You know what Morality is? I’ll tell you what it is. Morality is made for those who own it. The rich. And you know who’s always right? The rich. And the poor pay the price.
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Gaspar Noe, Seul contre tous (Alone Against the World)/ I Stand Alone (via radioblueheart)
Why do you think people are so quick to proclaim the "death of the working class" in the US despite the country being the world's largest manufacturer and manufacturing being the second biggest employer and second highest grossing sector in the US economy?
I don’t agree with it, however there are things we need to take into consideration. You’re right in saying that the United States is the world’s largest manufacturer by the amount of value it creates. However, that doesn’t make it the largest manufacturer by number of workers engaged in the sector. In the United States, productivity has increased at an unbelievable pace, meaning that the United States can produce more than other countries while employing fewer workers to do it. Here are two graphs illustrating this:
Most people think that manufacturing employment peaked in the United States some time in the 1920s. However, the reality is that it peaked in 1979, so this trend only started around 35 years ago. The reason for the decline in manufacturing is twofold. Firstly, manufacturing is the only sector of the economy that can move geographically. Production was relocated internationally to avoid high labor costs in the United States. Secondly, as I said, productivity rose, which necessitated fewer workers to produce the same amount of commodities.
Right now, manufacturing industry constitutes about 8.2% of total employment in the United States, or 11,918,900 jobs.
Leaving aside government employment (because that includes everything from transportation workers to teachers, and I don’t feel like untangling that right now), if you enumerate employment into two major groups, I would say that 41.1% of people are engaged in working class jobs, while 33.2% are professionals.
An additional factor to consider in understanding why it looks like there is no industrial working class in the United States is the
intranational movement of production. Firstly, the bourgeoisie has reclaimed the city as the center of its economic life, pushing the working class into the suburbs and rural areas. This means that manufacturing is no longer located in major urban zones, but in smaller cities, towns, and rural areas. Secondly, manufacturing has fled to the Southeastern United States because of its lower labor costs and almost non-existent unions.
This blog is mostly so I can vent my feelings and share my interests. Other than that, I am nothing special.
If you don't like Left Wing political thought and philosophy, all things related to horror, the supernatural, the grotesque, guns or the strange, then get the fuck out. I just warned you.
Anonymous
