Rant #4: We are all slave owners Oh my, I never imagined these rants would turn so dark. But the truth behind our glossed-over world is quite dark. Perhaps Im only writing these rants for myself at this point—this one sure rambles. I realize that I promised a solution to our current job(less) situation, but Id like to take you down this one avenue before taking that turn. Imagine you are at your favorite megastore like Walmart, Target, Kohls, Kmart, etc. Stroll through the clothing department and run your fingers over the vast variety of fabrics and textures—nice, and all at affordable prices; perhaps take a stroll through the electronics department and check out the cost of a big-screen TV—look at that incredible picture; and finally, swing over to the costume jewelry department to hold one of those shiny, $5-10 trinkets that fly off the shelves so quickly. It may be a pair of earrings, a necklace, bracelet, or hair clip, but make sure to look at the country of origin. As you stare at your shiny little treasure, try to imagine yourself at the beginning of that trinkets existence: Sitting at a table during hour 9 of your 11 hour shift; gluing gems to something that you will never own. When your shift ends, youll make an exhausted march to the cafeteria, then to your dorm shared by dozens of other young workers, where you shower and lay down in your cot. As exhausted eyes begin to close, youll think about family back home in the countryside. Are they plowing the fields? Are they hungry? Are they alive? Then its off to sleep, for tomorrow is another long day of work. I wish I worked at a factory with a 6 day schedule, 7 days a week is killing me. Purchase that trinket and you have now become part owner of a slave. Since you already own thousands of trinkets, hundreds of Happy Meal toys, cheap socks, imported clothing, and a big-screen TV, you probably are the proud owner of several slaves. Is it your fault? Actually government policies have left us with little option. Besides, its the perfect form of slavery. We dont have to look at them, feed them, smell them, or even think about them. We dont have to drink the water that the factories pollute, or smell the air that the smokestacks clog. We can even claim to be environmentalists as we preach cloaked in clothing produced in countries where the environment is of little concern. Besides, those people are better off now then they were in the field. If we stopped this now, just think of the families destroyed. But, to get that slave an exchange was made here in America. We traded a small 2-bedroom home on a quiet U.S. street, with a car in the garage. Inside the house lived a family that enjoyed bacon and eggs for breakfast before Dad headed off for the factory. They were lower middle-class, but they lived the American Dream. They didnt have much, but what they had they were proud of, and father was proud to provide for his family. The parents were always busy taking care of something around the home, and taking care of their family. To survive they needed each other, and that bond kept the love they felt when they first met alive. Today, that same family is on welfare. The house is there, but father isnt. He was no longer proud. He was no longer needed. The state now cared for his family and they were probably better off without him. His factory had closed, he hadnt the training for a high-tech job, and his wife had grown tired of his constant complaining. The dispositions changed, and the family feel apart. Both eventually found work in the service industry. He barely scraped by; she received assistance from the government and did a little better for herself and the children. Without the American Dream, the fabric of society fails—and with it a country will also fail. How does this all relate to us: Most of us reading this have good jobs with insurance companies, banks, and other large corporations. The fact that manufacturing has left the United States has only benefitted our lives—as exemplified by all those wonderful, imported trinkets. But your job (or your childrens job) is next! In this global economy, why pay $20us per hour plus vacation time, health care, retirement, and social security, when someone in India is willing to do the same job for less—much, much less. This is already happening in the IT services and customer call centers. Its already being done to process banking transactions and insurance forms. Unless your job is tied to a service actually performed on U.S. soil (sales calls, medical, construction, farming), it is in jeopardy. To end this cycle wont be easy. There will be trade wars, and perhaps real wars. There may even be blood shed over those shiny trinkets as they look on from the landfill.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 12:42:13 +0000
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