On Fri, 14 Nov 2003 19:21:40 -0800, "Harold & Susan Vordos"
wrote:


Sometimes people choose cheap because they
are tired of being screwed.

Yep!! Real tired, in fact.

I'm afraid the bulk of us here in the States are in for a wake-up call. We
no longer are an island, not since we started dealing with the entire
planet. How can any of us expect to be paid wages that are three, four,
or fives times greater than those paid in other countries, when those
countries are doing their level best to capture all the production jobs
available? Especially when our government, in all its wisdom, has been
telling us that we are no longer a manufacturing society, but service based,
helping chase the damned jobs away. Seems to me the "service society"
title, along with the jobs it entails, have been shipped to India. What are
we now going to do to make a living?

As long as the unions and workers insist on more for less, I see everything
slowly leaving our country, everything, that is, but jobs like delivery
drivers, which can be accomplished only on location. Those that remain
will have effectively raised their income so high that those of us that are
left with mediocre jobs that pay at a subsistence level will not be able to
afford the services provided by these people. It's pretty much already
happened with the medical and legal professions (and maybe the mechanics,
too?) as you've already stated..

What do I propose? How about everyone that has a job reconsidering their
contributions to society, and the pay that is received for their services.
Why in hell should a low or no skill job pay high wages when highly skilled
people are being put out of work these days? Makes no sense, and helps
keep the prices of our goods out of balance with reality. How do we expect
to compete under those conditions?

Until the work force establishes wage equilibrium with other countries, I
see jobs continuing to leave our country wholesale. Sounds to me like
pretty much everyone is going to end up making a lower wage (if they're
fortunate enough to have a job, that is), something in keeping with wages
paid in other countries. It's just a matter of when it happens. Some of
you folks are going to have to liquidate a couple of your snow mobiles,
trail bikes, your bass boat, and maybe even a couple of your cars. You'll
either do it, or lose them. The free lunch is rapidly coming to an end
for all of us. And it should. For the most part, we've all lost our
perspective, in my opinion.

Next time you come across a picket line, give some serious consideration to
whether or not you want to honor it, helping the typically over-paid workers
get that extra 50¢/hr. raise, or the added benefits that so many of us have
no chance of every having, all of which do nothing more than raise your cost
of living when you honor and support them.

It's high time all of us start taking a realistic look at the money we make.
Don't lose site of the fact that regardless of how much a worker gets paid,
it is you, the consumer, that pays the salary. Business will continue to
raise prices to compensate for their increased overhead. They must, or
they go out of business. In the end, we all lose.

What's wrong with the idea that we do something to get back what we used to
have and do? Earning our way, working with pride, and keeping jobs here as
a result. I'm damned tired of buying things Made in America that are
inferior to many of the imports, yet cost two or three times more. Didn't
any of us learn anything from the auto industry that shot itself in the foot
in the 70's, and were shamefully embarrassed by the Japanese? All of us
should be ashamed of ourselves for the greed and indifference we have
displayed in our ME FIRST society, with our exorbitant wages and low
quality. Heavy sigh!

Rant off.

Harold

For a change, a posting worth repeating in its entirety! You have hit
the nail (metal content) dead center with a BFH.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada