Posted by
Andrews on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 6:01:42 PM
I think a recent statement at the Democrat convention is telling. Mark Warner said:
If you can send a job to Bangalore, India, you sure as heck can send
one to Danville, Va., and Flint, Mich., and Scranton, Pa., and Peoria,
Ill. In a global economy, you shouldn't have to leave your home town to
find a world-class job.
Think about this. Not the first part, about outsourcing,
I have already written about the absurdity of protectionist efforts to keep all our jobs at home, so I will leave that alone. Though I would note that the difference in capital investment, and thus productivity and wages, makes it quite different to hire workers in Bangalore and Flint. I would also point out that unionization, OSHA, environmental laws, and a lot of other Democrat initiatives make labor in Bangalore a lot more appealing in terms of costs and legal liability.
But enough about a topic I said I would not mention.
What is absurd is the second part, the idea that everyone should be able to find a "world class job" in their home town. Exactly how could anyone guarantee this? And even if it existed, how could the Democrats promise you would keep it?
Unless they are actually campaigning against economic development, are promising that they will prevent companies from moving as the economy dictates, they can't. However, since they continue to whine about companies losing jobs and closing down plants,I have to assume that is exactly what they are promising, not just top notch dream jobs wherever you happen to live, but such jobs in perpetuity, in the same location, regardless of economic or demographic changes. Which leaves me with three possible explanations for their statement:
Fist, they are lying, and this is all campaign rhetoric to sucker in the gullible.
Second, they oppose any economic progress and will ensure every job remains where it is forever, economic consequences be damned.
Third, they really are the Marxists everyone alleges, and since they will be taking over the entire economy, they will be able to locate jobs wherever they like.
Sadly, there is no best choice among those, as far as I can tell. I think the first is most likely, but I am not ruling out the other two. But it really troubles me that, regardless of which is true, it really makes no difference, my opinion is as low regardless of which one they really meant.