Look across the American unemployment landscape to see 15 to 20 million
Americans without jobs, without hope and without a way out. Witness 35
million Americans subsisting on food stamps. Millions of U.S. teenagers
cannot 'buy' a job. Watch accelerating home foreclosures for millions of
Americans.
Then watch what the U.S. Congress continues: outsourcing of millions of
jobs, insourcing of millions of jobs and offshoring of manufacturing jobs.
On top of that, as we outsource millions of jobs to Asia, we import 100,000
immigrants legally every 30 days, month in and month out, year in and year
out. Congress engages hundreds of thousands of H-1B and H-2B visas for
foreign labor annually with no let up in sight!
Does any of that make sense to any American with an ounce of common sense?
In a column by economist Mike Folkerth, more intelligent than any you will
read from Time or Newsweek Magazine, he wrote, "But, the Chinese Can Make it
Cheaper; Well Duh!" You will find him at www.kingofsimple.com. I spoke with
him and obtained permission to interview:
"There are certain blatant issues that seem so apparent that we often think
that everyone must be fully aware of their dastardly consequences," said
Folkerth. "But on the other hand, I consider that perhaps, Alfred North
Whitehead was correct when he said, "It takes an unusual mind to undertake
the analysis of the obvious."
"Our trade deficit for November was once more on the increase, a hefty 10%
increase at that. In plain English, this means that we are buying
considerably more of the items that we use in our daily lives from foreign
nations, than foreign nations buy from us. We crossed that line of imbalance
in 1970 and our government has been working on the problem every since. Hey,
these things take time.
How about Americans making products for America?
"On that subject, I was just listening to a financial expert say that
American exports need to pick up," said Folkerth. "America needs to make
more of what the world wants to buy."
"I know that my solution is ridiculous, but how about this; why not have
America make more of what Americans buy every day? Wow, what a breakthrough
in international trade balance and I did it with 3rd grade math.
"Think about what I just said. We have purposely shipped our critical core
industry to China, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and a
hundred other places that I'm not sure I can spell, in order that these
foreign nations can then send it back for the unemployed Americans to
purchase. Am I missing something here?
"And now the financial experts say that we need to increase our exports so
that we can pay for our imports? "HELLO, earth to Americans, all we have to
do is export to ourselves." As in, out of the American factory and on to the
American shelves. It's an ancient tradition that was used to build America.
It's called a full circle economy.
"Isn't it amazing what propaganda and indoctrination can do? News media to
the average American citizen, "We live in a global economy you know?"
American citizen to news media, "Uhhhhhh.okay." American citizen to the next
person that they meet, "We live in a global economy you know?" Next person
responding, "Uhhhhhh.sure, I knew that."
"All of this leads up to the complex burning question of, why? Why do we
import more than we export when we have 27,000,000 unemployed/under employed
Americans that want to go to work? Why not make these goods ourselves? I'm
told that such activity creates jobs. I'll do some research on that rumor
and get back with you. Okay, I'm done and it works.
"Why would the greatest industrialized nation in the world allow their
population to stagger to their unemployed knees while having a communist
foreign nation provide us with our basic manufactured goods?"
The big question remains "Why?"
"Why import products from half way around the world that we have
historically produced for ourselves when millions of our fellow Americans
are unemployed?" said Folkerth. "Why allow such institutions as
The-China-Connection-Wal-Mart to exist when America is on the brink of
collapse?
"So am I an isolationist? I'd say yes, and proud of it; charity and
employment start at home. I'm also a realist and I can do the revealing math
in my sleep.
"There is no such thing as the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy. There is no
such thing as a service and information economy. There is no requirement to
globalize and this is NOT a global economy outside the devious minds of
government and big business.
"Through effective propaganda, we've been led to believe that Americans are
bad people who charge too much for their labor. That's right; the unions are
at fault, not the high paid management that agreed to the union contacts.
"We've been conditioned to believe that we can't make the products that we
use daily, because the Communist Chinese can make them cheaper! Well duh,
why do we think the Communist Chinese live in abject poverty? You don't
suppose there is a connection do you?
"If it takes higher cost goods to support our way of life, so be it. Pay
more, get higher quality, and buy less. The alternative is to sink to the
level of those who are currently taking our jobs and our way of life; at the
behest of our government and big business leaders I might add.
"The immediate solution to unemployment is simple; we need to revert back to
supporting ourselves and our local communities rather than supporting
multi-national corporations whose total goal is profit at any cost. That
cost was Middle America.
"But then, that's not what we are doing at all; instead, we also import 1.2
MILLION foreign workers annually to compete with the unemployed Americans.
Truth is far stranger than fiction."
After talking with Folkerth, my burning question remains this: why do we
suffer a $700 billion trade deficit annually, with 15 to 20 million
unemployed Americans while and 35 million Americans on food stamps? Why do
our Congress critters think cheap Chinese products remain a 'good thing'
with so many of our citizens unable to buy them because they do not enjoy
jobs?
Mark Twain said, "Suppose you were an idiot; and suppose you were a member
of Congress.ah, but I repeat myself."
##
Frosty Wooldridge has bicycled across six continents - from the Arctic to
the South Pole - as well as six times across the USA, coast to coast and
border to border. In 2005, he bicycled from the Arctic Circle, Norway to
Athens, Greece. He presents "The Coming Population Crisis in America: and
what you can do about it" to civic clubs, church groups, high schools and
colleges. He works to bring about sensible world population balance at
www.frostywooldridge.com He is the author of: America on the Brink: The
Next Added 100 Million Americans. Copies available: 1 888 280 7715
