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The China Connection
by Douglas M. Bryce
Remember Japan, Taiwan, Puerto
Rico, Brazil and Mexico? These were all countries which at one time
or another we attempted to exploit by using them to produce goods at
low cost and which we could then sell in the United States for
increased profits. In every case we lost jobs to those countries,
but we rationalized it by stating that "the process forced our own
companies to get lean and mean", or "this fosters healthy
competition". In fact, the only reason we were sending work to these
countries was to cut our costs and increase profits. And, there's
nothing wrong in doing that. That's part of what capitalism is all
about.
In the case of the countries
mentioned above, the glory days didn't last long. Soon, the
exploited countries were forced to increase their workers wages, add
company benefits, initiate profit-sharing plans, and face union
startups. Eventually, the cost incentive of doing business with them
dwindled and we went on to the next third world country to start the
process all over again. Purchasing agents were given bonuses to find
a new country that would be willing to have their people work for
peanuts in order to get business from the United States.
Well, here we go again, This time
it's with China. Only this time there's a big difference and it's
spelled GOVERNMENT. And this time we are really going to be hurt.
This time we will lose more than just jobs. We will lose our
manufacturing arena altogether and become a nation of service
providers, and I'm not talking about Internet Service Providers. I'm
talking about McDonalds service providers. Hamburger flippers. Table
waiters. Retirement home bed-turners. That kind of service provider.
Not that there's anything wrong
with service providers. Those jobs are meaningful and becoming
plentiful, and there is a definite need for such work. Most people
in those jobs are helping others willingly and enjoy their work. But
what is happening to our trades? What is happening to the crafts?
Where are the moldmakers? Why is there such a shortage of process
technicians? These are the jobs that are going away. The high paying
jobs. The craftsmanship jobs. The manufacturing jobs. The jobs that
helped make the United States the powerful nation it is today.
China has 2 big advantages over
other countries that have gone through the exploitation process with
us. First, their own government helps subsidize programs and aids
companies with funding. Second, there are no environmental or
safety, or human rights issues to contend with. The lack of these
concerns means they don't have to build these issues into their
pricing structure. In addition, no one can sue for defective
products or shoddy workmanship. So, there are no built-in insurance
and/or lawyer costs.
But the real advantage China has
is that the United States government is actually working for
China to ensure success. That's right. Our federal government
has initiated (and demanded) trade with China, but it has
turned out to be one-way trade. We are sending them all our work,
but they are only sending us more cheap products to buy. Our
government also continues to add insult to injury by making it
harder and harder for small (and even large) manufacturing companies
to exist in the U.S. They do this by forcing legislation that bows
to the minority environmental and safety groups and organizations in
this country, and by increasing taxes that are sinking us. And, our
federal government stands by, with their backs turned and their eyes
closed while our domestic manufacturing is quickly going away on a
slow boat to China.
What can be done? We all need to
get involved. We all need to look into this before it's too late. We
need to join forces and contact our representatives. We need to make
some noise. (Look what happened in California due to one man's
initial efforts - a recall and a new governor).
While I do not specifically
endorse them, there is one group that has made a lot of noise.
That's the Save American Manufacturing grass roots organization
located in Wisconsin. They are having an impact. You can visit their
site to see if you wish to become a part of the SAM movement. You'll
find them at
SAM . If you don't want to join them. maybe you can start your
own movement. Or start a newsletter. Or start a Blog.
These are all easy things to do and enough of them can make some
real waves.
Let's all do what we can to stop
this ridiculous movement to send everything somewhere else. We can
start by making sure we are not complacent in our own companies. We
do need to be cost effective and competitive. It's just that we
would like to have a level playing field to start with. Let's get
going.
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