Deindustrialization has
had a huge impact in the United States. We have seen many major corporations
move to other locations due to being able to pay their workers less than what
they would have to pay them if they employed them in the United States. This issue
is believed to cause a bigger impact in the United States in the upcoming future
according to Roberts, Kranzler, and Titus in their article The
De-industrialization of America (http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/08/11/de-industrialization-america/).
To begin they speak about a conference in which Paul Craig Roberts and US
Senator Charles Schumer attended in order to explain their position about their
article written for the New York Times. They go into detail of how the
off-shoring of jobs will bring consequences for the United States. One of them
being that the United States will be a Third World country in 20 years. Then
they go on to show how only 10 years after their statement we have already
started to see a couple promising American cities are already looking like
Third World Cities those being Cleveland, St. Louis, and Detroit - which we
have already seen how gloomy it has turned in the video Requiem of Detroit – as
they have already lost about one-fifth and one-quarter of their populations.
The article also mentions how most college graduates have a low chance of being
employed in what they were studying and in turn end up working as waitresses or
bartenders. This then leads the problem with loans as half cannot pay off their
loans, 18% end up being behind in their payments. This is something that caught
my attention because I am a college student and I have loans and I will have to
start paying them soon as I will be graduating. Luckily they are federal loans
and not private which in turn tend to have low interest rates.
America
is not the only country that has this “issue” going on. In an article by Robert
Rowthorn and Ramana Ramaswamy, Deindustrialization- Its Causes and Implication
(https://www.imf.org/EXTERNAL/PUBS/FT/ISSUES10/INDEX.HTM
), they go on to mention how Europe and Japan followed suit and has slowly been
picking up in the other Four Tiger economies of China, Korea, Singapore, and
Taiwan. This is also interesting because America is always seen as a money hungry
nation, but in reality every nation is the same way. Yes, America might have
taken it farther, but that is only due to them starting this earlier rather
than the others. The article also mentions how in the 23 most advanced economies
manufacturing employment declined from around 28% of the workforce in the 70s
to about 18% in 1994. This shows just how much impact this is having as this
results in a large amount of people being laid off due to companies opting out
for lower pay which leads to other personal issues for people who have a harder
time to find jobs and eventually not being able to cover bills while the people
controlling the companies end up receiving raises and bonuses at the expense of
others.
I
found this picture to explain this issue perfectly. We see the corporate
executives looking back at the skilled laborers and criticizing them by stating
the biggest reason why they choose to outsource their companies and that is being
that it is cheaper for them and all they really want is a profit. Then the second
executive also mentions how they are non-union overseas which is better for
them as they are able to treat those employees as they wish without having a
union look over their shoulders.
Something that really stood out to me in your post is the idea that the United States will be a Third World Country in the next 20 years. The article written by Roberts, Kranzler, and Titus hit the nail right on the head. It's frightening to know that all of those things listed are unconsciously occurring around us. For example, I always heard about the decline of Detroit, but it wasn't until I saw the documentary Requiem for Detroit that I realized how serious things were there. Honestly it bothered me that I did not know the extent of damage, because I am from Chicago, which is not too far from Detroit and as we learned in class shares some similarities with Detroit. and I also believe it is safe to assume that there are others that live far and near who are unaware of what has and is still occurring in Detroit. You also mentioned Cleveland and St. Louis, and I am glad you did because like Detroit I am unaware of what happened in those cities as well. Something else that stood out is the article mentioned that most college graduates have a low chance of being employed in what they were studying, and in turn end up working low wage jobs. As a result of that, majority of students are unable to maintain their student loan payments. This worries me for two reasons. First being that I am student who will graduate and have to pay off loans, and second being that I could be one of those graduates who falls behind in payment, because I could not find a job in my field. In my opinion, this ties into not just corporations slashing jobs and moving to other countries, but to businesses that are turning to technology instead of physical employees. One example of that would be the fact that a lot of receptionists and other types of operators were replaced with automated systems. 9/10 if you call a business you will be greeted and assisted by an automated system and it is becoming harder and harder to get an actual representative on the phone. Overall though, you had an interesting topic!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! Thinking about this worries me. I think this worries everyone and anyone who works in this country. Especially those working as laborers, they don’t know if they will still have a job next year or not. The United States is known for being very innovative and advancements can benefit us and also end up hurting our job markets. Awareness should be brought to those in high school to make them understand the importance of a higher education. As you mentioned, a lot of low skill jobs are disappearing and that can cause a lot of problems later on. I also like how you mentioned what happened in the city of Detroit. That is a prime example of how a city can have it all and from one day to another lose it all as well. It is a scary thought and hard to believe but we must keep in mind that these type of things can happen. I also liked where you talked about college students and the unemployment rates. This is a very good point as my younger high school sister just recently mentioned to me, “Now it’s not about studying something because you simply enjoy it, it’s about studying something that will promise you a future with economic stability”. This is true as the entire country has faced a lot of economic struggles in one way or another. Our school not having a budget is another example that somewhat ties in with this. A lot of educated individuals who went to college to get their masters, and doctorate degrees still ran the risk of losing their jobs. At the end of the day corporate executives have the power to change this and us, the consumer can also help out by supporting, small, local businesses!
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