Perspective: Can the American Dream Be Saved?

Since 2000 well over 50,000 US factories have closed, and roughly 90 million Americans workers are either under employed or unemployed mainly as a result.  This loss of jobs phenomenon has been well documented. A report dated March 2012 produced by The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a think tank, states:

 “In the 2000s, US manufacturing suffered its worst performance in American history in terms of jobs. The decline as a share of total manufacturing jobs exceeded the rate of loss in the Great Depression of the 1930s. 

Remarkably, most of the establishment economists, pundits, and elected officials are totally blasé about what has transpired. Meanwhile, millions of disenfranchised workers are “mad as hell”. Worse they are losing their faith in the American Dream. 

Trump and Sanders have tapped into this frustration as evidenced by the unprecedented size of the crowds who stand in line for hours to hear them speak. Both Trump and Sanders offer paths forward which the blasé establishment immediately pooh poohs as impossible to implement. So, are the workers to believe that there are no solutions? Of course not, but it is clear that they want new leadership, and they are not offended by the blunt language of Trump or by a 74 year old socialist. 

There is a glimmer of hope for the American Dream. An article in the March 2016 issue of “The Atlantic”, entitled “How America is Putting Itself Back Together” shows that the American spirit still exists and is functioning even in the areas hardest hit by the greatest manufacturing decline since the Great Depression.  

The author, James Fallows and his wife Deb, traveled the US from East to West and North to South for three years. Most of what they found is beneath the traditional radar and out of ear-shot of the blasé establishment. But quoting from the article: “In nearly every place that we have gone, America thinks of itself as having a few distinct islands of technical creativity of start-ups and reinventions. The authors found that even what one would consider as hopeless places are reinventing themselves. 

One example of new technology they found is the three dimensional printer. Three dimensional designs are created on the computer and then the product is manufactured in plastic or metal by printing it in three dimensionals. This means that one can make the product in one’s garage or small building instead of requiring a huge factory for mass production of the product.  This concept fits the entrepreneurial instincts and skills that are so typical of the America spirit. It also fits the current market where the consumer likes to purchase something unique that is customized to fit the consumer’s specific need and lifestyle. 

If this reminds you of the cottage industries that existed in the nineteenth century before they were wiped out by the big production lines of the Industrial Revolution, you are thinking correctly. We are at the edge of a paradigm shift that will be enormous. The possibilities for these new technologies and local application of entrepreneurial opportunities are huge, and they can play a major role in finding new America based and well paying jobs for the workers displaced by trade agreements that favor overseas labor. 

This election is vitally important because Government can play a major role to speed up the response the 90 million workers displaced by the globalization and digital revolutions are demanding. Everyone knows that our tax structure needs desperately to be overhauled to encourage entrepreneurial start ups and small businesses. Also, everyone knows that our high school education system suitable for the 19th’ and early 20^th century businesses is woefully out of date for the “Smart Phone” business needs of the 21^st century. 

Now, bringing jobs back from overseas or creating new ones is easier said than done! Further it may take a longer time than the out-of-work workers are willing to provide. So if the establishment hierarchies of both political parties attempt to thwart the wishes of the working class electorate, as they are now doing, they do so at their peril, because the millions of the disgruntled electorate will not wait forever!