America's Middle Class Jobs

The news continually is reporting the American job market has not recovered from the recession. Middle class jobs in particular are scarce after massive corporate cuts to shore up those reeling from a huge Wall Street economic break down. While in the short term it is easy to cast blame on the pooling and selling of sub prime mortgages on the open market, other historical and far reaching political decisions have sealed the fate of America’s middle class. NAFTA or the North American Free Trade Alliance, a watershed institution under past President Bill Clinton, failed miserably and caused the peso collapse of South America. It seems those Mexican workers were not quite ready for the amount of hours Asians spend in their sweatshops. The venture capital evaporated as dreams of employing millions of Mexicans at cheap prices vanished. Many lost their life savings as Mexican “workers” continued their own cultural habits. Interestingly enough many of the same workers “flew the coop” penetrating the Texas/Mexican border seeking work as illegal aliens. This is an issue unto itself, and the employment status of these workers eventually will appear before America’s Supreme Court. Should businesses be penalized for utilizing the help of these willing workers? Since Americans themselves are unwilling to pursue these hard labor farm-oriented jobs, why shouldn’t practical businessmen capitalize on their willingness to work? It seems the fertile soil of America laced with the American Dream is more appealing than the rituals of South America. Conversely the continuing displacement of America’s middle classed jobs would point in another direction. It was not that long ago corporations began establishing hubs in foreign countries, and Argentina was a prime choice. These were middle-classed jobs, and a college education and relocation were required. To find a good middle classed job today one must relocate to a foreign country? It seems to be a dichotomy. Middle class jobs that require college always have been scarce therefore competitive in America. Now that corporate America has “out-sourced” many of their total jobs, these jobs are even more scarce here. America’s job market now is not in America. Was this the goal of “Globalization?” While the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and the eradication of the Cold War could have been painted as a national defense issues, wasn’t the opening of global “markets” the goal? America is a Capitalist nation, therefore dollars are needed to ensure the long term economic security of here citizens. How was this to be accomplished exporting her jobs to India and China? As corporate America always has deemed appropriate, they pay the bottom line for free market labor and keep the rest for themselves and their shareholders. Is this the American way? Buying and selling shares of companies on Wall Street seems to be the downfall of Capitalism if it is accomplished greedily and with spite for the American middle class. Religion could play a role here, as our forefathers all ready knew. Capitalism with no conscience is evil. That candidly was proven with Wall Street’s aberrant behavior concerning sub prime lending. The repealing of the Glass/Steagall Act did not help. Allowing what once were discreet financial institutions to merge and interact without the watchful eye of the federal government created a new breed of upper class criminal. Maybe it was destined to occur. It could be the unspoken catalyst for the coup waiting to transpire in America. Luckily or not Obama came to the rescue and George Bush’s head was spared in the public square. Ironically although Clinton was an effective president in many ways, his precursory political legislation fertilized things that were to come. He and Bush’s heads have been spared. Speaking candidly about this situation is the only way to open discussion for the reemergence of America’s middle class. These jobs must come from somewhere, and if corporate America is not given some incentive to bring these manufacturing jobs back to America’s home soil, it will not occur. People keep shouting over these jobs. “I am disappointed with Obama’s lack of success decreasing unemployment in his short tenure as President.” While Clinton himself believes “Green Jobs” are the key, America as a Capitalist country must produce a Gross National Product. We must produce something and not just money. The pipe dream of manipulating money with no means of production is gone. The federal government must realize that to return to her former greatness, pride must return over America’s products.