Now hiring? Help wanted? Where are the jobs?

[n2doc]

by Mike Thompson

The same U.S. corporations that have been so happy doing business in China - shipping American jobs and manufacturing plants to that Asian nation and raking in enormous profits - are now hopping mad at China.

According to a UPI story, China controls the bulk of the globe’s supply of “rare-earth,” the family of little-known elements that are used in everything from computer disc drives to weapons. And China is seriously clamping down on the export of rare- earth, meaning that manufacturers in other parts of the globe aren’t getting the raw materials they need to make their products.

According to the magazine Chemical & Engineering News, China’s insanely low production costs ran rare earth-mining operations in other countries out of business by driving down the price of commodity. As the magazine article explained, the biggest rare-earth mine in the U.S. was mothballed in 2002 and now that China is the dominant player in the rare- earth market, they’re choking off the supply by tightening exports of the highly valued material. And manufacturers in the U.S. and elsewhere are starved for the compounds and are crying foul.

For decades, “free trade” hasn’t worked for average Americans who saw their jobs shipped overseas and their lifestyles destroyed. And now its not working for American corporations, either.

Had enough of “free trade” yet?

http://www.freep.com/article/20100904/BLOG24/100904035/0/ENT03/Now-hiring?--Help-wanted?-Where-are-the-jobs?

[Anakin Skywalker]

1. Yah Hah Hah Hah! Care to Defend "Free Trade" Still, RepubliCONs?

[femrap]

2. Just remember....

Mother Nature offers only a LIMITED supply of these rare-earth elements. And she has more power than all the Chinese and Americans combined.

WASF.

[TheMightyFavog]

5. This is why we must continue to invest in manned space exploration..

Near-Earth Asteroids alone could be a wealth of Rare-Earth elements

[Phil The Cat]

7. We need that money on EARTH

We need to be feeding People!

Not feeding the

PIGS
IN
SPACE!

[G_j]

3. K&R

[FirstLight]

4. Is it really ALL about the trade market...?

What about things like the wedding industry, services, travel, basic carpentry, localized trades and shops? I understand that we have seen so much of our manufacturing go elsewhere, but there is still little reasoning for this continued effect of shops closing, basic consultants and businesses closing their doors because the business simply dried up. The credit and healthcare and mortgage crises seemed to have the snowball effect of making the simplest things unattainable for so many.

Living in a tourism and wedding destination town, I see this in many ways. One out of five shops on the main street are shuttered, these are simple mom & pop shops that have been here for years...the electrical contractor, auto insurance broker, antique shop, pet store, etc. My 'one client' that I have been helping with her business for years is finally considering what will happen when she can't pay her mortgage anymore - she is a LCSW and her clients have made the choice to stop their therapy and pay for groceries instead...she also performs weddings and I have seen the bottom fall out of that industry in the past 2 years. Nobody has any hope for the future, or any money to spend...so they aren't getting married. the list goes on & on...

where are the jobs?...maybe the question is where are the customers...? they are trying to survive like the rest of us. When NOBODY has any money to spare, then the rest of the economy just dries up.
That top 2% holds all the cards...and while we debate about China and international issues...

the reality of it is that there is simply no commerce happening at ALL, even locally.

[Capn Sunshine]

6. STOP shopping at WAL MART

or if you must, buy AMERICAN MADE stuff.
That will have a ripple effect if we put a few dollars into struggling American manufacturers pockets.
This WalMart business model is one of the things that put American downtowns across the country out of business.

[earth mom]

8. How stupid is the U.S. government for allowing this to happen?!

One more example of how they don't give a damn. :argh: