That may sound like hyperbole, but I am not speaking of a quick clean death, I am speaking of a slow creeping death. The kind that nobody notices at first and when they do notice, the cause is so far removed that nobody realizes from whence it came. The slow collapse of which I speak is economical in nature, because I believe that in a capitalist society, cash is king. It isn't that I don't believe that the environment is not a concern, there seems to be an unending parade of strange phenomenon and natural disasters around the world that could be attributed to global warming, but the fact is, the worse your financial situation is, the less attention you pay to being green. I am not saying that is how things should be, thats just what I have observed in the lower income neighborhoods or housing situations of this area. The health crisis in this country can also be directly related to continuing recession. It is cheaper to eat unhealthy right now than to buy foods that are good for you. This generation is the first in a long time with a lower life expectancy than their parents. It is also the first that will earn less, coincidence? I think not!
I am not an economist. I am just a middle class working stiff who is looking around and scratching his head at what he sees. A year ago the newspaper company I work for decided to outsource the printing of our papers, laying off all of our union press operators. It was sad, but they moved our department into the corporate building, a much nicer working environment and assured us that our jobs are safe. There is more work for us to prepare files for the new printer, but things went back to normal after a while and everyone kept commenting on how much nicer this building was. About a month ago, it was announced that the advertising production department, of which I am a part, was going to be outsourced to India. I saw it coming for a while now, other newspapers have done this, but I still had a panicky afternoon. Last night, Bob, the guy who trained me my first week on the job got let go. Although he was not perfect, he was a great family man, and a good worker. It hurt to see him leave. It brought a lot of things to the forefront in my mind about what my company and others are doing to themselves with this outsourcing.
In lowering their costs by outsourcing the production, companies are bankrupting their consumer bases. Look at my home state Michigan. Michigan's economy was based on the automotive industry. The labor revolution happened in Detroit and you could say that Michigan gave birth to the middle class. The state is also displaying the first signs of the death of the middle class as well. Everyone in Michigan drove American made cars. You had to. There are still more domestic cars on the road there than in Illinois, but it is not strange to see an import on the road anymore there. In shipping out the work to overseas, GM killed it's consumer base, and surprise surprise, eventually the company had to claim bankruptcy. Who can blame people for driving cheaper foreign cars in Michigan now? The American cars are not built there anyways.
Walmart has gained a foothold in Michigan now as well. The Walmart parking lot near my hometown of Davison was full on Thanksgiving morning when I drove past it. This company is even more responsible for killing American industry than GM!
Those great deals that they offer come at a price. Walmart refuses to sell items above a certain price range. To lower the price to Walmart's standards, companies almost have no choice but to shift production overseas. Although I can't say I've never bought anything at a Walmart (someplaces, its the only option left to consumers!) I do try to avoid it.
I probably sound like I'm just bitter about my company outsourcing me. I am not. I still have a job, and I'll be given more hours and thus more pay due to this. I'm bitter about the company outsourcing my friends. I'm bitter about GM bankrupting my state. I'm bitter because in most of these cases, the CEO's were given bonuses for saving their companies money. That's like patting yourself on the back for losing weight by cutting off a leg. Eventually, you fall down. I fear this cycle will continue to spread like a disease to all industries, until our country topples under the weight of massive unemployment.
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