Monday, September 03, 2007

Labor Day Obsolete?

Another great article from Projo in case you missed it. ""WITH NO SMALL IRONY, Labor Day has become much more about finding cheap Chinese goods on sale than a celebration of the strength and dignity of the American worker."' An excellent readable article.
'"In fact, the emergence of China as the world’s factory floor appears to be the final nail in the coffin of the American labor movement."' Inevitable? Not so. China's sucess if at the expense of the American worker - record trade imbalances, loss of jobs, downward pressure on wages.
1. Unfair trade practices. Few U.S. imports, but plenty of cheap exports.
2. Cheap, sometimes slave labor, at the expense of their own people.
3. The cooperation of large multinational corps. No longer do they have to worry about the AFL-CIO, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or even the Internal Revenue Service.
The inevitable effects of globilization on the American worker? Not exactly. Has the bringing of everyone else up to our standards now sunken to the level of lowering ourselves to the lowerst common denominator? '"What these politicians and pundits miss is the critical difference between China’s pernicious brand of 'beggar thy neighbor' free trade and the kind of robust fair trade that characterized the Golden Age of the 20th Century when the labor movement was, like our country, so very strong and vital."'
Well said. If ever there was a need for strong leadership across the board in our country, state, and district, now is the time for it! It doesn't have to be this way. Otherwise, except for a few precious few, our future is not that bright.
The author's website is http://www.peternavarro.com/. His new book is the "The New China Wars" & is a Ph.D. of Economics at the Univ. Of Calif., Irvine.

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