What happened to American Jobs and American willingness to work?

                If you are like me you watch and listen to the campaign speeches of the GOP hopefuls, comparing them with the campaign speeches of President Obama.  High on the list of priorities of all the candidates is creating jobs.  Each candidate attempts to sell himself, or herself, as the one mostly likely to give the economy a boost and create jobs. 

                With that in mind I’d like to share some observations that no candidate, as far as I know, has yet fully address.

                I have a cap (hat) that has “NAVY” splashed across the front above the visor.  It was made in China.  I have another cap that has “USS STEMBEL” across the front.  I served on the Stembel for over 3 years during the Korean War.  The Stembel hat was made in India.  Somehow it just doesn’t seem right to have products that symbolize the American military made in foreign lands.

                Take a look at your shirts and jeans.  Chances are they are made in China, and that’s just a tiny portion of the things we Americans consume that are made in China. 

                In checking on the Internet it is estimated that 40% of the products consumed by Americans are produced in China.  And that doesn’t include products made in India, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, etc. 

                Why are so many products made in China?  Is it because the Chinese are more skilled than Americans?  I don’t think so.  I suspect it is because it is cheaper to have it made in China.  Why is it cheaper, because of the high cost of labor in America.  Why is labor in America more costly than in China – in my opinion, because of excessive and inflationary union demands. 

                Unions have persuaded management to accept specialization among workers.  That means that workers with screw drivers must wait for the guys with the wrenches to finish their task before they can go to work with their screw drivers.  The screw driver guys get paid for waiting.  In other words there are union guys getting paid for sitting around.  Consequently, American laborers, probably the highest paid in the world, have reached the point of diminishing returns to the point of inefficiency. 

                I have a stepson who is a supervisor for a large construction company.  He is having trouble finding unemployed men to work because if they work to many days it will nullify their unemployment.  Mexicans have no such inhibitions.

                The other day I had a conversation with a clerk in a Radio Shack store.  I said Mexicans are taking jobs that we American boys back in the forties were glad to get because it was money for school.  I was referring to farm jobs like picking fruit and pulling weeds.  When Mexicans swarm over the border to take American jobs, I suggested, we have no one to blame but ourselves.  The Radio Shack clerk who was probably a liberal said,  “How can you expect men to take jobs for 10 and 11 dollars?”  My reply was, “I guess they would rather draw unemployment.” 

                Our capitalistic system is about profit and loss.  That is why jobs are going overseas.  John Huntsman, former governor of Utah and GOP Presidential Candidate, during his first debate said his private company had created 3000 jobs, suggesting he knew how to create jobs.  However, one of the moderators pointed out that most of those jobs were created in China.  As you may recall, Huntsman was Obama’s ambassador to China.

                Americans have lost jobs because of cheap Mexican labor.  When it was discerned by Mexicans that many Americans were too proud to take menial jobs the Mexicans swarmed out of Mexico happy to take up the slack.  Many of these Mexicans workers proved to be such good workers that they have moved out of the orchards and tomato fields into construction and other more “respectable” ways of earning a living.  I submit once more, we have no one to blame for the huge influx of Mexican workers but ourselves.  It is a consequence of supply and demand, willingness and unwillingness, profit and loss. 

                I understand there is an imbalance of trade between us and China which helps explain why we owe so much money to China.  Whose fault is that?  I suspect it is the fault of business, politics and the ego of the American worker – being reluctant to take jobs that are perceived to be beneath their social status.              

                Back when I was in the Navy during the early fifties Japan and China were still recovering economically from the Second World War.  Now look at them.  Where do we get our steel from?  China.  Of our 14.1 trillion dollar national debt, we owe China 1.164 trillion dollars (according to the Internet).  How… no, why did our elected officials let that happen?

                They say it’s a world economy.  It sure is.  We get at least half if not more or our food and hardware products from outside the U.S.  We share our technology with China in which they use to make products they can sell to us. 

                I am told that most of Wal-Mart’s products are manufactured outside the U.S.  Wal-Mart undersells most of its competitors.  Although most Americans would rather buy American, because of the diminishing value of the dollar and inflation – and especially the high cost of gasoline – many Americans are forced to buy where they get the most for their dollar. 

                The liberal pundits want manufacturers to put union laborers back to work at the same wages as when they were laid off.  But how can GM or Chrysler afford to make cars that cost more than Japanese cars that are just as efficient?  How can you justify creating jobs where there are no buyers?  Rather than spending a lot of irrelevant rhetoric over creating jobs out of thin air, why not discuss how our current manufacturers can be overhauled to compete with China and Japan?  We are no longer the self-sufficient nation we were in the Forties that built the ships, tanks and airplanes that armed the Allies against the Axis enemies during the Second World War. 

                If American contractors and employers can hire Mexican workers for less money than American workers – how are the GOP presidential candidates going to deal with that?  While touching on immigration, most Mexican workers come here out of desperation.  If they could find work in Mexico they wouldn’t come.  They come because there are jobs to be had although menial jobs.  Some Mexican workers proved to be such good workers that they have advanced from blue color jobs to white color jobs.  And to make the trip across the Rio Grande even more appetizing our government takes care of their health needs, makes them eligible for social security, helps feed their children and even educates them.   Why – because politicians want their vote.  If our government is willing to do all of that why should we blame the Mexicans?   

                And now because of the huge number of Mexicans there is the threat of forcing America to recognize and respect the Mexican culture in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas (even more than it already has).  Mexican culture, their values and priorities, are usurping American values and priorities.  Examples are language and Mexican holidays.  Mexicans, it seems,  have become a political force to be reckoned with and want to recapture culturally what was lost in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. And if we oppose this movement we are called racists.  But Mexican suzerainty is not racist.  It is getting even. 

                If we can ship iron ore to China and have China make steel, then ship it back to America cheaper than making it in America, something is very wrong.  How are the GOP Presidential candidates going to deal with that?

                If  American workers are forced to work for less money, or unless the disparagement of trade between the U.S. and other nations is dealt with, I predict that Middle America, as we old timers know it, will erode away.  And who is at fault?  Government bureaucracy and its infatuation with proprietary regulations (manipulating laissez-faire)  and its superior, illusionary, intellect must receive most of the blame.  Big government has become morally and socially repugnant,  and an economic, malignant tumor – in my opinion. 

                I don’t see the majority of Mexicans wanting to culturally integrate and adopt American values.  They want to usurp our ideals and values and we a letting them.  We find the same determination with Islam.  If you are a liberal you will probably view this essay as pessimistic and you would be right, but at the same time it is facing the facts – the inevitable.