We’re Not in Lake Wobegon Anymore

A complete rant by Garrison Keillor against the republican party and the “etch-a-sketch president”.

I got there because somehow Michael Moore got my email address and emailed me this message.

KerryKit.com

Go here and get a Kerry Kit.

It’s interesting stuff. It’s actually the first I’ve actually learned about what his position is on many issues. Actually it occurs to me that the regular media has given up on reporting candidates stands on issues, but they always report on how the campaigns are going and who said what about whom. I guess media demands that candidates actually pay to communicate their message, and that candidates messages are not “news”.

Anyway, I find I’m agreeing with almost everything Kerry is saying. Except one thing (so far). He’s talking about the need to fix the american economy and how we need to create jobs and help our fellow americans rather than encouraging corporations to move jobs overseas. This is all well and good. The problem is that he is not recognizing the fundamental issue that labor is cheaper outside of america. (Nobody else is talking about this either.)

I’ve been reading/hearing the general fear of offshoring of american jobs. The problem is not with greedy corporations: it’s the job of the corporation to minimize expenses and maximize revenues. The problem is the disparity between the wealthy (America) and the poor (India, everybody else).

I’ve realized that it’s incredibly pretentious of us (americans) to presume that since we have a higher standard of living, and get paid far more than Indians (for example) to do “technical” work, that we must be better at it, and that we have some inherent right to continue getting paid this much (and get raises).

When the automobile industry moved offshore (anybody drive a Honda?) we all wanted the better car for less money. It’s that simple.

The cry “buy american” may be “patriotic”, but it’s rather stupid. Who buys the more expensive, and less reliable product? Nobody.

So, to bring this back to Kerry. The problem is that the only real way to address Jobs In America is to address the problem of disparity of wealth & poverty on this floating marble we call home.

I guess my point is: when will we get a presidential candidate who will recognize and begin to address the global nature of our “domestic” ills?

(Addendum: I listened some more and Kerry is pushing education as the solution to this problem. He didn’t say it this way, but in the modern rhetoric, he’s proposing an Education War so that america can stay on top. I’m all for more support for education and the stuff he’s proposing sounds good, but I still fear it’s not good enough to save we few rich americans from the billions of poor people on the planet who good jobs, too.)

C-SPAN.org: Search Results

Dunno how long this search link will work.

try this

Anyway, an interesting speach by Fmr. Pres. Clinton at the Riverside church in New York.

He does mention the Bahá’í Faith.