F. George McDuffee wrote:

On Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:41:03 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:
snip
This angst is greatly compounded and amplified by the collapse of
several deeply held subliminal myths, such as "individual
responsibility," "self-reliance," and "the free market" which
have served as a soporific and opiate for large numbers of the
American population.

'Splain this one, please. I think I may still be in that stupor.
snip
This will be sure to raise the hackles of many people, but in
reality many of the coping skills and attitudes that have served
the older generations [and our generation up to a few years ago]
very well are no longer functional/operational.

For example, being the "master of your craft" is no longer a
guarantee of a good job or even employment in that the industry
which requires those skills may sell-out at any moment to a
company in China, throwing you out of work and rendering your
painfully acquired skills and tools worthless. For example, you
can be the best tool grinder or designer in the world, but if
there are no more tools being made in your area, you will have to
relocate and start over [do you speak Mandarin?], or start
another career, which is likely to be cut short.

I think the current job climate favors the adaptable. We live in the world of lean where
everyone wears many hats, has to adapt to the situation at hand. Being a pro at a niche
isn't as safe as it used to be. It you are the type that does the "that ain't my job"
routine at work, you will be right, it won't be your job.


For example it was just announced that Kennametal
{Chicago-Latrobe, Cleveland Twist, Cle-line, Bassett, Vermont Tap
& Die, Putnam, and several other lesser known lines} has just
been sold to the Top-East drill company in Dalian China for 29
million in cash. This after losing 138 million in the third
quarter.

Three of those brands have American cities or states in the name which is what China is
buying. The typical American that tries to buy US goods will think he is buying
domestically produced products when it is just more stuff from China.

I get sick of picking items that imply US origin but are nothing but a purchased trademark
held by a foreign company.


Editorial note: In addition to economic impact on the people and
communities directly involved, there are large national defense
issues here such as military preparedness involved here. Where
do we get the tools when (not if) it is again necessary to
mobilize?

We may still have the technology to make advanced microchips but we have shipped off our
technology for mass production of the devices those chips are used in.

If we have a war with a hostile major power, I figure it will be China when they try to
take back Taiwan. So we should assume any manufacturing we export to China will be
unavailable if there is a conflict.


Other examples are the snare and delusions of "financial
planning" that relied on company pension and retirement benefits
and 401ks/IRAs on top of Social Security for a comfortable (and
possibly early) retirement.

Putting money away is never a bad choice. Living like tomorrow will never have a cloudy
day like many in America is part of our problem. No matter how bad you think you have it,
someone else is doing worse. We are not a nation of savers because we have been groomed
to be a nation of consumers and expect government to provide for any emergency caused by
poor planning on our part.


Even people that were very cautious about their housing have
gotten trapped when that bubble burst. Not so much that they
overextend themselves on the size of the loans/house, but rather
that their employment disappeared.

We are not owed an uneventful life.



People that have graduated from college in the last 10 years, who
invested heavily in "education," are now taking it in the shorts
big time as their student loans must still be re-paid, their out
of work, and are being told they are "overqualified" for the
available positions.

Dumb down your resume. Target to the position you seek.
You get fired for overstating your education, not the other way around.


It should be clear that most of the "assets" in which people
invested were "magic beans" of no value, e.g. Enron stock, and
that anything of real value that is not nailed to the floor has
been stripped by management, e.g. GM, Delco/Delphi, Chrysler and
Vestion pension assets.

The multi-million dollar bonuses at the taxpayer bailed out
banks/brokerages/insurance companies are another giant knot in my
pantyhose.

I don't buy in to "too big to fail". I think failure should have happened and as much as
I dislike it, the government should have taken over those firms much like the FDIC does
with banks.

Rule of thumb: If they are wearing a suit and their lips are
moving, they are lying to you.

Or not answering the question put to them. That seems to be the current method of
deflection, talk on forever on tangential issues and never get to an answer. AKA
Filibustering.

Wes