"These are not jobs that we want to compete in."
Tell me, what jobs DO we want to compete in? Becuase as far as I can see we are losing manufacturing jobs, service jobs, AND now high tech jobs. I don't know what jobs we are going to be "competing" in- at least at a level that would assure our population even a stable standard of living- are robots going to be taking over everything? And if they are, what do we need people for? I think we have to assume there will be a decline in US fortunes (the decline Kholt would be willing to anticipate), and from what I've seen of all the safety net programs, they do not assume a decline in jobs and wages- thus not only is the safety of each individual worker on the line, but the stability of our entire system, built on the continual input of worker's dollars, is also on the table.
I'd say this is a real security problem for our country. People who have nothing can be controlled more easily than people who are used to plenty, and then find they have nothing, or find they have much less than they expected to have. I agree we have to prepare now, but I also think we need to find ways to slow the dislocation- because I do not think we can take the social consequences of this, if we do not prepare for it. It is NOT better to face up to something now, if your population is completely unprepared to face up to it- that way paves the road to panic- and at the moment the US population is unprepared. I think panic can make people do very stupid things- look at what happened after 9/11, a relatively small event- imagine wholesale economic dislocation, affecting the entire country. It doesn't take that much to tip an economy, and often we only recognize the tipping point in hindsight. I'm not very optimistic about what will happen in the future, if we do not prepare for the future now- and some of that preparation had better be aimed at preparing the population of the US for what is coming. |
