This blog was originally going to be a rant on particular network news channel for what I find to be mediocre and vanilla drivel, but after sleeping on it I have to admit that wouldn’t be fair. So what I decided to do was to compare and contrast last night’s news stories and as Anderson Cooper would say, “Let the American viewers decide.” You see, my thought is there needs to be responsiblity in journalism to broadcast truths and perhaps hardlines that may perhaps be unsettling to viewers instead of sugar-coating the news. Journalists need to have the same principles of national reponsibility as big business and politicians. Let's see below.
It must be a slow night for CNN news because senior political correspondent Candy Crowley spent the time and effort doing a piece on a sad, sad man who was upset that because of the economy and stimulus he needs to pay for all those irresponsible Americans out there who are living beyond their means. Oh woe is me! As my grandmother would say, “Cry me a river.” Here is my problem with this reporting, it is not only narrow minded, but irresponsible as it fuels even more paranoia and fear in people’s minds. It promotes greater dissension in the country. This story is about one man's opinion and NOT NEWS. It is a time when we should be encouraging the American public to band together in a sign of national unity instead of blaming the neighbors down the street and whining about individual personal issues. Hum, we all have them.
In contrast and as a follow up to my Buy American blog, I’d like to thank Rachel Maddow for reporting that it appears that GM and Chrysler will potentially lay off 50,000 more workers, and will be phasing out BRANDS of automobiles. Say goodbye America to the The PT Cruiser, Saturn, the Hummer, the Dodge Durango’s and the Pontiac. These cars will no longer be produced. America say goodbye to our beloved automobile industry. You may ask why this is an important story and why I should care if the automobile industry goes out of business. I have a job. I pay my bills. It is not my problem. Here is why this is every American's problem and is NEWS.
The layoffs and the phasing out of entire brands of automobiles will trickle down to other jobs. Automobile retailers will falter. Bank and lenders who gives loans for cars will suffer. Mechanics will suffer and so will those who sell car parts. More unemployment will affect restaurant business and retailers and they too will go out of business. Not to mention those who produce for retailers, as I have learned recently, Nike is about to lay off 1400 workers. And not only will this be a national problem, this will be a global one as well.
Secondly, Americans have a love affair with cars. We love them so much we buy oil from our enemies to keep our cars on the road and we have forgone building a massive public transportation system so we can keep driving. That saddest thing about this is the automobile industry was pioneered by America. For nearly a century we have taken great pride in American automobiles, now we are giving up the industry to mostly the Germans and the Japanese – two nations we kicked ass in WWII. The Germans have done it so well, that not only do we love the Mercedes Bens, their repair labor is expensive and parts have to be specially ordered from Germany.
But what I see is the biggest problem here is our continuing lack of industry in America. Economics 101 folks; you spend money, (stimulus) or (capital) to produce/manufacture a product that you sell and you receive profit. With that money, you produce more and gain more profit. A problem is our nation today leans heavily on importing product and labor from other countries when we are exporting less. Not many, outside America are buying American and that is a huge problem. We are losing the export, import game and with that means we are losing profit and money for our nation. We are losing profit and capital that stimulate our economy and keep the wheels turning. So while the world is creating business with industry, we are devising easy, get rich quick schemes.
So when America is losing industry and spending our money on foreign made products what will be left for us to do? How will we survive in the global market if we position ourselves as the world’s consumers? China and Germany have become rich nations selling Americans their products. What are we selling to them? We once had a booming auto industry, now that is failing. We buy foreign oil to keep our cars on the road. The cheap crap market of toys and electronics is cornered by Asia. The Europeans have the haute couture and fancy-schmacy market. Agriculture, we were once considered the bread basket, but we sold priceless farm land for big houses that people can’t afford and strip malls that stand empty. Now we are losing that market to South America. What market does America own–Ah yes, the porn industry. And that is a mouthful, PUN INTENDED.
So America – you decide. We can continue wallowing in our self indulgent misery and finger pointing our neighbors down the street, or unite as the “United States” and figure how we can bring our industry and our jobs back to America. If not, the future may suggest we may eventually end up as China’s labor force and trust me that would not be fun.
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