What if neither party can bring the jobs back?

[georgephillip]

We are or were the highest paid workers in the world. Of course we lost jobs to mexico China and india

That seems to have worked out well of 1% of Americans

US workers were the most productive workers in history, and US capitalists repaid the debt by shipping millions of middle class jobs to China in order to pad their own unearned incomes.

 

[hazlnut]

What if the era of American economic dominance is over? What if our rise was merely a wonderful historical anomaly that is now coming to and end?

Think about it. After WWII, both Europe and Japan were in a shambles. China was an isolated appendage of communism; India was still developing; and places like Vietnam and Taiwan had not been incorporated into the global market system (which system had yet to blossom).

Meaning: more money was coming in - a lot more. This enabled us to grow a large middle class of consumers who enjoyed rising living standards with each successive gerneration.

Energy was dirt cheap. Compare the price per gallon in 1950 to 2012. This meant that everything was cheaper to produce.

Those days are over. We are no longer manufacturer to the world, and cheap energy is gone. We are the most spread-out, auto-dependent nation on earth at the dawn of expensive energy. History no longer favors the energy-sucking suburban model. Why can't we take measure of the large storm collecting around our future?

But it's not just an over-reliance on a defunct energy model - it's a much broader entropy. Germany, India, and Asia are now out-producing us. We no longer make anything. We just borrow money from China and hand it out as credit so that jobless Americans can buy shiny plastic objects made somewhere else.

History replaced Roman and British Empires. Why are we so naive as to believe that we are not part of history? Nothing lasts forever. Nations rise and fall. Why can't we be adults and accept our limitations? Why do we have to blow sunshine up our own asses? - clutching after past greatness like an insecure actress who cannot face-up to her wrinkles. Why can't we grow old gracefully and accept our diminished role? Why do we act like an unstable global hegemon, dropping bombs on petty tyrants in order to prove our strength?

Why can't we accept that the jobs and prosperity may not be coming back? Why do we keep promising the sheeple that everything will be ok? Why can't our politicians just treat us like adults and ask us to live within our means? Why can't they be honest and say that our children will have fewer opportunities, as they become paralyzed by the 30yr spending orgy we have just completed. It's time to prepare for a fundamentally different world, rather than cling to a mythological future based on past greatness. The coming generations will have to live with less. Period. Accept it and learn to take pleasure in simpler things, like family and god.

Why can't we face the truth? Even if jobs did come back, they would be low paying jobs because free market capitalism thrives on cheap labor. That is, we are not going to see the compensation model we had during the postwar years where the father's factory wage supported the entire family so that the mom could stay at home and raise the kids. [Don't you people get it: the postwar era (when government supported unions, high wages, & affordable college) was also the heyday of conservatism. High wages and generous social programs gave hard working parents more time to raise the children. The conservative notion of the nuclear family came from New Deal America, when the working class had artificially high wages. This is why the 50s was such a glorious decade - because capitalism had yet to lower the wages/benefits/entitlements of the working class to a level that made it impossible to support a family]

So yes, the good jobs are gone. And if manufacturing jobs do come back, they will be the sort seen in Asia and the 3rd world - ultra cheap wages with zero benefits, i.e., not like 50s union wages where the father could support the family so that the mother could stay at home and raise the kids. The new low wage model brings the highest profits to shareholders, and this is the model our political system chose when we freed-up our corporations to seek the cheapest labor markets overseas. Free Market Capitalism does not support a thriving middle class of high-wage-workers. It supports ultra wealthy owners and poor workers. The Free Market drive for low wages destroyed the Great America Conservative Family by forcing the Mother into the workforce, and forcing the father to work more for less - so he had less time to help raise his children. Because of this, children are raised by MTV, Hollywood, and gangs . . . (but at least the capitalist makes more because he enjoys ultra cheap labor).

Folks, the old postwar America where everyone had high paying jobs and great benefits is gone for good. The owners of business no longer want to support a well paid population. They want cheap labor - plain and simple. The old America is gone.

Why do we keep blaming our political parties for a problem that neither can solve? Each successive administration promises prosperity, but each fails because they refuse to admit a simple truth: the old wage and benefit structure of "managed capitalism" has been replaced by the low wages of free market global capitalism. Our politicians can't change structures this big and powerful. If Washington can't run a laundromat, they certainly cannot figure out a way to change the tectonic economic forces that sweep whole civilizations into the dustbin of history.

Why do we have so much faith that the next administration will solve everything? Where did we get this faith in government? Why did the Left buy into Obama's hope and change garbage? Why does each party's voters buy into this garbage?

What if the ride is over? Why can't we admit we had a good run and adjust to the coming mass poverty? Why do we believe that Dear Leader can fix a crisis that is well beyond the power of Washington? Sometimes history does what it wants, and sometimes you just have to man-up and accept it.

Maybe Gingrich is not the messiah any more than Obama was. Yes, I know he and Mitt promise to make government smaller so that business can re-grow our prosperity - but what if the problem is deeper? What if all this empty rhetoric about freedom and small government overlooks the reality that high wages are not coming back? Why are we so seduced by simple bumper stickers?

Why does the Right and Left have so much faith in their respective models... and the politicians who peddle them?

What say you?

I say... great post.

Pretty soon a.i. computer programs will be taking middle management jobs.

Who needs an accountant or a lawyer or Human Resources director when a computer can do the job better and for less.

 

[sealybobo]

We are or were the highest paid workers in the world. Of course we lost jobs to mexico China and india

That seems to have worked out well of 1% of Americans

US workers were the most productive workers in history, and US capitalists repaid the debt by shipping millions of middle class jobs to China in order to pad their own unearned incomes.

You know who doesn't fuck their workers? Germany. That's one reason they were voted #1 country in the world. Don't you love how fast Republicans go from promising to bring jobs back to arguing why we shouldn't and can't? Of course.

 

[georgephillip]

Energy was dirt cheap. Compare the price per gallon in 1950 to 2012. This meant that everything was cheaper to produce.

Those days are over. We are no longer manufacturer to the world, and cheap energy is gone. We are the most spread-out, auto-dependent nation on earth at the dawn of expensive energy. History no longer favors the energy-sucking suburban model. Why can't we take measure of the large storm collecting around our future?

How much worse does this get?

 

[eddiew]

What if the era of American economic dominance is over? What if our rise was merely a wonderful historical anomaly that is now coming to and end?

Think about it. After WWII, both Europe and Japan were in a shambles. China was an isolated appendage of communism; India was still developing; and places like Vietnam and Taiwan had not been incorporated into the global market system (which system had yet to blossom).

Meaning: more money was coming in - a lot more. This enabled us to grow a large middle class of consumers who enjoyed rising living standards with each successive gerneration.

Energy was dirt cheap. Compare the price per gallon in 1950 to 2012. This meant that everything was cheaper to produce.

Those days are over. We are no longer manufacturer to the world, and cheap energy is gone. We are the most spread-out, auto-dependent nation on earth at the dawn of expensive energy. History no longer favors the energy-sucking suburban model. Why can't we take measure of the large storm collecting around our future?

But it's not just an over-reliance on a defunct energy model - it's a much broader entropy. Germany, India, and Asia are now out-producing us. We no longer make anything. We just borrow money from China and hand it out as credit so that jobless Americans can buy shiny plastic objects made somewhere else.

History replaced Roman and British Empires. Why are we so naive as to believe that we are not part of history? Nothing lasts forever. Nations rise and fall. Why can't we be adults and accept our limitations? Why do we have to blow sunshine up our own asses? - clutching after past greatness like an insecure actress who cannot face-up to her wrinkles. Why can't we grow old gracefully and accept our diminished role? Why do we act like an unstable global hegemon, dropping bombs on petty tyrants in order to prove our strength?

Why can't we accept that the jobs and prosperity may not be coming back? Why do we keep promising the sheeple that everything will be ok? Why can't our politicians just treat us like adults and ask us to live within our means? Why can't they be honest and say that our children will have fewer opportunities, as they become paralyzed by the 30yr spending orgy we have just completed. It's time to prepare for a fundamentally different world, rather than cling to a mythological future based on past greatness. The coming generations will have to live with less. Period. Accept it and learn to take pleasure in simpler things, like family and god.

Why can't we face the truth? Even if jobs did come back, they would be low paying jobs because free market capitalism thrives on cheap labor. That is, we are not going to see the compensation model we had during the postwar years where the father's factory wage supported the entire family so that the mom could stay at home and raise the kids. [Don't you people get it: the postwar era (when government supported unions, high wages, & affordable college) was also the heyday of conservatism. High wages and generous social programs gave hard working parents more time to raise the children. The conservative notion of the nuclear family came from New Deal America, when the working class had artificially high wages. This is why the 50s was such a glorious decade - because capitalism had yet to lower the wages/benefits/entitlements of the working class to a level that made it impossible to support a family]

So yes, the good jobs are gone. And if manufacturing jobs do come back, they will be the sort seen in Asia and the 3rd world - ultra cheap wages with zero benefits, i.e., not like 50s union wages where the father could support the family so that the mother could stay at home and raise the kids. The new low wage model brings the highest profits to shareholders, and this is the model our political system chose when we freed-up our corporations to seek the cheapest labor markets overseas. Free Market Capitalism does not support a thriving middle class of high-wage-workers. It supports ultra wealthy owners and poor workers. The Free Market drive for low wages destroyed the Great America Conservative Family by forcing the Mother into the workforce, and forcing the father to work more for less - so he had less time to help raise his children. Because of this, children are raised by MTV, Hollywood, and gangs . . . (but at least the capitalist makes more because he enjoys ultra cheap labor).

Folks, the old postwar America where everyone had high paying jobs and great benefits is gone for good. The owners of business no longer want to support a well paid population. They want cheap labor - plain and simple. The old America is gone.

Why do we keep blaming our political parties for a problem that neither can solve? Each successive administration promises prosperity, but each fails because they refuse to admit a simple truth: the old wage and benefit structure of "managed capitalism" has been replaced by the low wages of free market global capitalism. Our politicians can't change structures this big and powerful. If Washington can't run a laundromat, they certainly cannot figure out a way to change the tectonic economic forces that sweep whole civilizations into the dustbin of history.

Why do we have so much faith that the next administration will solve everything? Where did we get this faith in government? Why did the Left buy into Obama's hope and change garbage? Why does each party's voters buy into this garbage?

What if the ride is over? Why can't we admit we had a good run and adjust to the coming mass poverty? Why do we believe that Dear Leader can fix a crisis that is well beyond the power of Washington? Sometimes history does what it wants, and sometimes you just have to man-up and accept it.

Maybe Gingrich is not the messiah any more than Obama was. Yes, I know he and Mitt promise to make government smaller so that business can re-grow our prosperity - but what if the problem is deeper? What if all this empty rhetoric about freedom and small government overlooks the reality that high wages are not coming back? Why are we so seduced by simple bumper stickers?

Why does the Right and Left have so much faith in their respective models... and the politicians who peddle them?

What say you?

The age of Robotics are with us

 

[georgephillip]

You know who doesn't fuck their workers? Germany. That's one reason they were voted #1 country in the world. Don't you love how fast Republicans go from promising to bring jobs back to arguing why we shouldn't and can't? Of course.

I think there are a number of things we can learn from Germany:
"As the Obama administration and EPA roll out the Clean Power Plan, many expect it to become a model and tipping point for other nations trying to cut carbon and generate more clean power in the future. But in some ways, America is late to the party by about 25 years."
How Germany Became a Solar Superpower
The US is already a generation behind in important issues like labor and clean energy, and some conservatives want to bring back the Gipper?

 

[independent minded]

The Left buys into Hope and Change bullshit, and the Right buys into small government bullshit. What if it's all bullshit? What if the ride is genuinely over and we are destined to have "change" elections every 4 years, hoping that the next president can save us?

What if the joke is on us?

Hmmmmm....these are all very interesting...and fascinating questions, Londoner! It's something to think about, as well. Maybe the Independent Party's comeback might be beneficial, after all, and perhaps even possible. Who knows?

 

[JoeNormal]

What if the era of American economic dominance is over? What if our rise was merely a wonderful historical anomaly that is now coming to and end?

Think about it. After WWII, both Europe and Japan were in a shambles. China was an isolated appendage of communism; India was still developing; and places like Vietnam and Taiwan had not been incorporated into the global market system (which system had yet to blossom).

Meaning: more money was coming in - a lot more. This enabled us to grow a large middle class of consumers who enjoyed rising living standards with each successive gerneration.

Energy was dirt cheap. Compare the price per gallon in 1950 to 2012. This meant that everything was cheaper to produce.

Those days are over. We are no longer manufacturer to the world, and cheap energy is gone. We are the most spread-out, auto-dependent nation on earth at the dawn of expensive energy. History no longer favors the energy-sucking suburban model. Why can't we take measure of the large storm collecting around our future?

But it's not just an over-reliance on a defunct energy model - it's a much broader entropy. Germany, India, and Asia are now out-producing us. We no longer make anything. We just borrow money from China and hand it out as credit so that jobless Americans can buy shiny plastic objects made somewhere else.

History replaced Roman and British Empires. Why are we so naive as to believe that we are not part of history? Nothing lasts forever. Nations rise and fall. Why can't we be adults and accept our limitations? Why do we have to blow sunshine up our own asses? - clutching after past greatness like an insecure actress who cannot face-up to her wrinkles. Why can't we grow old gracefully and accept our diminished role? Why do we act like an unstable global hegemon, dropping bombs on petty tyrants in order to prove our strength?

Why can't we accept that the jobs and prosperity may not be coming back? Why do we keep promising the sheeple that everything will be ok? Why can't our politicians just treat us like adults and ask us to live within our means? Why can't they be honest and say that our children will have fewer opportunities, as they become paralyzed by the 30yr spending orgy we have just completed. It's time to prepare for a fundamentally different world, rather than cling to a mythological future based on past greatness. The coming generations will have to live with less. Period. Accept it and learn to take pleasure in simpler things, like family and god.

Why can't we face the truth? Even if jobs did come back, they would be low paying jobs because free market capitalism thrives on cheap labor. That is, we are not going to see the compensation model we had during the postwar years where the father's factory wage supported the entire family so that the mom could stay at home and raise the kids. [Don't you people get it: the postwar era (when government supported unions, high wages, & affordable college) was also the heyday of conservatism. High wages and generous social programs gave hard working parents more time to raise the children. The conservative notion of the nuclear family came from New Deal America, when the working class had artificially high wages. This is why the 50s was such a glorious decade - because capitalism had yet to lower the wages/benefits/entitlements of the working class to a level that made it impossible to support a family]

So yes, the good jobs are gone. And if manufacturing jobs do come back, they will be the sort seen in Asia and the 3rd world - ultra cheap wages with zero benefits, i.e., not like 50s union wages where the father could support the family so that the mother could stay at home and raise the kids. The new low wage model brings the highest profits to shareholders, and this is the model our political system chose when we freed-up our corporations to seek the cheapest labor markets overseas. Free Market Capitalism does not support a thriving middle class of high-wage-workers. It supports ultra wealthy owners and poor workers. The Free Market drive for low wages destroyed the Great America Conservative Family by forcing the Mother into the workforce, and forcing the father to work more for less - so he had less time to help raise his children. Because of this, children are raised by MTV, Hollywood, and gangs . . . (but at least the capitalist makes more because he enjoys ultra cheap labor).

Folks, the old postwar America where everyone had high paying jobs and great benefits is gone for good. The owners of business no longer want to support a well paid population. They want cheap labor - plain and simple. The old America is gone.

Why do we keep blaming our political parties for a problem that neither can solve? Each successive administration promises prosperity, but each fails because they refuse to admit a simple truth: the old wage and benefit structure of "managed capitalism" has been replaced by the low wages of free market global capitalism. Our politicians can't change structures this big and powerful. If Washington can't run a laundromat, they certainly cannot figure out a way to change the tectonic economic forces that sweep whole civilizations into the dustbin of history.

Why do we have so much faith that the next administration will solve everything? Where did we get this faith in government? Why did the Left buy into Obama's hope and change garbage? Why does each party's voters buy into this garbage?

What if the ride is over? Why can't we admit we had a good run and adjust to the coming mass poverty? Why do we believe that Dear Leader can fix a crisis that is well beyond the power of Washington? Sometimes history does what it wants, and sometimes you just have to man-up and accept it.

Maybe Gingrich is not the messiah any more than Obama was. Yes, I know he and Mitt promise to make government smaller so that business can re-grow our prosperity - but what if the problem is deeper? What if all this empty rhetoric about freedom and small government overlooks the reality that high wages are not coming back? Why are we so seduced by simple bumper stickers?

Why does the Right and Left have so much faith in their respective models... and the politicians who peddle them?

What say you?

It's not like there are fewer goods and services being produced today than there were in the golden age. Production efficiency has risen like crazy since then and with more A.I., more automation, and better processes, that will most certainly continue. The problem is in distribution. The portion of that production being diverted to the wealthy has become obscene. Fix that and watch everyone's lives become better.

 

[georgephillip]

Is it time for...

What is a BIG?
The U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network
"The basic income guarantee (BIG) is a government insured guarantee that no citizen's income will fall below some minimal level for any reason.

"All citizens would receive a BIG without means test or work requirement.

"BIG is an efficient and effective solution to poverty that preserves individual autonomy and work incentives while simplifying government social policy.

"Some researchers estimate that a small BIG, sufficient to cut the poverty rate in half could be financed without an increase in taxes by redirecting funds from spending programs and tax deductions aimed at maintaining incomes.

"Click here for more

 

[Rozman]

In the recent past GDP of 2% was considered treading water.
Now our Libs here are bragging about our 0.5% first quarter GDP.
That's the way things are during Obama's reign.

 

[georgephillip]

In the recent past GDP of 2% was considered treading water.
Now our Libs here are bragging about our 0.5% first quarter GDP.
That's the way things are during Obama's reign.

Some are claiming the problem is the "magic of compound interest." If so, it's been around for thousands of years before the US came into existence.
http://store.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Killing-The-Host_PDF_V7.pdf
"Morgan and John D. Rockefeller are said to have called the principle of compound interest the Eighth Wonder of the World. For them it meant concentrating financial fortunes in the hands of an emerging oligarchy indebting the economy to itself at an exponential rate. This has been the key factor in polarizing the distribution of wealth and political power in societies that do not take steps to cope with this dynamic."

For about five thousand years, parasites like Morgan and Rockefeller have used "the magic of compound interest" to manufacture debt faster than any productive economy can pay it off.

I think that is where the US economy is at right now, and, if so, it won't matter who moves into the White House next January.