Self-Sufficiency?
The continued growth of
manufacturing in China compared with our minimal growth in that area makes it a
certainty that the Chinese will replace the United States as the world’s leading
manufacturing nation shortly if indeed that has not already happened. There is only one reason for this and that is
the low cost of labor there as compared with what labor costs in this
country. (Any other explanation is
secondary and only serves to reduce unemployment among economists.) The major result of this is an increase in
unemployment in the United States, and the diminishing of compensation for
those with jobs. The price of China’s
success is being paid by the American working person.
The first approach to
dealing with this challenge which comes to mind is protectionism whereby
tariffs on imports keep foreign-made goods outside of this country, creating
jobs here when we manufacture those goods ourselves. Unfortunately, in a world committed to a
global economy, this course of action is impossible. We are already too far down that path to go
back. The global nature of treaties,
trade agreements, banking and finance will not allow it. Therefore it appears that for our economy to
flourish in a global setting, the price will have to continue to be paid by the
American working person. It is an
oversimplification, but the availability of jobs for American workers is
inversely proportional to the degree in which an American worker receives
higher pay and better benefits than does his counterpart elsewhere in the
world, including Asia and areas where workers have far lower standards of
living.
If our economy manages to
flourish in such a global environment, and I believe it can, the government
must step in to make certain that a relatively decent standard of living is
available to the American working person, whose compensation will be
significantly reduced, if he or she is even employed, to a level in the
direction of that received by the Asian worker.
To do this, extremely high taxation of businesses and individuals will
be required. This is an undesirable
solution and one to be avoided.
Sooner or later, the answer
will be found and I think it rests in a concept known as “American
Self-Sufficiency.” Whether it is on a
local or national level, Americans must learn to depend on themselves, and
those in their communities, for the food they eat, the clothes they wear and
most of the things they buy. “Self-Sufficiency”
may be thought of as a gentler brand of protectionism.
Certainly, some items will always have to be
imported, but they will be the rare exceptions.
We will not have to withdraw from the global economy, but we should be
less dependent upon it than we are now, even if things we make ourselves cost
more. To succeed on this basis, we will have to live more austerely, making do
with what we have, spending less and devoting ourselves and our resources to
developing “American Self-Sufficiency.” Think
in terms of more backyard gardens, more sewing machines in homes and more cars
with odometer readings in excess of 100,000 miles on our roads. If someone has a particular skill (plumbing,
electricity, etc.), there will have to be a willingness to share their skills
with neighbors who will respond with whatever they are good at. I may grow corn
in my yard and you may grow tomatoes; we can swap vegetables. This will amount to
a communal approach to building a self-sufficient America.
More
about this will follow in future postings … and your ideas are welcome, since I
really don’t know where I am going with this train of thought.
Jack Lippman
*** *** ***
Politickler #6
Okay, the Super-Committee
threw in the towel. Hence, in 2013, in
order to deal with the deficit, tremendous cuts in spending will be mandated to
occur. President Obama has said that he
will veto attempts by Congress to reduce these spending cuts. It’s odd that the Democratic President ends
up on the side of new spending cuts and the Republican House seems to be aiming
at reducing them. Of course, the cuts
the G.O.P. wants to avoid making are not in the area of Social Security,
Medicare and Medicaid, but rather in future military budgets. But the President is sticking to his position
because, at the end of 2012, the Bush tax cuts, which benefited the wealthy,
are scheduled to expire.
This time around, contrary
to his questionable 2010 position, the President will be fighting to let them
run out, bringing taxes on the wealthy back to their Clinton administration
levels. The President’s insistence on
the mandatory spending cuts occurring starting in 2013 is tied to the
additional revenue expected from the expiry of the Bush tax cuts. His is not a
leftward leaning position but rather a centrist position. Together, increased
revenues from taxes on the wealthy (leftist approach) and broad spending cuts
(rightist approach) will be giant steps toward deficit reduction. I am certain that if the President is unable
to succeed in letting the Bush tax cuts expire, he will change his mind about
going along with spending cuts. This is
the issue over which the Super-Committee failed to come together.
Some people think that the
best way to solve this would be with a giant super-committee, not consisting of
Congressmen and Senators, but with a committee of all Americans making the
decision. I believe such a committee
will indeed meet in November of 2012 to solve this problem when they elect a
full House of Representatives, one third of the Senate and a President for the
next four years. Vox Populi, Vox Dei.
(I
note that a lot of Democrats are blaming lobbyist Grover Norquist, who has
exacted a pledge to constituents from most Republican Representatives and
Senators that they will absolutely oppose any and all tax increases, for the
Super-Committee’s failure. Be that as it may, please note that many months ago,
this blog told its readers all about Grover Norquist, with all of his
blemishes, including his Islamist activities.)
JL
*** *** ***
TURKEY
DAY
Harvey Sage
(author of Tuna Food,
available at Amazon Kindle. Please feel
free to forward this story to your friends.)
Blessings!
Nana shot him a glance
of disgust. “ You should be ashamed of yourself. Don’t you have any feelings?”
She continued mixing the corn bread in the large bowl while telling her husband
of forty five years, “It’s murder. That’s what it is. Murder!”
No,” said Papa, squaring
his large shoulders, “it’s killing. People gotta eat and meat is what we eat.
It’s God’s way.”
“There are other ways
Papa. Murder or killing. What’s the difference? He’ll be just as dead.”
Papa was resigned to his
task at hand. He was a man and this was a man’s job. He looked out the kitchen
window and clenched his teeth. There was Tom, strutting his stuff, thinking
that the world was all his. Papa walked by Nana, her attractive body bent over
as she placed the bowl into the oven. Normally he would have pinched or patted
Nana. But her mood was anything but playful. His stomach growled in anticipation
of the Feast. The tray of candied sweet potatoes garnished with roasted pecans
smelled too delicious. Dinner was hours away and the main entree was plump and
ripe for pickings.
“Papa, do you really
hafta?” Her plea was almost a wail.
“Yep. It’s only right.
We’ve been raising Tom since he was a young ‘un. Now it’s time for harvest.
Time’s wasting Nana. I gotta pluck and clean him. That’ll take an hour. It’s
getting on toward noon.”
She snorted, “Harvest!
Tom is Part of the family. Yer gonna commit murder. Shame on you Papa.”
He walked to the box
near the door and got “it”. Still feeling the heat from the confrontation he
strode outside, weapon in hand. He approached Tom with leaden steps.
The pickup truck came
around the house and skidded to a halt in front of Papa. “Hi Pop,” Jethro
called as he bounded out of the cab. He gave his father a hug.
“How’s the missus?” Papa
asked.
“Amy is fine. She’s
resting a bit. Being a mom is draining. So I brought the kids over to see how
you old timers put together a feast for Turkey Day. ”
“Papa! Papa!” Two
cherubs and a dog flew out from the other side of the truck’s cab and ran over
to grandpa. As he knelt to hug and kiss them, Pooch turned to run over to Tom.
The greeting they shared was a dance paradigm, practiced over the years. Pooch
crouched low in front of his friend Tom, barking and wagging his tail in a
frenzy. Tom proudly spread his feathers and scratched some gravel in a
makeshift aggressive posture as they playfully circled each other.
“Watcha got there Papa?”
There was a spate of
silence till Sammy, the older child stated “That’s an ax Bella.”
“An ax,” Bella squealed
in horror pushing away from her grandpa. “Papa, you’re going to chop Tom’s head
off?”
“I. I….” Papa dropped
the ax, weakened by her outburst.
“Papa,” she continued to
scream, “No. Not Tom!” Her young body did a 180 as she ran to where Pooch and
Tom were playing. She threw her little arms around the big turkey’s neck. “No
Papa, no!” She began to cry, shaking violently as rivers of tears washed down
her pudgy cheeks. Pooch and Tom joined in, adding to the cacophony with a
series of howls and gobbles.
The old man’s face had
turned into a stone mask. Shouting over the din Jethro asked “Pop. Do you
really have to do this?”
Papa gazed at the ax at
his feet. “I dunno. We’re supposed to have turkey for dinner. We’ve been
fattening him up just for that.”
“But Pop, that’s Tom.
You gonna kill ol’ Tom?” Jethro was choking back tears.
In a quiet voice Papa
said humbly “I was supposed to. It’s the man’s job. I guess we could buy one in
town. That OK with you?”
“No way Pop. That’s
abetting murder. Remember, ’Thou shalt not kill.’ Why don’t we just feast on
vegetables, soup, bread and cider.”
“Vegetables. Since when
did you start eating vegetables?”
“For about a month now.
Ever since we saw a TV special on animal cruelty.” Jethro cleared his throat.
“Look. Mom and Amy can cook up a bunch from our fall harvests. We don’t need no
turkey.”
“That’s right Papa. We
don’t need no turkey,” chimed in Sammy. “We can have veggies. Mamma says
they’re good for you.”
Bella ran over. “I love
veggies Papa. I don’t want to eat yucky turkey meat ever again. Besides,” she
cried, “turkeys have a right to enjoy Thanksgiving too. After all, it’s Turkey
Day. Think how happy Tom will be when you give him some extra corn to eat.”
Papa leaned over to hug
his granddaughter. His tears mixed with her tears. Tears, the elixir of love.
Sammy and Jethro joined to make a sacred circle.
Looking out from the
window, Nana wiped tears from her cheeks. “Oh God, if only you would change the
hearts of men from killing, just like you did Papa’s.” Then she bowed her head,
lit up by the noon day sun, the promise of a beautiful day.
*** ***
***
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