Free Trade: Fight It, or Embrace It

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by dmek25

everyone has posted excellent replies. this will be my final. put your self in these peoples shoes. most are in the 40-50 age group. alot have 20 years experience at their jobs. most are gearing up towards retirement. now the place of work closes, and ships their jobs over seas. how do you think they feel? think they really want to pack up, and head towards a new job? i highly doubt it. as for frplg, would you be that easy to dismiss manufacturing jobs if it hit closer to home. lets say it was your dad, or brother? the idea behind free trade is a good one, the execution of it is horrible. the united states will lose a whole generation of workers, because of age, and skill level. the kids coming up should be OK, its the middle age sect that is really going to struggle. its great that most on this board have professional skills. this is a moot point to them.

I consider these individuals the casualties of the "US's adaptive economy" and the global free market competition. While I oppose creating incentives for non-work or rewarding the failure to adapt, I also believe that a significant percent of unemployed or working poor are in situtations that resulted from economic changes beyond their control. As a result, individuals and families with limited means attempting to operate within the system suddenly have the rug pulled out from under them. Yes, of course, we can all say "they should have prepared for change" with a sort of self satisfaction. In reality, however, humans are creatures of habit and few people can really spend their lives "ready to adapt".

As with any casualty of war (and the global economy is a war of sorts), the society must protect those who were injured while fighting the good fight. These same people helped create national wealth by providing a stable work force for a significant period of time. If we cannot find a way to maintain competition and our innovative economy while protecting those who accepted the precept that hard work = success, then all to soon the US workforce will feel betrayed and we will lose our competive advantage.