Global Economy, Shattered Idealism

Some facts are hard to deny and portray a larger picture: General Motors and Ford are closing US plants, and both manufacturers are building cars in Mexico. Delta Airlines (a key to Atlanta’s economy) is on the rocks, high-tech jobs are increasingly outsourced, and US Steel is on the block. Many folks applaud the value of globalized markets, and plead the case for supply and demand. Some of us, though, see a kind of marketplace where people cannot achieve stability. Everything from available products to jobs is based on lowest cost, and America’s middle class is caught in the middle.

Our nation must balance protectionism with the benefits of world markets. We must address issues of national identity with regard to borders and immigration. The United States must define its role independently from the UN, Europe, and even the rising economic juggernaut of Communist China.

I recall my father telling about the 1930s, his teenage years. There was the Great Depression. There was farming. They did not buy milk; it came from Bessie. They did not buy vegetables; they came from the farm and were preserved for winter in Mason jars. Bread cost 5-cents a loaf. During the war everything changed: women took on “men’s jobs,” farm boys saw the world outside of Georgia, and everybody knew the objective was to protect America and eventually return to a normal life.

The definition of 'normal' would never be the same. After the war, people changed too. Women became a part of the workforce. They were no longer just wives, librarians and teachers. US companies stretched into every friendly nation. There were “starving kids in China,” as our mothers reminded us at the dinner table. There was only one real enemy in Soviet Russia, the only adversary with military or economic strength to challenge the US. We watched Wagon Train, Gunsmoke and John Wayne movies. America’s economy was strong; we had US Steel, General Motors and the Military-Industrial Complex. Things were changing, but we understood the world order and the US was on top of the heap.

Of course Korea and the Cultural Revolution of the ‘60s and Viet Nam provided new definitions to life. The 1930s farm boy harkened back to his early years, but he adapted. Not our changing military role; not even the tide of social changes altered his core beliefs that the US would remain the world’s dominant economic and military power.

Along came the 1970s and ‘80s when Japanese auto makers outsold US manufactures for the first time. Sam Walton revolutionized the retail industry. Computer technologies lead to huge gains in both the Amex and NASDAQ. By the end of the 1990s computer jobs were outsourced to India and the Pacific Rim. US manufacturers were forced to compete with low wages from overseas and government regulation – many simply folded. Layoff was the dreaded fate of many US workers. We all read about PhDs driving taxis in New York, and reality set in and redefined the American Dream. Idealism was replaced by finding work and just paying the bills.

On November 18, 2006 the AP and UPI reported several business items of note:
• New rules for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will tighten the US home mortgage funding.
• Delta Airlines is in bankruptcy and a hostile takeover is on the horizon.
• Brazilian steel maker CSN is bidding for Britain’s Corus Group PLC, Europe’s second-largest steel maker.
• Russian firm OAO Severstal, with help of other Russian iron ore companies, is considering a bid for Pittsburg-based US Steel.

Cyclical ups and downs in the home building industry affect local economies, and the immigrant workers’ walk-out at the Smithfield Foods plant in North Carolina may affect the cost of your Thanksgiving ham. Yet we are told the service industry sector of the economy is going strong. All is not lost.

Many of us decry the onslaught of socialism in the United States. We compare our nation’s strengths and resolve to Western Europe and say, “we do not want that!” We cannot and will not forsake capitalism for communism. But we must look at the history and roots of European socialism to evaluate America’s path.

America is the social melting pot. It is the land of opportunity; and aside from oil rich emirates, we boast the largest number of millionaires. Our nation must balance protectionism with the benefits of world markets. We must address issues of national identity with regard to borders and immigration. The United States must define its role independently from the UN, Europe, and even the rising economic juggernaut of Communist China.

Our political, military and economic identity must be defended against terrorism and religious extremism and, to some extent, against competing markets. Americans cannot accept Universalism, one-world governance or lofty platitudes. Maybe we must recognize and respect that 1930s farm boy and his unwavering devotion to the United States above all else. Otherwise, our beloved nation will simply melt into the so-called level playing field of social and economic chaos.