The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: billt on November 25, 2010, 06:35:26 PM
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The following are 19 facts about the deindustrialization of America that will blow your mind....
#1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001. About 75 percent of those factories employed over 500 people when they were still in operation.
#2 Dell Inc., one of America’s largest manufacturers of computers, has announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.
#3 Dell has announced that it will be closing its last large U.S. manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in November. Approximately 900 jobs will be lost.
#4 In 2008, 1.2 billion cell phones were sold worldwide. So how many of them were manufactured inside the United States? Zero.
#5 According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.
#6 As of the end of July, the U.S. trade deficit with China had risen 18 percent compared to the same time period a year ago.
#7 The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million manufacturing jobs since October 2000.
#8 According to Tax Notes, between 1999 and 2008 employment at the foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased an astounding 30 percent to 10.1 million. During that exact same time period, U.S. employment at American multinational corporations declined 8 percent to 21.1 million.
#9 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.
#10 Ford Motor Company recently announced the closure of a factory that produces the Ford Ranger in St. Paul, Minnesota. Approximately 750 good paying middle class jobs are going to be lost because making Ford Rangers in Minnesota does not fit in with Ford's new "global" manufacturing strategy.
#11 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.
#12 In the United States today, consumption accounts for 70 percent of GDP Of this 70 percent, over half is spent on services.
#13 The United States has lost a whopping 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.
#14 In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per capita broadband Internet use. Today it ranks 15th.
#15 Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually lower in 2010 than it was in 1975.
#16 Printed circuit boards are used in tens of thousands of different products. Asia now produces 84 percent of them worldwide.
#17 The United States spends approximately $3.90 on Chinese goods for every $1 that the Chinese spend on goods from the United States.
#18 One prominent economist is projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.
#19 The U.S. Census Bureau says that 43.6 million Americans are now living in poverty and according to them that is the highest number of poor Americans in the 51 years that records have been kept.
So how many tens of thousands more factories do we need to lose before we do something about it?
How many millions more Americans are going to become unemployed before we all admit that we have a very, very serious problem on our hands?
How many more trillions of dollars are going to leave the country before we realize that we are losing wealth at a pace that is killing our economy?
How many once great manufacturing cities are going to become rotting war zones like Detroit before we understand that we are committing national economic suicide?
The de-industrialization of America is a national crisis. It needs to be treated like one.
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Welcome to TEOTWAWKI!
"but I feel fine!" LOL! ;)
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I remember 20+ years ago when there was a flurry of articles in various trade pubs etc. about how great the transition to a new "service" economy was going to be - more jobs, higher paying jobs, white collar instead of that yucky get-your-hands-dirty blue collar crap. I didn't buy it back then, although I did profit from the booming white collar economy.
Sad fact is, we're done, we're toast. The schools have not been turned, so they continue to spew out mind-numbed little socialized statists who always look to their "betters" for directions, and mindlessly do as they are told. People who will never know physical labor.
The media is the lapdog of the Soros-types, so that now we have to get even a semblance of truth from Pravda of all places.
Industry has left the building and I doubt seriously it can ever be recouped - certainly not within some of our lifetimes.
The economy has been trashed to a degree never seen before so rebuilding an industrial base - even if we wanted to - is going to be well nigh impossible. Our debtors will suck us dry - literally if you believe the tinfoil hatters about foreigners gaining our water rights.
The gummint won't prosecute egregious crimes, but is willing to label people like uyou and me as domestic terrorists or extremists.
Better we start thinking post-collapse and what we do to survive as a culture. Going back to the Constitution is a good start but in what context? And how? Local economies, local industry sounds good, but where do you get raw materials? And how do you keep an ever acquisitive and abusive gummint off your backs?
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You are to pessimistic Path, look at what Germany did between 1945 when there was nothing left but rubble, what we had not bombed to pieces the Soviets loaded onto train cars and hauled off as "reparations". and 1960 when papers were talking about the "economic miracle".
First order of business is the complete restructuring of a much smaller, less intrusive Govt. and a purge of the self destructive socialist elements with in our society.
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You are to pessimistic Path, look at what Germany did between 1945 when there was nothing left but rubble, what we had not bombed to pieces the Soviets loaded onto train cars and hauled off as "reparations". and 1960 when papers were talking about the "economic miracle".
First order of business is the complete restructuring of a much smaller, less intrusive Govt. and a purge of the self destructive socialist elements with in our society.
No Tom, Path isn't being pessimistic, he's being honest. What would Germany have done had it not been for the US rebuilding what we destroyed? From 1945 to 1960 Germany would have CEASED to exist if we didn't rebuild it, just like Japan after the BOMB!
Now we have N Korea and Iran pushing our buttons AGAIN! Obviously they didn't get the message the first time.
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Think about what it took in the 40's to get those manufacuring jobs going, WWII. Will it be WWIII that revives the US? I would hate to think that is what it will take, but. :-\
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Almost every job loss listed can be traced directly to unionization. Now, SEIU wants to unionize the TSA.
Wake up, people. Our very nation is on the line.
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No Tom, Path isn't being pessimistic, he's being honest. What would Germany have done had it not been for the US rebuilding what we destroyed? From 1945 to 1960 Germany would have CEASED to exist if we didn't rebuild it, just like Japan after the BOMB!
Now we have N Korea and Iran pushing our buttons AGAIN! Obviously they didn't get the message the first time.
Not correct.
Look at Haiti, We have been pouring money into that sh!thole for 200 years. (since they threw out Napoleon's forces ) and it is still a barely functional, dependent state.
Another thing not commonly known is that the Marshall plan did not spend one penny of American money in Europe. What it did was forgive the huge debts incurred by France and Britain for "Lend Lease" material in exchange for investing in Germany and other devastated countries .
But with out the industry and optimism of the German and Japanese people, and a stable and predictable political climate they would have remained helpless like Haiti and Somalia.
Look at East Germany, even with out out side assistance they rose to the highest standards of living and production quality in the entire Warsaw pact, and they did not with Soviet assistance, but in spite of Soviet interference.
As to the future, while Iran may pose a regional threat and possibly even interfere with Arabian oil supplies that is the most they are capable of, the Persians will never again threaten Europe with invasion as they did in the days of the Empire. Although they do present a menace as nuclear terrorists, the fact remains that if they ever do play that card they will cease to exist as a habitable portion of the planet.
N Korea is a joke . Their saber rattling has no bearing on their foreign policy which amounts to "I'll rent you my sister for food and oil",
Both of which they are dependent on SK charity to merely maintain life. They should really be of little interest to us since South Korea and Japan are more than capable of handling them. That does not take into account that their former Patron, China, realizes that their best interests are not served by military conflict in the region, it's bad for business. Southern China is already being flooded with masses of starving Korean refugees that they don't want, conflict would only make the problem worse, Should such a conflict go nuclear, 1) China does not want the fall out the prevailing winds would dump on them, 2) it would defeat the aims of the NK leadership. The only practical purpose for an invasion of the South would be to seize the industrial and financial assets of the South, if they glow in the dark there is no value in them, it is simply millions more mouths to feed with out the help of the nations that would turn against them.
The ones to watch are China and Russia, While we will most likely never face a military threat from them, They will exert their strength on the new battlefield of commerce. We should realize that from the huge influx of Chinese made goods in our stores.
As for Russia Their opposition to us is primarily behind the scenes, such as supplying Saddam Hussein,, and opposing us in the UN.
Their motive is power in the form of oil. Their opposition to our involvement in Afghanistan stems from the fact that we acquired rights to the huge oil reserves in Azerbaijan on the Caspian sea, the current plan is to pipe it to Turkey for distribution in Europe which would cut Europe's dependence on Russian oil, A few years ago they cut off oil deliveries to Georgia and Ukraine in the middle of winter just to remind them who was the boss, and to let Europe know, play ball or more than half your fuel supplies could disappear over night.
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The fiscal demise of this country begins, in my opinion, with free trade agreements. Granted, it's basic economics that each country offer the product they can produce the most efficiently on the trade market. The problem is, we , currently, don't produce anything efficiently besides debt. It is MUCH cheaper for companies to manufacture their products in other countries where they have lower taxes, regulations, and labor costs. Basically, we need to make it fiscally unsound to produce most products outside of the U.S. We can accomplish this by either sweetening the pot domestically for companies, increasing tax / tariffs on imports, or a combination of the two. These are not popular ideas and they have their caveats and downfalls, but I see no other solution. The government screams education is the answer, well how many pencil pushers can the economy support? We're already seeing the answer to that question, since degrees are now almost as valuable as toilet paper. I realize there is a bigger picture and that these actions would have an effect on the world economy, but these are the bare bones of my view of the problem and possible solutions. When it comes right down to it, at least to a certain degree, we are going to have to start looking at our own economic welfare as priority number 1.
Swoop
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Think about what it took in the 40's to get those manufacuring jobs going, WWII. Will it be WWIII that revives the US? I would hate to think that is what it will take, but. :-\
A major war will no longer stimulate manufacturing in that manner. By the time we retooled our remaining factories to produce the high tech equipment such as aircraft and missiles the war would be long over.
Almost every job loss listed can be traced directly to unionization. Now, SEIU wants to unionize the TSA.
Wake up, people. Our very nation is on the line.
Darn good point ! What happens if some natural or diplomatic disaster should lead to the cut off of our imports ?
Many areas of this country now lack the physical infrastructure to return to a manufacturing economy.
In my own work I see the loss of skilled labor, in my current job at a machine shop I am the youngest guy there who knows how to do these jobs on a manual machine, and I'll be 51 soon. The younger guys are all "button pushers", they turn out good parts, and write their own programs, but what happens if they don't have the Asian made CNC machinery ? (Which, I will point out, was based on stolen US research )
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A lot of America's problems are the result of Americans embracing the ideas the ideals of socialism/the green movement in its various forms down through time. More people = more wealth and always has in regards to national power. When American birth rates began to plummet America's manufacturing base was doomed. You have to have cheap labor to compete in the global marketplace and American labor is anything but cheap now, even with millions of illegal aliens here. This decline in fertility is also greatly responsible for the disappearance of the middle class.
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Unions, not necessarily the everyday Joe, that goes to work, but the Mgt. of organized labor, has run this countries manufacturing base into the ground.
That's one reason they suck up to primarily Democrat/Socialist politicians. Take Mich. as an example or the North East, the more union/Democrat majorities, the worse off the state.
1894 Winchesters are now made in Japan.... :'( May have nothing to do with any specific union, but from a manufacturing point of view, ?????
:'(
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It's not just the model 94 made in Japan, the model 70 is now made in SC. Ruger started in NH, but when they opened a second plant it was in Az. S&W opened their new plant in Holton Me. Why ? Labor costs are lower.
It reinforces what TW what saying.
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You are to pessimistic Path, look at what Germany did between 1945 when there was nothing left but rubble, what we had not bombed to pieces the Soviets loaded onto train cars and hauled off as "reparations". and 1960 when papers were talking about the "economic miracle".
First order of business is the complete restructuring of a much smaller, less intrusive Govt. and a purge of the self destructive socialist elements with in our society.
Lots of differences in the scenarios between now and then, Tom. #1, we forced them to redevelop as a buffer against the Russkies. Yes, the Germans in general are far more diligent than the Haitians, but then so is my chair! :o And we're not there in Haiti pushing them either.
My point was that - as you said in your second paragraph - we have to undo a great deal, and I am not at all convinced we can do that, what with the gummint becoming all grabby and delvy (taking what ain't theirs and diving into matters that aren't theirs either).
I wasn't being honest so much as I was being realistic. You and I may agree on some things - hell, all of us here may be in perfect alignment on this. However, there are millions of public school graduates who would vote for bho again, who think he ain't doing enough, and want to see more along the same lines. Simply put, we are outnumbered by the democracy-ites and that is why I think we are toast.
Best case, carve out some states out west and set up a Federal-free zone. Either that or - God forbid - a hot war, a revolution. Like 1776, there may be 3% of the population willing to fight FOR this country instead of for the entitlements.
Long shot? Electing people who will not be corrupted by the system in DC and who will be willing to undo everything that has been done in the last 50 years. Realistically? The leaders of any movement like that will be killed ("heart attacks", "car accidents", assassination, etc.) or prosecuted and jailed by those who stand to gain by selling the US short. People like Soros and the others like him who stay out of sight and the press. The leaders will die, and the others will get the message, and vote accordingly, or go back to the farm/ranch in Illinois/Idaho/Montana/Ohio/wherever.
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I work in manufacturing and have most of my life. This new position and company has a much larger customer base than the last.
I can say, without a doubt, that the people I'm doing business with today are IDIOTS! My customers cannot draw, some design things that cannot be fabricated easily and wonder why their quotes for are so f....k expensive. They don't get the point that close tolerance costs money and threaten to move elsewhere unless they get their way.
Thankfully, we have a good customer base or some of these boneheads that threaten to leave don't adversely affect our bottom line. I'm afraid that with those of us who know what we're doing reaching the end of our careers, the kids coming up aren't going to pick up the slack. I've not met an engineer in the last twenty years that could mop a floor properly let alone design a complicated part that could be manufactured cost effectively.
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Lots of differences in the scenarios between now and then, Tom. #1, we forced them to redevelop as a buffer against the Russkies. Yes, the Germans in general are far more diligent than the Haitians, but then so is my chair! :o And we're not there in Haiti pushing them either.
My point was that - as you said in your second paragraph - we have to undo a great deal, and I am not at all convinced we can do that, what with the gummint becoming all grabby and delvy (taking what ain't theirs and diving into matters that aren't theirs either).
I wasn't being honest so much as I was being realistic. You and I may agree on some things - hell, all of us here may be in perfect alignment on this. However, there are millions of public school graduates who would vote for bho again, who think he ain't doing enough, and want to see more along the same lines. Simply put, we are outnumbered by the democracy-ites and that is why I think we are toast.
Best case, carve out some states out west and set up a Federal-free zone. Either that or - God forbid - a hot war, a revolution. Like 1776, there may be 3% of the population willing to fight FOR this country instead of for the entitlements.
Long shot? Electing people who will not be corrupted by the system in DC and who will be willing to undo everything that has been done in the last 50 years. Realistically? The leaders of any movement like that will be killed ("heart attacks", "car accidents", assassination, etc.) or prosecuted and jailed by those who stand to gain by selling the US short. People like Soros and the others like him who stay out of sight and the press. The leaders will die, and the others will get the message, and vote accordingly, or go back to the farm/ranch in Illinois/Idaho/Montana/Ohio/wherever.
You and I agree more than you may think on what you have posted here.
The one thing I will say that you are wrong about is that the "Tools" are not so much "Public school graduates", (Which includes most of the membership here ) but those who have gone on to college for the advanced indoctrination Like my Sister.
As a quick reference, who are considered to be our resident liberals ? TAB and FQ, a college graduate and a Prof.
As to the 3%, 11 years ago I would have agreed totally, Now, with the TEA party and ground swell of public dissatisfaction, Not so much.
I agree that many, probably the majority don't really understand where the problems come from, but if you lead them they will follow.
As far as "Leaders" having accidents, the answer lies in setting up a more cellular organization, small local groups possibly trading information and ideas, but primarily operating on their own, much the way Al Qaeda does. along that same thinking gathering in one region or area is suicide, it presents the oppressors with a single target to isolate and destroy, it is more effective, and longer lived to be every where at once.
One of the best parts of the movie V for Vendetta was the part that ended with the little girl getting shot, the mask was every where, but V was no where.
The best possible solution would be through the Supreme court, like in Honduras, it did not require violence, and their was no question among the citizens about the legitimacy of the actions.
It would also be in line with the ideas set forth in the Declaration of Independence.
"Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
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The one thing I will say that you are wrong about is that the "Tools" are not so much "Public school graduates", (Which includes most of the membership here ) but those who have gone on to college for the advanced indoctrination Like my Sister.
I happen to be both a public school and college graduate, and although some may disagree, I think my head sits pretty ,squarely upon my shoulders. A major part of my college education involved questioning everything, however. I didn't just accept things as fact because someone with a more advanced degree told me it was so. I wanted to actually understand why things were the way they were. Those who are willing demanding to be led blindly, without question, will do so regardless of whether or not they are highly educated. The learned "sheeple" are just more articulate in demonstrating their ignorance.
Swoop
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I happen to be both a public school and college graduate, and although some may disagree, I think my head sits pretty ,squarely upon my shoulders. A major part of my college education involved questioning everything, however. I didn't just accept things as fact because someone with a more advanced degree told me it was so. I wanted to actually understand why things were the way they were. Those who are willing demanding to be led blindly, without question, will do so regardless of whether or not they are highly educated. The learned "sheeple" are just more articulate in demonstrating their ignorance.
Swoop
That requires independent thought. The willingness to put in that extra effort is what separates the truly "educated" from the "indoctrinated". In my own case, a lot of my idea's come from the need to keep my mind active while doing repetitive operations that required no thought, so I think over things I have read or heard from other sources, sometimes to completely different items will click together, such as the similarity between international relations and kids on a playground.
Meant to add this earlier but I agree completely with Tim's post. I don't deal with customers but I have seen so called "engineer's" come up with some really dumb things.
It has lead me to the conclusion that just because it says Lionel on your hat, does not mean you can drive the train ;D
The only Engineer I ever really respected got his degree from some diploma mill,( or maybe made it up ) but he had about 20 years experience actually DOING the work. The ones nowadays plug some numbers into a program like Surfcam or Autocad, and think they know it all.