Editor MNH: (4/24/04)
Let me connect a few strands which to a casual observer have nothing in common. Number 1. Reading the labels of the Christmas presents I had bought I was horrified to realize that not one present was made in the US. Number 2. When my husband bought a Dell computer he also purchased a service policy in case something would go wrong. Well, he encountered a problem. He called and got a problem solver in India. The connection was bad, the voice fading in and out and the problem solver did not solve anything. Number 3. Recently I accompanied my husband to a meeting in Tucson. Guess what? Tucson needs new schools. The news papers there were pushing for “yes” on a school referendum. Number 4. I have a friend in La Cross who is looking for a house. It is a buyers market there, because in a middle class neighborhood about every 10th to 12th house is up for sale. But guess what? La Cross needs a new school. Germantown just turned down a referendum. I could go on. Now to the connection. Our government idly stands by while our industrial base is being destroyed by corporations which not only move production facilities to lowest wage countries, but also outsource white collar jobs. Who is supposed to jump into the breach and create jobs? None other than the communities which are bribed with some governmental seed money (our money) to incur a heavy debt load which eventually will have to be paid off by the very children who as we are told deserve the very “best.”