This is Meat Speaking

bacha29

Well-Known Member
I know what Meat's trying to say. TPP could very well finish off the nation's manufacturing base. The talking heads from both parties all say that they want to bring manufacturing back to this country but both will vote for passage of TPP claiming that it's to counter the growing presence of China in that part of the world.
 

bbsam

Moderator
Staff member
Why does anybody think manufacturing is coming back unless it is coming back to robotics and other automation? It's the 21st century.
 

bacha29

Well-Known Member
Good point BBSAM. This country's output of manufactured good is 4 times higher than it was in 1980. Sixty percent of it is exported and we do it with one third the number of manufacturing workers. TPP will take whatever little is left.
 

bacha29

Well-Known Member
If TPP goes through whatever recovery we ahve made in the manufacturing sector could very well be lost to TPP and the result would most likely be a permanent socio/economic underclass that will have little chance of ever moving ahead.
 

vantexan

Well-Known Member
Is he wrong?
Probably not. I was a maintenance scheduler in the '80's in the Air Force. They used to have 30 or so guys doing with index cards what 4 of us did with very crappy computers. Probably have 1 guy, maybe two, doing now what we did then. Read once that in the early 1900's most towns of any size employed musicians to play in the park weekday evenings. Eventually records meant one could listen to the best musicians in the comfort of your own home any time you liked. Technology has and will change our lives in profound ways. Sucks though for people trying to make a living.
 

59 Dano

I just want to make friends!
If TPP goes through whatever recovery we ahve made in the manufacturing sector could very well be lost to TPP and the result would most likely be a permanent socio/economic underclass that will have little chance of ever moving ahead.

There's no difference between a machine on our soil doing the work or foreign bodies on another continent doing the work. Does anyone bemoan the emergence of automation replacing human labor? No, no one with a brain does.
 

dex 84

Well-Known Member
There's no difference between a machine on our soil doing the work or foreign bodies on another continent doing the work. Does anyone bemoan the emergence of automation replacing human labor? No, no one with a brain does.

There is a difference. Even automated tasks require people to supervise the operation to make sure it's running smoothly and service the machines when necessary. Not as many employees as was necessary to do the job manually but there are still American jobs at stake here.
 

bbsam

Moderator
Staff member
There is a difference. Even automated tasks require people to supervise the operation to make sure it's running smoothly and service the machines when necessary. Not as many employees as was necessary to do the job manually but there are still American jobs at stake here.
Around here, John Deere gets most of it done outsourced or with workers with little job security. Not uncommon to see people work for ten years and get "laid off indefinitely". There's still a few old, old timers staying on at " $35+/hour and 12 weeks paid vacation" but most of those positions are long gone and aren't coming back.
 
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