Sorry. No sale.

If there were no government mandated wage floor they wouldn't be getting the 7-8 and hour they do now.

The core problem is the mass exodus of manufacturing that took place over the last 20+ years. And it's at the root of the Occupy Movement and Ferguson unrest.

Forty years ago under-educated dipshits could fall into a livable wage job at a car plant or in some other kind of fabrication or manufacturing job.

Unfettered free trade by the United States only allowed the robber barons of industry to exploit the green fields of Asian peasants and the globalization of the world economy began - waved in for landing by both parties.

Now all that's left for the undereducated and disenfranchised is McDonald's and the like.

So you can either pay them via a livable wage job or pay them via welfare and disability fraud.

Bring manufacturing back, erect tit-for-tat barriers to China trade here, and a whole host of problems would be fixed.

This post was edited on 10/23/14 at 7:04 am

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Posted by Cheese Grits

Wherever I lay my hat is my home

Member since Apr 2012

54986 posts

Posted on 10/23/14 at 9:35 am to Mizz-SEC

quote:
So you can either pay them via a livable wage job or pay them via welfare and disability fraud.

Bring manufacturing back, erect tit-for-tat barriers to China trade here, and a whole host of problems would be fixed.

I might add that at least in the old days lower paying jobs were filled by people who were at least proud of the work they did. Kids today all think they are too good to get their hands dirty and actually work for a living.

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Posted by Duke

Twin Lakes, CO

Member since Jan 2008

35666 posts

Posted on 10/23/14 at 12:14 pm to Mizz-SEC

quote:
Bring manufacturing back, erect tit-for-tat barriers to China trade here, and a whole host of problems would be fixed.

That ship has sailed and long since has been out of sight.

Bringing back simple consumer good manufacturing to the United States would drive the price of all consumer goods up. What would we do without being able to buy all of that cheap shite we love?

In all seriousness, manufacturing will start flowing back into America as global demand grows for higher quality and specialized goods. We have a well educated and skilled workforce relative to most of the world (that's not to say we can't do much better). We have a very stable society with good infrastructure,access to cheap energy and home to the greatest consumer base on earth. I believe this will happen eventually, but we're currently watching the reshuffle of the global economy because of the game-changing jumps in technology and communication. The short term (like 20-30 years likely) sees the less skilled American workers getting squeezed by robots and the cheap wages overseas.

Certainly there's a crazy amount of variables that will alter the course. I just see the engine of technology doing way more good for the global economy but the path forward isn't always going to be smooth.