Am I wrong to think and feel that it is un American

[caty]

when American companies do not bring back jobs, that they have sent to other countries, when our economy is so bad and so many people are unemployed? If every company would bring back enough of these jobs to put Americans back to work, they would still profit by putting more money into the pockets of Americans, who would then buy the products made.

Is what I think of as "common sense" too simple minded? How greedy do these companies have to be to justify watching their own country falter because of that greed? Has greed become more valuable than love of country?

[HopeHoops]

1. No, you are not wrong. And yes, greed has overtaken love of country.

[Angry Dragon]

2. I would K&R your response if I could

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

3. Raw, unfettered capitalism

follows the money, do to speak. They will sell their mother if it meant a good return on the investment. This is why we need governmental regulation on businesses (I'm speaking mostly of corporate multi-nationals, not the small business community) to make sure they are doing the right thing. They won't do the right thing willingly.
So no, you are not wrong to feel that way!

[prairierose]

5. and that is why we should support the local small...

businesses and avoid supporting the huge transnationals that are only after our money and care nothing for us or this country that gave them the ability to make the billions they do.

Yes, we need to work on regulating business again and we need to elect congresscritters who are not bought and paid for by the time they are elected. But every single day, you can choose to shop at the small mom & pop hardware store, or grocery store, or the local farmer's market or other type of store instead of a big box store that only sells stuff made in china, viet nam, or....

Shopping is a political act even when you are too ignorant to understand that spending your money at chinamart undermines your own job. BTW, that always low prices thing is bs. If you know prices in your area, you will see that only certain products, especially the loss leaders are cheaper but much of your everyday purchases are the same price or higher as every other store in the area. That is the way it is here and I'm sure that it is the same where ever you are.

[BeFree]

15. Sometimes...

...you have to stop and smell the roses, eh?

Welcome to DU, prairierose, your next post will be 1,000. You've made it.

And if your next post could be any better than your 999th, you'll make us all very proud.

That is the way it is here and I'm sure that it is the same where ever you are.

[jotsy]

4. The wealth of any nation is dependent on the viability of its public.

The corporatocracy is filled with the selfish and short sighted.

[Naturalist111]

6. Well stated but there is more to this painting.

Not only do they need to bring back the jobs, they also need to pay higher wages. Example: Company pays workers and makes a product that is out of their fiscal range to buy the very product they are producing. With the outsourcing and low wages they have completely destroyed the American way of life. With some research you can see that this is fact.

[branders seine]

7. they are not "American."

They are corporate capitalists. Their only allegiance is to profit.

[crim son]

8. I read somewhere recently that in the wake of IRS scrutiny of

offshore accounts, wealthy people are giving up their american citizenship rather than do the right thing. Yeah, greed is the primary motivator. It's also a rethuglican value.

[depakid]

23. Actually, that story was regarding wage earners and people who run businesses

abroad getting double taxed.

[Warren Stupidity]

9. You are wrong in thinking that there are 'american companies'.

Global capitalism knows no borders and is a super-national organizational structure. Nations are to them either inconveniences or tools, in the way of profits or used to increase profits.

The nation-state is going the way of the city-state as a useful organizational structure for society. In fact it is already there. Big Cities and Big Nations remain important, but they are not in charge.

As the Big Nation with The Most Weapons, we frequently are under the delusion that we can bend the new System of the World to do our bidding. We can't, and the fact that we can't is part of the rightwing malaise that has swept up 20% of our population.

How exactly are companies supposed to build products here that they can actually sell for a profit when other companies are building products elsewhere for a fraction of the cost? The manufacturing jobs aren't coming back until we are at the same living standards as asia.

[AnArmyVeteran]

12. Why do Right Wingers worship corporations???? Why do they allow themselves to be so easily duped?

Warren, you are absolutely right. I find it amazing how right wingers are so easily duped by the very people who seek to harm them. Right wingers love corporate domination and control. They are always against any regulations or laws to restrict their beloved corporations. In 2000 during the campaign, Bush said "Businesses MUST be allowed to regulate themselves". Right wingers actually believe corporations should be regulation free. They equate deregulation of corporations as 'freedom' and 'liberty'. They keep getting this idiotic notion from right wing radio and Fox News which keeps feeding their delusion. I wonder all the time how right wingers can get through their lives without being screwed by a corporation in one way or the other. Do they really support a corporation charging as much interest as they want? Do they really support corporations who force them to sign away to rights to a trial by jury, and have to take your case against corporations to an arbitrator instead? (btw, 95% of arbitrators come from the industry in which the customer has a complaint, so guess which party is favored?). Do they really support a corporation's right to compile every personal bit of information about them and then sell it over and over again? (I'm almost amused at the way right wingers are getting irrational and angry about the ten questions in the Census's but eagerly give a corporation all the personal information they want. The Census doesn't ask for your mother's maiden name.) Where do they get this notion that corporations and capitalism are like gods, while all government is evil and to be feared?

Have you seen a list of all the corporate attacks or intrusions into peoples' lives that could act like a hammer against a right winger's head to show them corporations are NOT their friends? I would like to either see the list or start compiling information to create one.



Warren said:
Global capitalism knows no borders and is a super-national organizational structure. Nations are to them either inconveniences or tools, in the way of profits or used to increase profits.

The nation-state is going the way of the city-state as a useful organizational structure for society. In fact it is already there. Big Cities and Big Nations remain important, but they are not in charge.

As the Big Nation with The Most Weapons, we frequently are under the delusion that we can bend the new System of the World to do our bidding. We can't, and the fact that we can't is part of the rightwing malaise that has swept up 20% of our population.

How exactly are companies supposed to build products here that they can actually sell for a profit when other companies are building products elsewhere for a fraction of the cost? The manufacturing jobs aren't coming back until we are at the same living standards as asia.

[AnArmyVeteran]

10. Companies have NO ALLEGIANCE to ANY country!

You said, "How greedy do these companies have to be to justify watching their own country...", but companies have NO allegiance to any country. International corporations are more powerful than governments because they are not bound by any border. That is why they are so dangerous and a threat to any country, even a country as big as the US. Corporations ONLY care about their bottom lines and making money as fast as possible in any way they can. Short term big gains are always sought over long term modest gains. Greed is the lifeblood of capitalism and corporations. In my opinion, to get to the highest positions in a corporation you either had to have no soul to begin with, or you had to sell it along the way to 'succeed. Not ALL corporations are guilty of this. Some have responsible people who try to be good corporate 'citizens'. But when a lust for money trumps all else then integrity, honor and common human decency are sacrificed.

I would rather be homeless and poor, but have a heart, than be living in a mansion and rich, with no soul, no compassion, no empathy and no heart. A poor man with a heart is far 'richer' than all of the millionaires and billionaires on earth.

[LibDemAlways]

26. Nor do they have any allegiance to their employees.

There was a time when a 59-year-old with 20 years of dedicated service to a company could sleep well knowing he'd be able to retire from that company with good retirement benefits at 65 or later if he chose to stick around. Today, forget it. Companies think nothing of enhancing that all important bottom line by laying off older workers a few years shy of retirement age. What is that 59-year-old supposed to do? He's too young to collect Social Security and Medicare, but too old to be seriously considered for most jobs. Employers see the resume of a person in his or her fifties and send it to the dumpster without a second thought - literally throwing away the lifetime of experience and perspective that older person could bring to the organization. It's a crime and a shame.

[laughingliberal]

11. The companies care not what company they rape for resources without giving back

It is un American of our government to let this continue without putting some requirements for reciprocity on companies who do business within our borders.

[jwirr]

13. One of the goals of globalization is to weaken national laws so that

they can do what they want. That means weakening our country also. They want less taxes, less regulation, cheaper labor and no responsibility. I call that unpatriotic.

[Overseas]

14. That's why so many corporations are now Multinational, not American.

Headquartered overseas so they don't have to pay taxes or let that damn social justice crap interfere with their profitability.

I believe Cheney's war profiteering vehicle, Halliburton, is one of those.

[Ohio Joe]

16. No, You are correct - nt

[B Calm]

17. We have an aging population with a high cost/high benefit workforce,

As far as Global industries are concerned, there are cheaper and more plentiful natural resources elsewhere to exploit, cheaper labor and younger developing consumer markets outside the US that present more attractive investment opportunities. Industry would prefer not to make any further investments into the US, thus capital flight is inevitable (in spite of tax policies). ... The US is only a Cash Cow now, to be milked/harvested and to funnel our investment funds internationally. The good times have come to an end, and no one dares tell you this, because it might cause a panic in the stock market.

Americans need to face up to the fact that their $20k, $100k and $500k stock investment portfolios are not going to do any thing for the US economy, not while big companies like Microsoft are taking their profits to invest in China, India, Brazil and Eastern Europe.

We need to force these companies to invest back into the USA. This could be done with tariffs!!

[Klukie]

18. No you are not wrong however....

as citizens, we need to keep in mind where we are investing our money. Take for example our 401ks...if they are invested in the companies that take our jobs overseas to increase profits, aren't we as shareholders partly responsible?

[Donnachaidh]

22. did the shareholders come up with the idea to take jobs overseas?

Great -- another *blame the little guy to deflect from the evil business practices of the corporatocracy*

Yeah yeah, those damned shareholders -- always messing with the working man. Give me a break with this corporo-garbage-speak. Shareholders DON'T hold the reins of the company. And if you DO hold shares in a company you would KNOW that they don't have a *voice* in these decisions - far from it.

Disingenuous much?

[Klukie]

28. shareholders may not hold the reigns to the company.....

and you are right they don't come up with the ideas to take the jobs overseas but they sure as shit feed the beast if they continue to buy or hold their stock.

[MadMaddie]

19. I agree with you

Wehn you bring this up to the Repugs this is their answer

<American workers get paid too much money and want too many benefits, companies go where the labor is cheap. Also, we don't want isolationism in a world wide economy>.....yawn...

I have had this argument many times....I usually respond with

Are you Pro-America or not?

[Sebastian Doyle]

20. It's economic treason.

And since corporations are now "persons", thanks to the Opie Roberts court, then they should be tried for treason and punished accordingly. And since the death penalty is the usual result of a treason conviction, then these corporate "persons" should be killed.

[donheld]

24. +9000

[Brickbat]

21. I call it economic terrorism, myself.

[HughMoran]

30. Of all the things that piss me off, this would drive me to revolt faster than anything else

Why are we letting our own companies destroy us within - it's espionage (and it's not hard to prove they're doing it - I know)!

[Skittles]

25. they do not give a fuck about America

they only care about the bottom line and their big fat bonuses

[truedelphi]

27. Michael Moore would agree with you were he to read

Your fine post. he went to Proctor and Gamble headquarters in the nineties duiring one of his TVshows, in order to query them.

He wanted to ask them why, after receiving a payback of over one billion bucks in profits from the sale of products to Americans, the company would off shore the manufacture of its jobs.

And his conclusion was the same as yours - Greed!

[HughMoran]

29. When I worked at a multi-national, I pointed this out all the time

They gave me lip-service, until, of course, it was time to lay me off after they had sufficiently stolen enough of my technology and implanted it in the engineers in Asia. These companies are traitors to the flag and their boards should be executed for sedition.