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Creating Jobs in America
Greetings, Among the Founding Principles of the America First Party, there was one line that particularly stood out: "Rebuild our manufacturing base and protect American workers." It is most interesting because it is the only sentence where the word "worker" appears. There seems to be a much greater interest in preserving business in America, with principles such as, "Help American businesses stay in America" and "Promote a Buy American policy." There is a two-fold difficulty in "rebuilding our manufacturing base" as a means to "protect American workers." First, as technology becomes more and more efficient, workers are going to be producing more and more out their labor. That means that the employers and businesses will have a lesser use for their workers, and -- ultimately -- it leads to low-wages from competition among workers, and high rates of unemployment. Lower wages and unemployment: unless you cut technological progress down, this is going to be the only result you get in a Capitalist society. Second, the manufacturing base has moved all over the world, where laborers in China and Africa and South America produce the bulk of our consumer products. If the US industrial sector started to grow again, it would be a disaster. In some countries, like Burma, laborers receive two bowls of rice for their daily labor. Inhumane, of course, but how are American laborers going to compete with that? And if they cannot, then the industrialized sector will be unable to market these expensive products. Because in a free, world market, other countries are going to buy the cheapest that is out there. We wouldn't be able to supply manufactured products at such unbelievably low rates. But independence and prosperity are still things we can create, even when the world around us shows challenging obstacles. We both agree in the ambition, willingness, and preservation in the spirit of the American worker -- our tenacity, our grit, our passion, and our hope in something better for our families. And yet, all around us, there are empty fields, and idle factories. At one point these iron mills ran all day, and gave utility to the value dug up from the earth's core. But now, they only manufacture rust, and their primary export is unemployed, poor, and dispossessed families. The problem is not with the American workers, it is with the American Capitalist! It is the capitalist class that owns these lands, that possesses these factories. Even if some profit could be made, it is not enough to attract them. If investing in America gets you a 20% return, and investing in China gets you a 35% return, I don't have to tell you where investors will go. But, unfortunately, the American worker can't just pick-up-and-go to the next job, three continents away. We both want to have farmers in those fields, and food in those stores. We want the people to be provided with a means by which they can work for themselves, support themselves, and possess a real type of independence. I want these factories back up and running, where the needs of our lives can be produced, where workers can make a decent living to bring back to their families. And yet... these lands, these empty and idle lands, are surrounded by "no trespassing" signs. If you want to give work to our people, then give them the lands! You're not going to end poverty, homelessness, war, ignorance, hate and bigotry when the common people can't provide for themselves. You can't make America "strong and proud" when those who build it have absolutely nothing. Give the land to the workers, in free, associations of worker cooperatives. The Capitalists certainly don't need the land, since they're busy exploiting industrial workers in other nations. Give it to us, and with that kind of opportunity, to be our own real masters of our lives -- with that, no American will be hungry again. I await your response, thank you... Sincerely,
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