[TheForge] OT: several questions and thoughts

[Demon Buddha]

Dave Mudge wrote:
> Speaking of unions,,, I heard a rather in-depth story on NPR about the
> lay-offs at Ford and the auto workers union. Seems that the majority of the
> layoffs are line workers. These are people that are not performing a skilled
> labor task. Their base pay is $27.00 / hr. and when you add in all the
> benefits the pay is up to $55 / $60 / hr.  Now I don't begrudge paying for
> what you get, but $60 / hr for putting a screw in a door seems a bit
> ridiculous to me. 
> No wonder new cars & trucks cost so much. 

	This is the corner into which this nation has painted itself.  I 
daresay that it is the result of the liberal agenda that wants to make 
everyone "equal".  It's absurd on its face and we can readily observe 
the results of the entitlement culture.  A person who can barely read is 
not worth $60 per hour in toto to put square pegs into rounds holes all 
day.  They are worth minimum wage, if that.  The best solution is to see 
to it that wages in other nations come up to those of the USA.  This 
reduces or removes the incentive to outsource.  People in other nations 
don't necessarily do it better than we do; they just do it more 
inexpensively.  Removing that advantage should be the goal of US 
business and government policy.  It's one of the core elements of free 
market capitalism.  If nations such as China put up protectionist 
barriers, we should send them back to the economic stoneage without 
haste or mercy.  They have none for us.