Feel like America's in a mess? Join the crowd. But instead of moaning or watching the campaign circus, let's fix it. Here are three steps to start: 1. Calm down and gain some perspective.
- Take a deep breath. China's 1.3 billion people are on track to produce as much GDP as the US's 300 million people. Soon. Very soon. In fact, our per capita income has dropped to only six times that of China's. Gosh.
- Weep. The 9/11 terrorists killed 3,000 people in the first major attack on mainland US since the British and Mexicans back in the 1800's. This was a tragedy. However, we killed over 600,000 of our own people during the Civil War.
- Mourn. Approximately 4,400 Americans died in Iraq. However, over 320,000 Americans died in traffic accidents during the same eight years.
- Think. The gross discretionary budget for the Department of Homeland Security was $47 billion in 2011, not to mention the millions of hours spent fiddling with our belts and shoes. The budget for Transportation Safety was $2 billion.
- Yes, we lost an estimated 3 million manufacturing jobs over the last decade and a half.
- But the tide has slowed and our kids are still unemployed. Why? Because they do not want blue collar jobs!
- Vocational programs report a lack of applicants for apprenticeships as plumbers, electricians or other "dirty jobs." Our kids flick a mean computer mouse, but don't know how to use a hammer, screw driver or soldering iron.
- Well-paid CNC operators are in short supply. There are few applicants and many who do apply lack the mechanical aptitude and moderate mathematical skills required.
- When the Alabama legislature scared away agricultural workers with strict immigration enforcement laws, tomatoes rotted in the field. American workers could not be found to pick them.
- There is a shortage of computer and electronics engineers that cannot be filled by all the American graduates of all the relevant engineering programs.
- Bottom line: Our labor force is soft. Most of our youngsters do not know the meaning of hunger. We have taught them to follow their dreams of being video artists and game designers rather than to make a living. That may not be a bad thing, but it does have consequences for them and for our nation.
Comparison of immigration with the DJIA appears less than random.
- Immigrants mean money. Rick Perry's Texas is one of the few states in the US where employment has increased recently. Why? Because immigrants are flowing into the country bringing with them market demand for goods. The reason China is on the rise is because populations who are working their way out of poverty spend their money quickly. When money moves faster from laborer to shopkeeper to manufacturer and back, every dollar touches more hands, which means more wealth.
- Sneaking illegals into America is big business. An estimated 6-7 million people pay an average of $10,000 each, or $60-70 billion per year. This makes the illegal immigration business about the size as the US videogame industry. Why don't we just charge them $5,000 each, put it toward their education and skip the "coyotes" who secret them in?
- Immigrants bring important technologies to us. Sebastian Thrun, developer of Google's autonomous car, is an immigrant. Albert Einstein, Arnold Schwarzenegger, I.M. Pei, Irving Berlin, Madeline Albright were all immigrants. Most of the inventors of new technologies in this country are immigrants or offspring of immigrants. Why not build the American "team" by soliciting exceptional people we want to come to America, in addiiton to just accepting those who apply?
- Many states subsidize the university education of engineers from other countries. Then the INS sends them home, after we have paid for their learning! Why not hand every high-achieving international scholar in a desired field citizenship papers along with their diploma?
If the problem is that we're wealthy wimps, let's make being a wimp feel uncomfortable. How about after the first six months of unemployment (in times of extended unemployment), the amount decreases 10% per month until one believes that if he cannot find other employment, he will work the fields (or finds other available work) that he would not normally pursue under softer conditions? Contrary to Nancy Pelosi's and Barak Obama's position, extended unemployment benefits do not create jobs, they create reasons not to accept them.
ReplyDeleteBut there is some question as to if many American males are suitable for certain types of labor. The recreational game culture is ruining young people's motivation, minds, and real-world hands-on problem solving ability.
Eric Deters, a northern Kentucky lawyer and talk-show host, recently stated that 60% of those graduating college are women. He attributes this to the gaming culture. My 17-year-old daughter agrees.
For more specialized skilled positions we should accept the best, brightest, motivated, and most suitable the world has to offer. They will help our companies grow and contribute to the well-being of all Americans.
Interesting ideas that sound worth trying. There are some jobs that have fallen out of the gamer culture though. Some of the best military drone flyers, some of the best programmers and some of the best Bayesian data crunchers are heavy gamers. But those may be the exceptions that prove the rule.
ReplyDeleteBlaming the unemployed and making them responsible for their own condition is an easy way out. Ouf! Do you mean that if they were all motivated and full of fire as those (?) working during this recession, the unemployment problem would be resolved? Is this a reasonable way of addressing the issue? I doubt it very strongly. And it is very unfair.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with the way the country operates and its economy has its origin in its basic political system. Two very important corrections need to be introduced to help the country function as a modern and democratic society:
1) Review the financing of political parties, of the politicians themselves and of the administration. If this requires a constitutional amendment, then so be it. The current status is very similar to an institutionalized bribery system. Nothing good will ever come out of this.
2) Redefine the use of filibusters in Congress. The use of this procedure is, at the moment, the greatest threat to the democratic rights of the people and it freezes any government actions that could, for example, address the unemployment problem adequately.
These two abnormalities are not new but they are not being addressed. They cause the government to become dysfunctional and open the door to intolerance and immobilism.
RM