How ite done used to b

Where these people work now.

Wow! Very cool movie. I think I would rather work at Wal-Mart though.

I just heard on some news this week that there are only 9 million people employed in manufacturing in the US. Can you imagine that, out of 350 million people only 9 million of them make things in factories anymore.

Ashton Crusher wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

There are three reasons for that:

Similarly, there's only a tiny fraction of Americans working in the farming industry compared to what there was in 1950, and nobody's worried about running out of food anytime soon.

yeah, dirty, dangerous, and inefficient. serious injuries were a regular occurrence, and the effects on health of those working conditions were a disgrace. and the quality of output was highly inconsistent and unreliable.

re other comments, it's not that we employ fewer people in manufacturing that's the biggest issue [although it is a significant problem with substantial "down the road" impact], it is in my opinion one of national security. both military and financial.

big picture is that if we don't manufacture here, we can't prepare for a sudden war. and certainly not a large scale one.

secondary to that is the financial impact. manufacturing creates wealth. sure, other forms of employment move money about, but manufacturing creates it [literally] from the ground up. if we don't have manufacturing, long term, our economy is going to be that of polishing other people's boots. and there's no long term future in that.

now, manufacturing is an evolving endeavor. industry constantly improves its knowledge and its abilities. and automation is the inevitable product of that. it is pointless and ridiculous to hearken back to the dark days of having humans do dirty dangerous repetitive mundane b.s. jobs a machine can do faster, cleaner, safer, and without the repetition causing it to fall asleep on the job and possibly kill itself. manufacturing employment will naturally decline if output remains constant. however, retaining the manufacturing capacity here ensures those that do work in manufacturing can be better paid, safer, healthier, and much more importantly, their wages stay here, and our capacity stays here. that means the nation remains long term secure, and long term wealthy. if we're wealthy, all the service industries [that really add no value, just shuffle it about], can survive and take up some of the slack.

although it has its problems, germany is the poster child of not losing sight of the benefits of retaining production capacity. at this time, it's carrying the HUGE financial burden of the rest of the e.u., based on the wealth creation of its manufacturing sector. and its capable of paying for a public health system and employment benefits that shame us, and all while remaining competitive on the world stage.

and let's not forget, germany is germany. it doesn't need a large standing army. they can manufacture and go to war in a matter of months. even if the rest of the world is watching, nobody else can mobilize and arm as quickly as germany could. it's actually quite a scary thing if you happen to be a neighbor. and this is precisely why china has targeted manufacturing growth as its #1 long term strategic goal. with that manufacturing capacity, it is now the #1 threat in the region, and on its current trajectory, to the world.

anyway, we should embrace the technology, keep manufacturing at home, and keep our wealth at home. and thus, retain our strength. right now, it seems we're hell-bent on shooting ourselves in the head, and the only people getting fat are the wall st vultures stripping the carcasses.

"smart money"? japan and germany are both high cost* nations, manufacturing large quantities of low margin product. and yet they can manufacture, ship, distribute and sell here and make a profit that our "smart" m.b.a. educated business leaders can't chasing "high margins". i'd call that "dumb" in fact, but hey.

• high cost is a very real problem in both germany and japan. both nations have higher effective corporate tax rates compared here, both have higher infrastructure and energy costs, and both have higher employment and benefits costs. yet we can't make a profit selling a k suv with 1800's suspension "technology" and cast iron crankshafts. that's f-ed up.

You haven't heard about Globalization? Where have you been hiding? I just bought a new 2011 car recently.

Parts content information:

For vehicles in this carline: U.S../CANADIAN PARTS CONTENT: 2% MAJOR SOURCES OF FOREIGHT PARTS CONTENT: KOREA 80%

Note: Parts content does not include final assembly, distribution, or other non-parts costs.

FOR THIS VEHICLE: FINAL ASSEMBLY POINTS: BUPYUNG GU, IN KOREA COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: ENGINE: KOREA TRANSISSION: JAPAN

reading comprehension: FAIL information content: FAIL

and to whoever were your teachers at school: FAIL

That's because they are the same. Sociopathic statists. Both parties. Only a very few individuals are actually different. Most that people think are different are just talk, scamming people, they pander, they say what people want to hear, like Obama. Low participation is better than believing in this WWF system of BS.

A war didn't get us out of it. War made those insiders more powerful and more wealthy.

What ended the depression is that after the war the government finally pulled its boot off the people's neck a little.

Last car we bought was a Mercury Sable. As in Ford/Lincoln/Mercury.

This time, wife wanted a Chevy. A Chevrolet dealership is only a few blocks away. I didn't SEE that part of the window sticker until I got home.

I intentionally didn't go to Toyota or Honda or Nissan etc., thinking I was buying American. It took a bit of time to discover Chevy isn't "Made in USA" anymore. The Salesman sure the hell didn't mention it.

Lg

"import" civic accord camry corolla - made here with higher domestic content than "domestic" brands!

A "car man" such as yourself would know that, but I'm just a gimp. Next time I'll take you along as an advisor.

Lg