WHERE WILL THE CHILDREN GO?

Editorial by Dr. J. P. Hubert

If the United States continues to lose the ever more diminutive manufacturing base it still has, where will the next generation of American’s go? Only a small percentage will be able to work as so-called “professionals”, attain fame, celebrity or become professional sports figures—the vast majority will be consigned to working in service industries at minimum wage. Virtually every great industry the US once possessed has been lost except for high tech munitions (being given to Israel and sold to our “enemies”) and civilian aviation (about to be challenged by China).

As our country becomes more “third world” signified by the complete loss of a middle class, it is more not less likely that minimum wage jobs will be lost, in favor of those which can charitably be termed slave labor. Moreover, without a drastic change in US trade policy including the erection of significant protective tariffs and control of at least the southern border, this reality will no doubt be upon us sooner rather than later.

The international corporatists who presently control US trade policy are wedded to an economic theory (free trade ala Milton Friedman) which however well intended is intellectually bankrupt [it could only function equitably if all trading partners were equally developed]. The present situation (unfair trade in which American workers must compete against sweat shop laborers abroad) has made the once great American manufacturing sector (presently on life-support) nearly moribund. It could not be resurrected now without exposing the populace to widespread suffering and distress particularly for those of lesser means.

Given that as a nation we can no longer produce the goods upon which we all depend for daily living, we are literally at the mercy of the nations (see this) , who currently supply them including China, Japan, and Korea among a few others. Unfortunately, China and Japan are also two of our most important bankers. We owe them at least 2 trillion dollars of borrowed money much of which is financing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq). At present we pay only interest. It is doubtful that we could repay the principle all at once (if it suddenly became necessary to do so—were either to call in their US Treasury Notes).

Many school-age children will no doubt need to seek employment opportunities abroad lest they be consigned to a life of economic depravation in the US. Barring a complete paradigm shift in US trade policy, border control, and a Manhattan Project-like dedication to rebuilding the manufacturing/production base of the nation, out-migration of many of our youngest American’s is inevitable with clearly negative implications for unfunded liabilities such as entitlements. Clearly, those with the most talent, intellect and initiative will be tempted to seek a better life elsewhere. The question is—where?

"Made in China" = Social Injustice

Over the past several years it has become painfully obvious that almost everything one purchases in the United States is either made in China, Mexico or Korea. One is hard pressed to find any major consumer article which is not manufactured in part or entirely in one of these three. All have in common the lack of basic worker's rights, environmental protection and adequate levels of financial remuneration for labor. The retail cost of many items in the United States is thus being kept artificially low by disadvantaging the world's poor. In the process of course, millions of American's have lost the manufacturing jobs which once provided them with a middle class standard of living. It is impossible for Americans or anyone else in the “developed” world to compete with what is essentially slave labor.

These developments are directly traceable to “free-trade” (read unfair trade) agreements which now artificially support a global economy pitting an extremely small number of “haves” against a large number of “have-nots.” If it were impossible for multinational American corporations to outsource/off-shore labor and manufacturing costs without incurring a steep tax when importing their products back into the US, the present unjust arrangement would cease. The elite political class has been induced to play along of course because of the extraordinarily large campaign contributions made on behalf of multinational corporations and their lobbyists. Tragically both political parties willingly cooperate.

The present system is inherently unjust and all people of good will should ban together to change what has become a global form of social/economic Darwinism (survival of the ruthless). Only a preciously small elite oligarchy of corporate internationalists benefit financially from the present morally illicit global economic system. In the interim, the once great American manufacturing base has been decimated, high-tech industry is increasingly being transferred to India and China and fewer and fewer people in the United States are able to project an adequate level of subsistence beyond the present generation.

Carried to its logical conclusion, America will rapidly complete its descent into “third-world” status. No nation which is incapable of providing its own goods (not just services) can survive for long. Most of our citizens who have lost manufacturing jobs have replaced them with lower paying “service” sector employment. Eventually, there will be few left in the US to pay for the plethora of foreign made imports especially those of a more costly nature. By then of course the corporate internationalists can simply relocate to other more affluent developed nations and markets, leaving the vast majority of Americans to fend for themselves.

Now more than ever before, it is necessary for all people of good will to think clearly about the future and to ban together in acts of social justice in an attempt to alter unfair and defective social/economic structures. The 2008 presidential election run-up is an ideal time in which to begin.

--Dr. J. P. Hubert

In Praise of “Free Market” Capitalism

There is a well accepted economic fiction among the elites who make up the MMIC (media military industrial complex) that the United States represents the paragon of free market capitalism, meaning that markets are unhindered by regulations/inhibitions from any source; instead the so-called law of supply and demand are said to determine the cost of goods and services vis a vis market forces. Nothing could be further from the truth.

There is not one legally recognized industry in the US which operates exclusively by free market principles. Virtually every one is regulated in some fashion and or is the recipient of federal/state funded corporate welfare or special treatment. Protestations by those who vociferously champion free market capitalism not withstanding, the United States currently has no legal free markets and in fact guarantees many monopolies which accrue primarily to the benefit of the elite financial class.

Equally fictitious is the notion that our nation practices or is enhanced by “free-trade.” The free trade agreements which this country has entered into over the past 15 years have been extremely costly to American industry, middle class and poor American’s (in terms of lost jobs) and to foreign workers who have become the equivalent of indentured servants/slave laborers while corporate internationalists become richer at their expense. Not only is this type of arrangement costly, it is demonstrably immoral. Free-trade so constituted amounts to legalized theft. Workers are being subjected to having their wages and livelihoods stolen and or destroyed.

Too many “free-trader’s” argue that the Wal Mart effect [of losing American jobs to foreign (sweat shop) labor] is responsible for keeping consumer prices low thus benefiting the poor and middle class. Apparently the reasoning is that even though millions of American’s have lost the jobs which once provided an adequate standard of living, they should be satisfied since they can now pay less for needed purchases. It should be unnecessary to state that if one has a minimum wage job or none at all, the Wal Mart effect is of little consolation. The only group(s) which has clearly benefited at no risk from the current “free-trade” agreements is the corporate internationalists.

Totally free market capitalism while not even a good idea in theory (at least from a moral perspective due to its inherent lack of concern for the financially challenged who still require the goods necessary for human flourishing) has never been successfully applied in practice. So-called constitutional democratic republics which attempt to construct free markets; always (due to the nature of majority rule [either by absolute number or monetarily]) end up creating oligopolies in which only a select few truly benefit financially and to an unjust degree. It is way past time for poor and middle class Americans to register their displeasure with the status quo. A good start could be made by addressing relevant concerns to the 2008 presidential candidates.


--Dr. J. P. Hubert