Featured Every Electric Vehicle That's Expected in the Next Two Years

If there's anyone who will flip for it!

 

I took a Western Culture class in the 80's. There was a graph that showed that the U.S. standard of living peaked in 1972 and we were on the road to a long steady decline.

In the 70's, gas was 30 cents a gallon. Housing was cheap. I bought a new Pinto in 1972 for $2200. In 1980, when our daughter was born, we received a bill from the hospital for $75.The whole world wanted to buy anything labeled "Made in USA".

I think all the MBA's that the colleges were turning out were encouraging corporate officers to scale back employee benefits, eliminate fixed retirement plans and move manufacturing wherever it was cheaper. First it was Mexico and then China. Even if a plant was profitable, more profit could be made by moving the manufacturing to China. China had lower wages, no EPA and no OSHA.

I came from Barberton, Ohio, a heavy manufacturing area. 8 miles north of us was Akron, known as the Rubber Capital of the world. Firestone, General, Goodyear and Goodrich all had a huge presence in Akron. By the 80's that manufacturing had left. The EPA announced that Akron had the cleanest air of any major city in the northeast. The mayor of Akron replied that anyone that gives up 58,000 jobs can have air as clean as Akron.

When I returned from the Army in 1970, I was employee number 4999 at Babcock & Wilcox. B&W is a power generation/defense contractor who made boilers, steam generators, coal pulverizers and nuclear components for both the navy and power generation industry. They had 13 plants around the country. That plant had 70 acres under roof and at that time it was like an anthill. B&W may still have one or two remaining plants. The Barberton works now has about 400 workers.

After graduating from college, my first job there was in Welding Development designing custom welding equipment for our factories. During those years of downsizing, that department was eliminated as were several others that I was transferred to. I saw the handwriting on the wall and in 1985, after 16 years, I left the company and moved to Columbus, OH. Columbus is such a diverse city that employment prospects in engineering were much better.

Going back to visit Barberton now reminds me of Chernobyl. All the abandoned sites that were once bustling with activity.

I keep hearing that the economy is booming and wages are increasing. Ohio has 28,000 fewer jobs today than it did in the year 2000. 9 out of 10 of new jobs pay $28,000 or less. It's hard to get by on $28k, so you might need a couple of those jobs just to make ends meet.

I am lucky to have had my working career during the best of times and hope that my daughters generation can turn things around but they have an uphill battle.

 

my 3 thirty somethings are all doing well. better than i was doing at their age.

china is made up f despots and serfs. it won't last forever

 

Yeah, it's their one child policy and low birth rate from the policy implemented 30+ years, ago.

We, however, look back to the "halcyon days of the 1950's" wish to "make America great, again."

The rest of the world will not likely be destroyed like it was after WWII.

The Chinese knew that their population will no longer want to be close to "slave labor" as their middle class grows. That's why they have embraced automation.

We, however, are jealous of their success, like Europe was jealous of the US after WWI.

Jealousy gets us nowhere. Innovation is the way to beat the Chinese. Do what they are doing and do it better.

 

'we' represents a certain segment of the population i suppose. idk anyone who is jealous of china, and most consider america to be a great country with ups and downs like most countries.

no doubt, if everyone were offered free passage, many more would be coming here from china than vice versa

 

Don't get me wrong. I love this country. My parents immigrated here from Lithuania after World War II.


Immigrants make this country great.

 

i understand completely. i just think china is overrated by some. and i dont have a problem putting the screws to them, theyve been doing it to us for a long time, and we love it.