There was a time in America -- from about the end of WWII to the mid-'70s -- when a white man, at least, if he had no higher education or specialized skills but was willing and able to work hard, could always find a good job and earn a comfortable living -- in a factory, in a mine, on a farm, in a small business, etc. He could even think of himself as middle-class -- it was the first time in American history a blue-collar worker could earn a middle-class income and benefits.
And the last. Those times are gone and they are not coming back. No one has the power to bring them back. Trump's protectionism won't do it; offshoring and outsourcing are only a minor part of the problem.
Working-class Americans have to confront this fact about which Trump consistently deceived them (and possibly himself): You cannot have your grandfathers' jobs. Some of you will find such jobs, some such jobs do still exist, but most of you won't. That's not the government's fault, it is not the Dems' or liberals' fault, it is not the Pubs' or conservatives' fault, it is not foreigners' or immigrants' fault; it is a result of technological progress, and of family farming losing ground to agribiz, and mom-and-pop stores losing ground to big-box stores, and so on. It's not really the corporations' fault either, they could hardly do otherwise than they have done if they wanted to stay in business. Automation and agribiz and big-box retail happen because they are more efficient and profitable than what came before -- mainly because they require fewer workers to produce the same output -- and in a capitalist economy, whatever is more efficient and profitable will be done. A totalitarian Communist government might make a policy decision not to update its factories, because it wants to keep everyone employed and busy. But in a capitalist economy, any industrial corporation that fails to automate as soon as automation becomes available will go out of business, because it still employs a large expensive workforce, and therefore cannot bring its goods to market as cheaply as its automated competitors.
The only way forward for the working class is to retrain for the kinds of well-paying jobs now most abundantly available, that is, those requiring some technical knowledge or skills, or higher education. You can do that, or you can spend the rest of your life as a Wal-mart greeter.
And the last. Those times are gone and they are not coming back. No one has the power to bring them back. Trump's protectionism won't do it; offshoring and outsourcing are only a minor part of the problem.
Working-class Americans have to confront this fact about which Trump consistently deceived them (and possibly himself): You cannot have your grandfathers' jobs. Some of you will find such jobs, some such jobs do still exist, but most of you won't. That's not the government's fault, it is not the Dems' or liberals' fault, it is not the Pubs' or conservatives' fault, it is not foreigners' or immigrants' fault; it is a result of technological progress, and of family farming losing ground to agribiz, and mom-and-pop stores losing ground to big-box stores, and so on. It's not really the corporations' fault either, they could hardly do otherwise than they have done if they wanted to stay in business. Automation and agribiz and big-box retail happen because they are more efficient and profitable than what came before -- mainly because they require fewer workers to produce the same output -- and in a capitalist economy, whatever is more efficient and profitable will be done. A totalitarian Communist government might make a policy decision not to update its factories, because it wants to keep everyone employed and busy. But in a capitalist economy, any industrial corporation that fails to automate as soon as automation becomes available will go out of business, because it still employs a large expensive workforce, and therefore cannot bring its goods to market as cheaply as its automated competitors.
The only way forward for the working class is to retrain for the kinds of well-paying jobs now most abundantly available, that is, those requiring some technical knowledge or skills, or higher education. You can do that, or you can spend the rest of your life as a Wal-mart greeter.
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