Name: Anonymous 2011-04-22 12:43
I have seen alot of talk in the American media lately of how the AMerican Dream is errroding. I am a foreigner that revieves all of your media but has no emotional investment in accepting any particular viewpoint, and I simply see the reality exposed to me through your media, and from living in America on and off throughout the decades (I am a dinosaur compared to the average userbase here)
Yes your industries are on the decline. Yes your job market is shrinking rapidly, and has been shrinking for decades. Yes the unions certainly played their part in erroding industries by taking advantage of production spikes in the 40's and 50's when America began to subsidize itself through the war and public projects.
But the ultimate blame rests with the consumer, each one of you has played your part in whittling away your prosperity. Americans chose cheap inferior foreign goods in place of quality domestic goods. Every person who has ever said "Why would I pay $200 for an American tv when I can pay $98 for a japaneese tv?" has helped to topple your country's economic dominance and shrink its markets.
As I said, I am old, and I remember a time in which Japaneese and Chineese products were considered to be a joke, garbage that only the poorest people in my country or in America would even consider touching. Now they are the industry standard.
You want your "american dream" back? You are literally going to have to pay for it. Although now for many industries, it is simply too late.
You can suck it up and buy American or you can trade the future of your country for a few dollars today. Your choice. Nobody else can make it for you, and your government can not reasonably reverse or protect against the inevitable decline of the American economies. A few cosmetic tax shifts and budget adjustments in either direction will NOT reverse these downward trends.
It is up to the consumer, you.
As I said I am not even FROM America nor have I lived there for years, but even I do my part as far as buying American made products goes, not out of altruism of course, but because I enjoy purchasing superior products. And my ability to do so by buying American is shrinking, rapidly.
I could be wrong, but this is how I see it, when all the bells and whistles and soundbytes are stripped away and I simply look back upon what I have seen and experienced within my lifetime.
Yes your industries are on the decline. Yes your job market is shrinking rapidly, and has been shrinking for decades. Yes the unions certainly played their part in erroding industries by taking advantage of production spikes in the 40's and 50's when America began to subsidize itself through the war and public projects.
But the ultimate blame rests with the consumer, each one of you has played your part in whittling away your prosperity. Americans chose cheap inferior foreign goods in place of quality domestic goods. Every person who has ever said "Why would I pay $200 for an American tv when I can pay $98 for a japaneese tv?" has helped to topple your country's economic dominance and shrink its markets.
As I said, I am old, and I remember a time in which Japaneese and Chineese products were considered to be a joke, garbage that only the poorest people in my country or in America would even consider touching. Now they are the industry standard.
You want your "american dream" back? You are literally going to have to pay for it. Although now for many industries, it is simply too late.
You can suck it up and buy American or you can trade the future of your country for a few dollars today. Your choice. Nobody else can make it for you, and your government can not reasonably reverse or protect against the inevitable decline of the American economies. A few cosmetic tax shifts and budget adjustments in either direction will NOT reverse these downward trends.
It is up to the consumer, you.
As I said I am not even FROM America nor have I lived there for years, but even I do my part as far as buying American made products goes, not out of altruism of course, but because I enjoy purchasing superior products. And my ability to do so by buying American is shrinking, rapidly.
I could be wrong, but this is how I see it, when all the bells and whistles and soundbytes are stripped away and I simply look back upon what I have seen and experienced within my lifetime.