But wait, the head of UAW says tariffs are good because they'll bring back manufacturing jobs. They might, but they aren't going to MI, OH, WI or PA where unions are strong and have a history of making increased wages and benefits a priority. Manufacturers didn't leave America, Americans left products manufactured in America.
Remember when Volkswagons and Japanese made cars became so popular in the late 1960s and 1970s. It was because they were quality cars and inexpensive compared to American models. In the 1980s Ford used to say "Quality is Job One". Not anymore. Today car companies figure in the recalls when issuing a new model. If manufacturing comes back to the US, it's going to take years of tariffs and the American people paying. In the mean time the economy will go into recession after recession, just as it did between the late 1800's to the late 1920s.
I think this is mainly a shareholder capitalism problem, but the race to the bottom has finally reached its nadir, and now shareholders are left with few real options for further extraction. Strategic tariffs actually could help us, but don't look for those anytime soon. But what do I know?
I had not connected this undermining of worker rights to the imminent introduction of AI—one of the billionaire class objectives. It’s chilling. And the AI I’ve encountered so far is next to worthless in getting problems solved. I wonder what happens to our brains (and usefulness as citizens) when we are totally dependent on tech for information. I long ago lost the ability (or incentive) to remember phone numbers. Ketamine trances for all?
Michael Podhorzer's column added more important points than I had considered or previously connected with the Trump administration's destruction. I thought we had made a lot of progress in the workplace. With experience in both private owner and government workplaces I appreciate the safety concerns and civil rights workers have. How can just one jerk of a president eliminate years of workplace positives? How to see that laws and regulations are not broken?
But wait, the head of UAW says tariffs are good because they'll bring back manufacturing jobs. They might, but they aren't going to MI, OH, WI or PA where unions are strong and have a history of making increased wages and benefits a priority. Manufacturers didn't leave America, Americans left products manufactured in America.
Remember when Volkswagons and Japanese made cars became so popular in the late 1960s and 1970s. It was because they were quality cars and inexpensive compared to American models. In the 1980s Ford used to say "Quality is Job One". Not anymore. Today car companies figure in the recalls when issuing a new model. If manufacturing comes back to the US, it's going to take years of tariffs and the American people paying. In the mean time the economy will go into recession after recession, just as it did between the late 1800's to the late 1920s.
And it will take years to build for manufacturing here.
I think this is mainly a shareholder capitalism problem, but the race to the bottom has finally reached its nadir, and now shareholders are left with few real options for further extraction. Strategic tariffs actually could help us, but don't look for those anytime soon. But what do I know?
I had not connected this undermining of worker rights to the imminent introduction of AI—one of the billionaire class objectives. It’s chilling. And the AI I’ve encountered so far is next to worthless in getting problems solved. I wonder what happens to our brains (and usefulness as citizens) when we are totally dependent on tech for information. I long ago lost the ability (or incentive) to remember phone numbers. Ketamine trances for all?
Michael Podhorzer's column added more important points than I had considered or previously connected with the Trump administration's destruction. I thought we had made a lot of progress in the workplace. With experience in both private owner and government workplaces I appreciate the safety concerns and civil rights workers have. How can just one jerk of a president eliminate years of workplace positives? How to see that laws and regulations are not broken?