Vic Smith wrote:

We are at the beginning of the manufacturing society being replaced
by the information and service society.

The largest employer in the U.S. is Walmart, and they manufacture
nothing. They leave the production of goods to those who can do them
best.


Right. Talk about romantic. Those tired old arguments about American
society's evolution to a "service" economy lead us exactly where we
are - rampant unemployment, soon-to-be second nation status to commie
China.
So they are true in that respect.
All the societies you mentioned except the current American society
involved sweat and hard work by a significant portion of the
population in the production of goods.
Like I said, look around you.
You think all that "stuff" was magically created?
Those who create the "stuff" call the shots.
They own the world. Always have.
And have Americans thinking that Walmart jobs are just great.
Believe what you want.
Just be aware that Walmart probably leads every state with employees
on the Medicaid and food stamps rolls.
Not something I ever aspired to, and not nearly enough slots at
Walmart to provide the masses with jobs.
Hard to fathom how anybody can hold Walmart up as the exemplar of the
"New American service economy."
Bet those Walmart employees provide a lot of work for other service
sector workers, what with all the money they make to spend on
services.

Anyway, I been making my argument for decades without much success.
So your resistance doesn't surprise me.
Many others who said what you do came around though.
Usually right after their job got outsourced overseas.
No reason to think how I do if you're working and making a good buck.
Well, maybe if your grown kids or other family needs your
"assistance," then you might think about it.
That's happening to some.
Don't know for sure if my argument is correct, but so far my
predictions have come true.
Maybe it's not as bad as I think.
I'm just grateful I made and saved my money when "times were good."
Thank the Lord for luck is what I say.


I appreciate your romantic notion that making "stuff" is the secure way to a
thriving civilization.

If you had asked a 1910 New Yorker about the future transportation problems
when the population of the city reached eight million, he would probably
have asked: "Where will we get enough horses and what will we do with all
the horse ****?"

The fact remains that others can make "stuff" cheaper than we and attempts
to reverse that trend are doomed. And we should not try because it can't be
done.

We should do, instead, what we do better than the rest of the world.

Tabasco sauce comes to mind.