What NAFTA and shipping jobs overseas does... [View All]

[Bread and Circus]

I live in a small town. 40,000 people in the whole county. In the last 7 to 8 years we have lost scores of factories that mainly engage in light manufacturing. These factories are what employ your rank and file rural high school to 1-or-2 years of college educated individuals either through direct line work or middle management.

We had a Bose plant here, which was a great company to work for in terms of esprit de corps, wages, and health benefits. Several years back my best friend's wife was one of the line managers as she had worked there for several years. She got excited because they "sent her to Mexico" to train folks down there. As far as she knew it was an all expense paid vacation with some work thrown in. She thought it was pretty cool. What she found out later was that she trained the folks who took her job. Bose closed its doors here and the jobs left.

This is just one example. My town is still hemorrhaging jobs to Mexico, China, and elsewhere. It's eviscerated my town. Wages are down. It's hard to find a job. Crime is up. Substance abuse is up. Domestic violence is up. I know this because the local Sheriff is a friend and he told me about it in frank terms.

The tax base is down. It's harder to pass millages for schools.

Property values are down. Houses sit on the market longer. People can't get approved for home improvement loans. Foreclosures are up.

Maybe somewhere this all makes some American richer. But not here, not in my town.

Maybe somehow these local folks can "retrain" and get a better tech job. But people don't want to "retrain". They liked the jobs they had and they don't want to literally have to move 5 states away for that training and new job. Their roots, families, and grandparents are here. It's depressing for them and it's depressing for the community.

NAFTA and this "free Trade" boon is brought to us by Republican corporatists, the Republican-lite DLC, and Democrats who forgot what they stand for (it used to be the people).

That's what NAFTA and shipping jobs overseas does.