In our modern, interconnected world, creative destruction and globalization have transformed the labor force. Creative destruction, the replacement of jobs with newer ones as advancements in technology render the older ones obsolete, has combined with globalization to form an explosive molotov cocktail for the working class. Menial, but reliable jobs, particularly those found in the manufacturing sector, have been supplanted by both artificial intelligence and cheap foreign labor. These jobs were a safety net for decades for many who didn’t pursue a college education. A college education was not necessary to live an ordinary life, innumerable blue collar jobs were available to ensure one didn’t slip into poverty. This is no longer the case.
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Less educated working class whites in the west who made their living through factory jobs in past decades are being hurt the most by globalization. They have watched helplessly as the manufacturing sector, their bread and butter, has dwindled due to low wages overseas. This, combined with illegal immigration from Latin America, has spurred indignation by working class whites. They claim illegal immigrants are “stealing their jobs”. This is parallelled by the rise of neo-Nazi parties in Germany that have sprung up in response to unfavorable trade deals and the closing of factories. They support unsettling racial policies to ensure that Europe is white as snow. The rage of these disadvantaged whites should be channelled at the labor laws of countries in East Asia and Latin America, not the actual citizens of those nations. Chinese and Mexican laborers are struggling just as much as working class whites in the United States and Germany to make a living. It’s not their fault that wages are criminally low in their nations, making them much more competitive against western nations when corporations are looking for places to build factories. Working class whites are naturally disillusioned by their economic downturn, but immigrants and foreign citizens are not appropriate …show more content…
“Free trade” is not free at all. As economists love to say, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. There’s a payment for everything in life, regardless if it’s monetary or not. The working class are the ones who face the brunt of the payment in free trade. According to a study by the Economic Policy Institute, the United States has lost 2.8 million jobs due to trade with China, since China has joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. Annual earnings have dropped $1,400 for Americans whose jobs haven’t been swept away in the wave of globalization and free trade. Other issues, such as the shifting of the tax burden onto citizens due to the shrinking amount of tax revenue from corporate taxes as corporations have found shelter in tax havens, have had a negative impact on society due to globalization as
Less educated working class whites in the west who made their living through factory jobs in past decades are being hurt the most by globalization. They have watched helplessly as the manufacturing sector, their bread and butter, has dwindled due to low wages overseas. This, combined with illegal immigration from Latin America, has spurred indignation by working class whites. They claim illegal immigrants are “stealing their jobs”. This is parallelled by the rise of neo-Nazi parties in Germany that have sprung up in response to unfavorable trade deals and the closing of factories. They support unsettling racial policies to ensure that Europe is white as snow. The rage of these disadvantaged whites should be channelled at the labor laws of countries in East Asia and Latin America, not the actual citizens of those nations. Chinese and Mexican laborers are struggling just as much as working class whites in the United States and Germany to make a living. It’s not their fault that wages are criminally low in their nations, making them much more competitive against western nations when corporations are looking for places to build factories. Working class whites are naturally disillusioned by their economic downturn, but immigrants and foreign citizens are not appropriate …show more content…
“Free trade” is not free at all. As economists love to say, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. There’s a payment for everything in life, regardless if it’s monetary or not. The working class are the ones who face the brunt of the payment in free trade. According to a study by the Economic Policy Institute, the United States has lost 2.8 million jobs due to trade with China, since China has joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. Annual earnings have dropped $1,400 for Americans whose jobs haven’t been swept away in the wave of globalization and free trade. Other issues, such as the shifting of the tax burden onto citizens due to the shrinking amount of tax revenue from corporate taxes as corporations have found shelter in tax havens, have had a negative impact on society due to globalization as