Posted by caraher on August 26, 2005, at 12:52:53
In reply to Re: America: Land of the free, and the lazy » AdaGrace, posted by sunny10 on August 26, 2005, at 12:19:35
While there certainly are people who do not work or otherwise cheat the system we aren't losing manufacturing jobs because Americans are lazy. Sunny is closer to the mark with the comment about avaricious CEOs. "Globalization" is not the inevitable outcome of market forces but the result of giving multinational corporations free rein to pursue what has become their sole purpose, the concentration of wealth in their hands.
American workers are not being overpaid when it takes two full-time jobs to make ends meet in so many families. Sure, many (most?) families could cut back and get by on less income. And we really could and should reduce our consumption of natural resources. Ada mentioned the notion of teaching the rest of the world to be "like us." The trouble is, the world cannot support 6+ billion people consuming resources and generating pollution at the rate Americans do. But the economic realities that cause the loss of US manufacturing jobs have nothing to do with overconsumption or the failings of American workers. Rather, they result from our acquiescence to the "leveling" of wages, environmental regulations, etc. demanded by entities responsive not to human needs but only the bottom line.
poster:caraher
thread:546870
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20050819/msgs/546928.html