[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

I don't think anyone is looking down on factory workers. In fact, I think you'll find that most, if not all, of us have a great deal of admiration and sympathy for factory workers. That some of us believe that certain jobs aren't sustainable in the U.S. is not a statement of belief about any workers, it is a statement of belief about the realities of the new global economy.

I think a fundamental problem with our country is that we expect the government to be able to "fix" just about everything. Anytime something goes wrong, we blame the government. We consume energy at an astronomical rate by driving SUVs, living in the suburbs and commuting 2 hours per day, keeping our thermostats at 78 degrees in the dead of winter, etc. and yet we complain to the government about the cost of oil. We fill our bodies with all sorts of toxins, live sedentary lifetsyles, smoke cigarettes, fail to take preventative steps to ward of illness, etc. and complain about the cost of health care. We want buy the cheapest goods regardless of where or how they are manufactured and yet we don't understand why U.S. companies are shipping jobs abroad. We complain about all sorts of things when the blame for many of our woes lies squarely on our own backs.

That's not to say our government should do nothing and has no place in regulating the market, corporations, etc., but we need to stop eating our cake and then complaining about cake shortages.

You are my hero.

I would add this about what we expect from our government. We expect our government to make everything "fair". I know it is cliche but realistically life isn't fair. The sooner people realize this the sooner they will realize that they need to take their own lives into their own hands. I may love my job but if I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and know my job has a good chance of not being around in 5 or 10 years then it is my responsibility to my family to account for that. There are too many people in this world who take control of their lives and are there own pilot. They don't rely on anyone else to give them anything or put them in a better situation. They make it happen. Before they need to. These are the people who "kill" the middle class. They "kill" it because they are adavancing themselves. They may never be millionaires but they make 6 figures a year and live nice comfortable lives. That is the new middle class. But I think too many of us look at these people as "rich". Hell our tax system treates them as rich but they aren't. I feel badly for those who missed the boat but most of them need to look in the mirror a little more.