I just watched this simple, yet powerful movie that stars Tommy Lee Jones, Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, and Maria Bello among others. In essence, it's a movie about corporate downsizing and the impact that mass firings have on the folks who are let go.
I won't spoil the movie, because I think everyone should see it. But I am going to describe one part of the film because of the powerful impact it had on me.
There is a scene where the characters played by Jones and Affleck are walking through an abandoned shipyard, following the suicide and subsequent funeral of Phil, one of their recently fired colleagues. Jones' character provides a narration:
"We used to build things, right here. In this spot there was a frigate. Back there, a guided missile cruiser. It was before we got lost in paperwork. Phil used to work right here. He was skinny as a rail and absolutely fearless. He would hang upside down in a boatswain's chair 70 feet above the factory floor welding seams. 2000 men worked 3 shifts a day. They could see the work the did in the ships they built, and they could provide for their families. Maybe put the kids through college or get a second car..."
I was profoundly affected by this scene. During the Second World War, America manufactured the tools to defeat fascism and nazism at a rate of 125% of its capacity. Now? Those days are gone. We don't build things in America anymore, because the markets don't like companies that have high labor costs. The market wants to see profits and profits are reduced when we ship labor overseas to places where folks will work for pennies on the dollar of what Americans work for.
And they are glad to do it, because there are no labor rights or regulations. The governments of those country rule with an iron fist and hat means cheap labor.
I'm no economist, so I don't know how to solve the problem, but I do know this: once upon a time, a product that said "Made in U.S.A." meant it was reliable and made with quality.
I won't spoil the movie, because I think everyone should see it. But I am going to describe one part of the film because of the powerful impact it had on me.
There is a scene where the characters played by Jones and Affleck are walking through an abandoned shipyard, following the suicide and subsequent funeral of Phil, one of their recently fired colleagues. Jones' character provides a narration:
"We used to build things, right here. In this spot there was a frigate. Back there, a guided missile cruiser. It was before we got lost in paperwork. Phil used to work right here. He was skinny as a rail and absolutely fearless. He would hang upside down in a boatswain's chair 70 feet above the factory floor welding seams. 2000 men worked 3 shifts a day. They could see the work the did in the ships they built, and they could provide for their families. Maybe put the kids through college or get a second car..."
I was profoundly affected by this scene. During the Second World War, America manufactured the tools to defeat fascism and nazism at a rate of 125% of its capacity. Now? Those days are gone. We don't build things in America anymore, because the markets don't like companies that have high labor costs. The market wants to see profits and profits are reduced when we ship labor overseas to places where folks will work for pennies on the dollar of what Americans work for.
And they are glad to do it, because there are no labor rights or regulations. The governments of those country rule with an iron fist and hat means cheap labor.
I'm no economist, so I don't know how to solve the problem, but I do know this: once upon a time, a product that said "Made in U.S.A." meant it was reliable and made with quality.
