash of the auto industry is that they tried to anticipate demand and created huge inventories of gas guzzling cars and trucks. When oil went up (those shifting waves
again) in price, the demand dropped and they had a giant sinkhole of inventory. There are systems today that could allow us to make items closer to demand instead of using the old warehouse 'come and get it before it turns to shit' model. It would work for pricing and would eliminate the need to have shiploads of goods ferried back and forth. We could also close the circle and make more items recyclable near the point of use, meaning we keep our resources here. I try to keep hopeful and think that in 50 years we will be using a different model, and it won't be Chinese or Indian or communist...and we won't be referred to as 'consumers' but people. Not me, I'll be dead.
come a time when shipping our recylcing materials to China and getting consumer goods back will be too costly and we will have to find ways to supply our own goods. One way might be to make things
'on demand'. Part of the cause of the crash of the auto industry is that they tried to anticipate demand and created huge inventories of gas guzzling cars and trucks. When oil went up (those shifting waves
again) in price, the demand dropped and they had a giant sinkhole of inventory. There are systems today that could allow us to make items closer to demand instead of using the old warehouse 'come and get it before it turns to shit' model. It would work for pricing and would eliminate the need to have shiploads of goods ferried back and forth. We could also close the circle and make more items recyclable near the point of use, meaning we keep our resources here. I try to keep hopeful and think that in 50 years we will be using a different model, and it won't be Chinese or Indian or communist...and we won't be referred to as 'consumers' but people. Not me, I'll be dead.
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