By now everyone regardless of their socioeconomic background has already been affected in some way by the current tough economic times that demand change in order to survive. Everyone is complaining about shrinking jobs, expecting the government to solve our economic problems, and more and more US companies outsource everything overseas. The time for change is upon US.
Yes, our job market is bad and getting worse, but why? Many jobs are being shipped overseas in order for the Parent company (more than half the time not even a US based company) to save money on wages and manufacturing. At what expense? China is growing at the same rate that our manufacturing economy is shrinking. This is not just a coincidence. The US manufacturing sector needs to quickly adapt and reconstruct all of our businesses. One of lessons which my professors at AIU London ingrained in my mind while studying for my MBA is that not the biggest company always wins, it’s the firms which are fastest to adapt to the changing market, industry, customer, etc. succeed in the short and long run. Did no one else in the entire US manufacturing sector ever here of this? Get your stuff together! Find out what you need to cut or get rid of in order to stabilize your firms’ books and go back to the drawing board. What can we change about what we do in order to compete domestically first and then globally? Do we need to change what we manufacture in order to survive!? Smaller US manufacturers need to realize that they can compete on the international stage despite their smaller size. Drastic measures are needed if any manufacturing is going to be kept here in the US.
We as Americans need to realize in every area of our lives we need to rethink and adapt to what we are accustomed to. Yes, in some ways this means having to change our lives, what we buy, where the products we buy come from, etc. We need to buy green products that are manufactured in the US. If it is not made here then Canada, Central/South America, Europe, Africa and finally if there is no other alternative, fine, China. We must support whatever manufacturing is currently being produced in the US.
The more the government bails out industries the more we risk of our government not being able to hold up their end of these deals. Contrary to what many Americans think our government is not impervious to failure. We have failed before and we will fail again. This is one of the facts of success. Will we take the difficult steps today in order to minimize these future failures? The US relies too much on reactionary policies to all of our problems instead of reacting to stabilize and understand the issue and then change/plan for the future in order to better avoid future breakdown.
I’m tired of every time someone comes up with a decent idea in order to keep jobs domestically the “corporation” comes back and states that this will hinder their international competitiveness and/or relations. International competiveness? How about the domestic welfare of our workers, their families, their interests and the future of our nation? Corporations may be separate legal entities but a conscience needs to be part of this entity.
We need to adapt to current industry conditions in order to be more competitive on an international level while creating policies and business practices to protect our national economy. Does this sound like protectionist ideals? Yes! Since when did it become such a big deal for the US to have protectionist laws when more than half of the rest of the world (including China and many of our allies) have laws to promote and protect their domestic manufacturing over internationally imported goods? Why do so many US law makers feel so over protective of other countries rights when we are neglecting our own? It is time that we stop making laws to accommodate Multi-Nationals and start protecting and promoting US domestic manufacturing. A country with week manufacturing is a weak country. Ask any third world country.
The US needs to inconvenience some of our so called allies in order to protect ourselves. What happen to the age old saying of take care of yours first? I’m not stating that we need to begin to create war over control of resources in order to further our agendas, oh wait! We are still in an “Oil War” for that very reason. I do not condone war, but if we were going to go into imperialist war to better our interests in the global economy, then where are the benefits? Ah, that’s right, in the bank accounts, homes and assets of richest. I miss the days of the Rockefeller, Ford, Morgan, Vanderbilt, etc. and the other billionaire captains of industry that not only was it their purpose to grow their business as much as possible but was to actually contribute to better our nation and economy. Now the billionaires are overseas and those that actually live in the US don’t care about our national welfare and economy as long as they continue reap the rewards at the expense of the American people.
I have always been a proud American and continue to be, but in the past decade I have been continually let down by the people who are in a place to make a difference. Innovation, embrace of change, sacrifice and measured protectionist policies will lead to our nation’s salvation. As part of the newer generations of American business people, I am ready to lead by example. Are you ready to do your part?
Rev. Dr. Oyorra Solrac Ph.D.
