Another "fact" that most people don't [want to] recognize.

Through a combination of luck and very hard work for a long
period of time by a large number of people, the United States is
blessed with an extremely high, although falling, standard of
living.

Water can be made to run up hill and a much higher standard of
living than the majority/average can be maintained, but only if
energy, time and money are continually pumped into the system.

There are have always been and always be no-loads in every
system/culture [I am not talking about the famous welfare mom
driving the Cadillac, who is simply responding to a system she
didn't create and doesn't like, rather the corporations and
organizations that take far more out of the system than they
create as a mater of policy and planning].

The problem is this has become the norm. Given this is the case,
the only rational course of action is to try to get yours while
there is still something to get.

GmcD
=====================================
On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 16:54:53 GMT, "EdFielder"
wrote:

Just as water will naturally find its own level, so do economics. Imagine
that we , in America ( small volume) are fortunate to live at a very high
economic level while most of the rest of the world ( large volume) live at a
low level held down by pressure. ( represented by totalitarian regimes,
primitive living conditions, religious practices etc.) If you open a hole
between them, the large volume will begin to flow up rapidly while the small
volume will drop slowly until they equalize. The real question is a moral
one- do we have some divine right to stay at the top and keep the rest of
the world on the bottom.
Of course some will jump in and say we are on top because we practice
capitalism. However if you subscribe to this, then you cannot fault someone
else for practicing it better than we.

"F. George McDuffee" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 10:39:50 -0500, ben carter
wrote:
I recently was shopping around to have a product of mine manufactured.
Reality check:
To have it made in China with semi-skilled labor was $1.60 per hour.
The exact same job here was $21.00 per hour. You do the 2nd grade
math...
The point was made to me if I like being able to afford the things I own
then they have to be made elsewhere. Period. No US manufacturer can touch
that. Most everything you own was made this way. Tough luck if it's
substandard.
================================================== ==========
Underlying problem is that the US economy has become so baroque,
arcane and complex that the true life-cycle cost of anything is
almost impossible to calculate. The $1.60 v. $21.00 per hour
labor cost is only part of the up-front surface cost.

Productivity, or what you get per hour is an important factor,
but on a macro economic basis, consider that if the product is
manufactured overseas, the wages paid do not circulate in the
local (US) economy, US sales and income taxes are not paid by the
worker, US social security taxes are not paid by the worker and
employer, and the employer/factory does not pay US property taxes
which are the main revenue sources for el-hi education and local
social service such as police & fire. This leads directly to
governmental revenue shortfalls at all levels.

Because the goods are imported rather than domestically
manufactured from domestically produced materials, the current
account trade deficit is increased.

The affects/effects are even more serious in the longer term.
The informal US manufacturing infrastructure, consisting of
mutually supporting companies and individuals is destroyed, as is
the knowledge base and talent pool. This has serious national
security implications. Any economy, which can no longer make
simple mechanical devices such as washing machine timers and
alarm clocks, can't domestically produce BLU-3, proximity or
mortar fuses.

What is good for the individual in the short term may well be
disastrous for the community in the long term. One way or the
other, the full cost for all goods and services is always paid.
The only question is who is to make the payment and how much the
late fee will be.

GmcD