The Obamas' First Big Anti-Trump Statement of 2020

[mia]

Last edited Wed Aug 21, 2019, 08:04 AM - Edit history (1)

...In a final scene of the Netflix documentary American Factory, the chairman of a Chinese auto glass company walks through the sprawling floor of one of the company’s factories in Dayton, Ohio, as an aide points to different departments where employees will soon be replaced by robotic arms and other machines.

“We’re hoping to cancel four workers in July or August,” the aide tells him, almost proudly, before adding, “They are too slow.”

Scenes like this are typical in the film, which depicts the fallout after Shanghai-based Fuyao Glass revives a former GM plant and hires many of its American former employees. The employees are at first excited to have new jobs, but soon find themselves struggling to swallow a fraction of their former pay, difficult working conditions and the prospect that, no longer protected by a union, they could be fired at any moment.

The documentary, which debuts on Netflix on August 21, never mentions President Donald Trump by name—but its message is clear: Trump’s promise to reinvigorate the industrial heartland is going to take a lot more than a campaign slogan. There are no easy solutions. And if some manufacturing jobs do come back, they’re going to look nothing like they used to. Americans will have to accept a new reality to stay competitive in the global marketplace—one that they might not like, and one that Trump doesn’t acknowledge....

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/08/20/obama-trump-2020-227627?fbclid=IwAR2YHsPhPBPvtopEJELNrwDbO82YAHQaEyE1oEavJ5ck9akUSYJv-E7RN-w

[wasupaloopa]

1. I grew up in Dayton Ohio in the 50's and 60's. There were good paying factory

jobs available to any white male who wanted one. Like my father, those factory workers thought that lifestyle would go on forever.

[mia]

3. Good article about Dayton, Ohio

DAYTON, OHIO: THE RISE, FALL AND STAGNATION OF A FORMER INDUSTRIAL JUGGERNAUT

...Dayton’s early dependence on traditional manufacturing, with a particular emphasis on assembly line work, put the region at a competitive disadvantage as growing international trade and dramatically reduced transportation costs allowed for the global dispersion of factory work.

Yet perhaps most remarkable is not the region’s decline, but its resilience. Despite the ongoing decline of manufacturing sector, the metropolitan area still knits together a population of over one million people. What accounts for this?


...Dayton’s economy may no longer provide the flash and glitter of 20th century economic leadership, but the region has demonstrated a remarkable robustness that holds lessons for other cities striving to remain competitive in a global economy. All cities or economic regions pass through periods of growth and decline. The real question is whether they can adapt to changing economic circumstances.

Dayton survived by building on the secrets of its past success. Its innovative manufacturing base has become more tech-centric and service-oriented. New areas of vitality such as health services have been enhanced. The city may no longer be what it was at its peak a century ago, but its future is far from grim.

https://www.newgeography.com/content/00153-dayton-ohio-the-rise-fall-and-stagnation-a-former-industrial-juggernaut

[calimary]

2. Bookmarking.