Like many advanced societies, America has moved from manufacturing into service largely as the basis for its economic output. The reasons for this are myriad and range from government involvement to cultural pressures, all of which have conspired to send us along the road predicted by the following video. Put the partisanship aside, and consider the bottom line about who works for whom:
Nations look to expand as they advance. The much lauded civilizations that ‘lived in harmony with nature’ were nothing more than societies that expected less of the earth. They were easily satiated. As nations grow more prosperous and powerful, their citizenry demands more and more of their leaders who, in order to finance such ventures, demand more and more of the earth. Technology has created a need for new resources or new ways in which to use the ones a nation possesses, but if a nation lacks certain raw materials, it must procure them either by purchase or by force. Many imperialistic nations built empires in order to obtain (or steal) resources they could not get any other way. Some of them came upon resources that were underutilized and not necessarily exploited or stolen (such as corn, tobacco, or timber) that helped them advance in ways they could not in the absence of those resources.
Governments benefit directly and indirectly from economic activity. When governments want to expand, their expansion is limited by economic output, which can be either taxed or directly confiscated, as is the case in most markets. When governments tax companies, companies try to cut costs. Eventually, they find another government under which the tax scheme is less arduous, or at least under which regulations such as wages, benefits, safety, etc., are low enough that it offsets the tax burden. In America however, as recently as yesterday, they continue the attack on industry via emissions regulations and fuel economy standards. Nevada’s minimum wage is $1 more than the national, and so companies can afford to hire fewer people, even if some entrepreneur offers them $1000 bonus to hire someone (that’s nothing more than a stunt so he can look like he cares). Plus, if Obama allows a certain extension of tax rates as presently constituted to expire, taxes will go up and more jobs will go overseas.
Society further compounds this problem in two ways.
Emotional valuation
Ask whomever you like, and odds are that they will support some government programs that are countereffective and counterintuitive. Governments pass laws for clean air and water that don’t clean either air or water. They just reduce how much pollution goes into them. People like to be safe at work, to have health care, to earn good wages, to send their children to well-funded schools, and to protect shelter dogs, whales, and the spotted wombat, whatever that is. However, the cost-benefit of these has never been shown to be small enough to justify placing government in charge thereof. Politicians refrain from opposing these programs because if they do, they are slandered or libeled as people who hate kids and want to pollute and are greedy. Knee-jerk reactions abound, and almost all legislative activity at least in my lifetime represents a knee-jerk reaction against something that was transient or at least deserved a more measured response.
Relationship evaluations
Women are trained by our prosperous culture to choose ‘prosperous’ men. Since manufacturing jobs are neither glamorous nor ‘sexy’ due to the sweaty and grimy nature thereof and since women are taught to look for status (like in Pride and Prejudice) or apparent wealth, women pick doctors and lawyers over steelmen and carpenters because the former can wine and dine them and marriage to the others is seen as a social faux pas. Like in the video, we abandoned what made us great. In order to make a great nation, people in the nation must make things, and instead of propping up those who make things, we, either culturally or through our elected representatives, slap down people who make steel and cars and tools and furniture because they are greedy corporations. Then we send out our daughters after men in tall hats and gold watch fobs who talk about the plight of the worker but have never come home stinking to high heaven at the end of the day.
To make America great, America must make things. In order to incentivize Americans to make things, we must convince people that there is value in the vocations of men that provide things that we value. As long as we value nails and hairdos and fake tans and six pack abs instead of someone who can grow food in the garden, build furniture for the den, or jury rig the carbon dioxide removal module miles above the earth, America will remain a service-based economy. As long as government punishes people who make things (even if it means they make money), people will prefer to become doctors, lawyers, and the like because they won’t want to be emotionally attached to companies that are out to rape the earth, enslave the people, and destroy all forms of life as we know it to make ‘stuff’.
Capitalism, like every other economic system, is only as good as the people who practice it. Honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently and upheld both around the board of directors as well as in the halls of government. Things will improve for us as we improve ourselves. The alternatives are well-illustrated in history, and although the day may come when America’s strength fails and her people are consumed on their lusts, that need not be today. Manufacturing makes men, and it makes men great.
Nations look to expand as they advance. The much lauded civilizations that ‘lived in harmony with nature’ were nothing more than societies that expected less of the earth. They were easily satiated. As nations grow more prosperous and powerful, their citizenry demands more and more of their leaders who, in order to finance such ventures, demand more and more of the earth. Technology has created a need for new resources or new ways in which to use the ones a nation possesses, but if a nation lacks certain raw materials, it must procure them either by purchase or by force. Many imperialistic nations built empires in order to obtain (or steal) resources they could not get any other way. Some of them came upon resources that were underutilized and not necessarily exploited or stolen (such as corn, tobacco, or timber) that helped them advance in ways they could not in the absence of those resources.
Governments benefit directly and indirectly from economic activity. When governments want to expand, their expansion is limited by economic output, which can be either taxed or directly confiscated, as is the case in most markets. When governments tax companies, companies try to cut costs. Eventually, they find another government under which the tax scheme is less arduous, or at least under which regulations such as wages, benefits, safety, etc., are low enough that it offsets the tax burden. In America however, as recently as yesterday, they continue the attack on industry via emissions regulations and fuel economy standards. Nevada’s minimum wage is $1 more than the national, and so companies can afford to hire fewer people, even if some entrepreneur offers them $1000 bonus to hire someone (that’s nothing more than a stunt so he can look like he cares). Plus, if Obama allows a certain extension of tax rates as presently constituted to expire, taxes will go up and more jobs will go overseas.
Society further compounds this problem in two ways.
Emotional valuation
Ask whomever you like, and odds are that they will support some government programs that are countereffective and counterintuitive. Governments pass laws for clean air and water that don’t clean either air or water. They just reduce how much pollution goes into them. People like to be safe at work, to have health care, to earn good wages, to send their children to well-funded schools, and to protect shelter dogs, whales, and the spotted wombat, whatever that is. However, the cost-benefit of these has never been shown to be small enough to justify placing government in charge thereof. Politicians refrain from opposing these programs because if they do, they are slandered or libeled as people who hate kids and want to pollute and are greedy. Knee-jerk reactions abound, and almost all legislative activity at least in my lifetime represents a knee-jerk reaction against something that was transient or at least deserved a more measured response.
Relationship evaluations
Women are trained by our prosperous culture to choose ‘prosperous’ men. Since manufacturing jobs are neither glamorous nor ‘sexy’ due to the sweaty and grimy nature thereof and since women are taught to look for status (like in Pride and Prejudice) or apparent wealth, women pick doctors and lawyers over steelmen and carpenters because the former can wine and dine them and marriage to the others is seen as a social faux pas. Like in the video, we abandoned what made us great. In order to make a great nation, people in the nation must make things, and instead of propping up those who make things, we, either culturally or through our elected representatives, slap down people who make steel and cars and tools and furniture because they are greedy corporations. Then we send out our daughters after men in tall hats and gold watch fobs who talk about the plight of the worker but have never come home stinking to high heaven at the end of the day.
To make America great, America must make things. In order to incentivize Americans to make things, we must convince people that there is value in the vocations of men that provide things that we value. As long as we value nails and hairdos and fake tans and six pack abs instead of someone who can grow food in the garden, build furniture for the den, or jury rig the carbon dioxide removal module miles above the earth, America will remain a service-based economy. As long as government punishes people who make things (even if it means they make money), people will prefer to become doctors, lawyers, and the like because they won’t want to be emotionally attached to companies that are out to rape the earth, enslave the people, and destroy all forms of life as we know it to make ‘stuff’.
Capitalism, like every other economic system, is only as good as the people who practice it. Honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently and upheld both around the board of directors as well as in the halls of government. Things will improve for us as we improve ourselves. The alternatives are well-illustrated in history, and although the day may come when America’s strength fails and her people are consumed on their lusts, that need not be today. Manufacturing makes men, and it makes men great.
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