The death of American Industry

[Duff Miver]

Colin Higgins of Mingo Junction quotes his father as saying, "It's not like we worked in some canning factory in some huge city. No. We built this entire community on the steel mills and because of that it wasn't just a job. We invested our lives in those mills! We built those mills, we ran those mills, we sweated our asses off and went without to strike for those mills! Don't tell me that there's something else those men can do! Go to school? These men are in their fifties with mortgages. When the well dries up, there's no big city for us to head to, no job we can get like the craftsmen. If you don't have that paper, you don't have nothing. And it never mattered anyway, when I think about how we used to give shit to anyone who drove a Jap car, because GM bought American steel, so we drove American cars. But once the gettin' was good and the price went up, they bought that Jap steel quicker than shit like we were nothing. And we marched on D.C. and asked for a tariff, something to give us a little room to squeeze in there, and there's some dick in a suit telling me that free trade is better in the long-run, and you just know that guys never seen the inside of a factory, or been to Mingo Junction where our little boys go to school and ask their daddies why they have to give up and shut up, why he's selling his things, why his mommy and daddy fight over the kitchen table every night with bills spread out! We had it all when we were organized, when it meant something to love what you do and protect what you love, but now we've got nothing. That's what we got when we signed that paper they pushed in front of us saying that we could end the strike today if we carved up the plan and a lot of good it did, goddamnit, can't you tell? So don't tell me it's stubborness, because these are the same men who had to swallow every inkling of pride that once streamed through their veins like his own blood and put his head down when he picks up that check at the unemployment line. Don't tell me it's laziness because we would've done anything to stay competitive. And don't dare to say that we're living in the past, because we were born steel men and its kinda hard to work at Wal-Mart after that."

It's enough to bring a tear to your eye -

http://www.coalcampusa.com/rustbelt/oh/oh.htm

 

[The Sponge]

duff could u imagine calling urself an American and then passing laws (free trade) like this to kill an industry helping only a select few. And somehow these same suits brainwashed mental midgets into believing unions were the culprits. :facepalm:

 

[Trench]

Interesting piece, Duff. Thanks.

It's nice to read something of substance in here for a change.

 

[Duff Miver]

Interesting piece, Duff. Thanks.

It's nice to read something of substance in here for a change.

One of the most telling quotes -

"A small portion of the town named Massillon, Stark County, Ohio. Massillon's Rust Belt economy is such that it made the national news recently when an open position for school janitor attracted 700 applicants. "

I spent my working life in American Industry, in towns where everyone who wanted to work could find a decent job, where there was plenty of money to pay for good schools and public services, where a mill hand could send his kids to college, buy a house, pay his taxes, and save a little for retirement.

It makes me sick that we have sold all that out so we can buy a pair of socks for a dollar less, and a bicycle for ten dollars less at Wal*Mart.

And it makes me sick when the right wingers, those who know nothing about how this country was built, rant against unionism and the sons of immigrants who built this country one yard of concrete and one ton of steel at a time. The men who died of black lung disease in the coal mines, the men who were worn out at age 50 from back-breaking factory work, the men who asked for nothing more than a job and fair treatment, and hoped for better times for their children.

It makes me sick to know that if we had to fight WWII again tomorrow, we would be defeated because we have thrown away the men, and the machines, and the factories which made us the mightiest nation aver seen on earth. We have thrown all that away for one more dollar of corporate profit.

I mean literally, a pain in my gut sick.

 

[Trench]

One of the most telling quotes -

"A small portion of the town named Massillon, Stark County, Ohio. Massillon's Rust Belt economy is such that it made the national news recently when an open position for school janitor attracted 700 applicants. "

I spent my working life in American Industry, in towns where everyone who wanted to work could find a decent job, where there was plenty of money to pay for good schools and public services, where a mill hand could send his kids to college, buy a house, pay his taxes, and save a little for retirement.

It makes me sick that we have sold all that out so we can buy a pair of socks for a dollar less, and a bicycle for ten dollars less at Wal*Mart.

And it makes me sick when the right wingers, those who know nothing about how this country was built, rant against unionism and the sons of immigrants who built this country one yard of concrete and one ton of steel at a time. The men who died of black lung disease in the coal mines, the men who were worn out at age 50 from back-breaking factory work, the men who asked for nothing more than a job and fair treatment, and hoped for better times for their children.

It makes me sick to know that if we had to fight WWII again tomorrow, we would be defeated because we have thrown away the men, and the machines, and the factories which made us the mightiest nation aver seen on earth. We have thrown all that away for one more dollar of corporate profit.

I mean literally, a pain in my gut sick.

I couldn't have said it any better, Duff.

We were the most powerful industrial nation in the world. But we sold out and sent our factories anywhere there's cheap labor and a regulation-free environment to be exploited.

Then guys like Dogs post unemployment numbers and Tea Baggers hold up signs demanding their country back, as if "The Great Socialist Obama" took their Rockwellian post-WWII America from them. If it weren't so sad, it'd be laughable.

 

[Trench]

Duff... I think I'm beginning to understand what Republicans want. Republicans are anti-union. They oppose a minimum wage. They're against regulations of any kind. In fact, Republicans believe that to make America more competitive in the global economy, we should surrender every fundamental advance in workers rights that Americans have fought and bled for over the past century.

It's clear to me now. Republicans want the American economy to be just like China's.

Republicans want to see U.S. companies operate more like Foxconn, where 800,000 Chinese workers are crammed into one location - Shenzhen, commonly known as iPod City because they build components for Apple, as well as other companies like HP, Dell, Sony and Nokia. Most Foxconn workers are under the age of 30, work 12 hour shifts, 6 days a week, for 83 cents an hour.

You know, Foxconn... where they've had to install suicide prevention netting in most of their facilities because working conditions are so bad, workers keep jumping to their death to end their misery. Foxconn... where workers aren't allowed to talk or sit or move around or even smile on the job.

Then there's Foxconn CEO Terry Gou. This is a guy only Republicans could love. In spite of the working conditions described above, this guy has the stones to say that he doesn't care how much money he has (his personal wealth is approx. $6 billion)... he says he does everything he does for his workers and for China. What an altruist.

Yup, Republicans think we should be more like China. Does that that makes Republicans hyper-capitalist communists? :shrug:

 

[BuckwheatJWN]

I wish the Democrats were the party of NO when all of this was going on, but they had too many environmentalist on their side even if they had. My father spent his whole life in steel mills. I'm sure he'd be shocked to see the condition they are in today.

 

[homedog]

Unions were the death of the industry. No way to stay competitive.

 

[BuckwheatJWN]

Actually think it was a combination of all 3 (company, unions, government)that lead to the death of the steel industry in the US. One can easily put the blame and come up with sound arguments for all.