Quote:
Originally Posted by silverc4s
Just a thought; 100 years ago, this country was in a transition from a agricultural based economy to a manufacturing based economy. That was a pretty painful change for a lot of people, and it did not all take place overnight.
Most of us on this forum grew up in a manufacturing based economic society, and one that was at the peak of it's success as we started our careers. Lifetime employment, cushy medical benefits, long vacations, profit sharing, stock ownership, etc etc. and etcetera.
Now, I know it is hard to envision a fully formed service based economy, but that does not mean it should not evolve that way. Man was not born to manufacture goods, any more than he was born to grow crops, or herd cattle. That is simply how we contribute and add value to our society, but it IS NOT what my favorite author refers to as , "life it's own self."
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Agree with you about the previous evolution of our economy. But manufacturing WAS the thing that made the USA an economic powerhouse. We could make more stuff, and do it faster, at less cost, and make it better than most of the rest of the world and that's what gave us the economy we had.
It's a tad silly to pretned that we will ever be able to replace our manufacturing base with a service based economy. Yes, we have accumulated a lot of wealth and combined with our clever government's ability to keep printing money...we will for some time be able to "outsource" and let others make the stuff we buy. But at some point, that combination of our immense debt and the $900 Billion per year that we are sending off to foreign nations per our trade imbalance WILL come home to roost.
And our economy and our standard of living will then most likely see an adjustment of the type we have never know in the past.