Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
Your Good Old Days are gone ! I'm not referring to the historical times of colonization and theft of third world resources. I'm referring to the post WWII times of economic domination of the world. Those were the days of tightly controlled importations of goods and services. Those were the days when all of the "First World" nations called the shots....when the USA, Britain, Western Europe, and to a smaller extent, Canada and Australia...were the only commercial-industrial powers on earth, and had economically colonized the rest of the world for any resources they did not have, or did not have enough of...whether that happened to be oil, coffee, or cheap labor. We gleefully bought all the good, cheap stuff we could get, especially as the quality of that cheap stuff kept getting better and better. Duties ? Tarrifs ? So what....it's still a good deal ! I have never been a Marxist, never even been a "left-winger", but WHY are we surprised that the rest of the world was not willing to be perpetual "have-nots"? What we find now, is that jobs we never thought would go away are leaving in droves, and it is because of us...not our politicians, not the workers in foreign lands...it is ourselves. --As shareholders, we demand ever-increasing corporate profits. --As employers, we demand government intervention and protection, from what we created ourselves. --As employees, we demand ever-increasing wages and benefits, and more paid time off, and improved health and safety legislation. --As consumers, we demand quality products at the lowest possible prices, and will not pay the price that domestically produced products have to sell for ! --As taxpayers, we demand better services for our own communities, cities, states, provinces, for LESS taxes than we pay now. I am wearing a new denim shirt today...the old one was worn out...I am as guilty as anyone, and as a retiree on a rather limited income, I needed a shirt that I could afford. So it's "Penman's" made in China, bought at Wal-Mart, $15 Canadian + tax. I had to get it at a Wal-Mart ,18 miles away because all the small retailers in my town have been put out of business by Wal-Mart, and even though I shopped locally before I retired, it didn't matter. Enough people flocked to Wal-Mart when it first came to our area 10 years ago, that our main street began its' slow death right away. If I had to buy a "domestic" denim shirt, I have no idea where I could even get one, let alone come up with $100+ to buy it.....I could've bought a "Levi" shirt, but it was $28 ,and was also made overseas. A previous post states that there will "always" be jobs in industries like food service, but we need a higher minimum wage for them. Well, fine, but how many of us are going to be willing to buy a Big Mac for three or four times what it costs now ? A majority of us seem to be blissfully unaware that the rest of the world has been seeking a higher standard of living for decades now.....and since the world as a whole neither needs, nor can it generate, a larger Gross Product base than can be consumed...it means our standard of living HAS to come down as the others go up. Our granchildren are ALREADY cleaning the toilets and changing the sheets, for minimum wage, in Vail and Whistler hotels, for rich tourists from the countries that used to be the "Third World"....and there's nothing that would have averted that. Your Good Old Days are gone ! Welcome to "the Global Economy". Mike
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag

Update Reply

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Model Railroader Newsletter See all

Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter and get model railroad news in your inbox!

Subscriber & Member Login

Edit post

Post Body

Tags (Optional)

Subscriber & Member Login

Users Online

Search the Community