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I wonder about this because it seems like we were totally ok with moving manufacturing jobs overseas for example, or when a shipyard closes up shop in a town we

I wonder about this because it seems like we were totally ok with moving manufacturing jobs overseas for example, or when a shipyard closes up shop in a town we accept it, but when it comes specifically to coal jobs it’s like all of a sudden it’s all about won’t someone think of the poor families?! I would generally agree that if as national policy we are going to do something like shut down an industry we should try and help people including maybe just buying them out (reskilling/learn2code is extremely difficult), but it’s kind of like what Elon said once which was good which was when we lower the price customers don’t want to pay us the higher price and when we raise the price they want the lower price they initially agreed to (it wasn’t that exact thing but you get my point) and when it comes to subsidizing industries like we do for oil and gas for example I think the same mentality applies.

bluGill 3y ago
We are not okay with manufacturing moving overseas. I don't know where you got that idea, it is clearly false. Ross Perot was in 1996 one of the most successful third party candidates ever, and he ran on the "great sucking sound" of NAFTA moving manufacturing jobs to Mexico. The one difference is manufacturing hasn't been lost in the US - by most measures we make more stuff in the US than ever. There are less jobs though because of automation, but those jobs have been replaced by engineering. Coal mining by contrast is a death industry and won't come back. What people in the coal industry need is someone to setup a factory in their town. A factory making some weird widget in a small town tends to make a rural town.
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panzagl 3y ago
People were not ok with manufacturing moving overseas, the owners of those factories were. Closing a coal mine affects the owner of the mine directly. This has nothing to do with the workers- the owners would be just as happy to turn MT coal miners into opioid welfare recipients as they were NC textile mill workers as long as the owners continued to make money.
- ako 3y ago
  Consumers were also ok with manufacturing moving overseas, as they were all buying these cheaper products, making it impossible for local manufacturing to survive.

bluGill 3y ago

We are not okay with manufacturing moving overseas. I don't know where you got that idea, it is clearly false. Ross Perot was in 1996 one of the most successful third party candidates ever, and he ran on the "great sucking sound" of NAFTA moving manufacturing jobs to Mexico. The one difference is manufacturing hasn't been lost in the US - by most measures we make more stuff in the US than ever. There are less jobs though because of automation, but those jobs have been replaced by engineering. Coal mining by contrast is a death industry and won't come back. What people in the coal industry need is someone to setup a factory in their town. A factory making some weird widget in a small town tends to make a rural town.

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panzagl 3y ago

People were not ok with manufacturing moving overseas, the owners of those factories were. Closing a coal mine affects the owner of the mine directly. This has nothing to do with the workers- the owners would be just as happy to turn MT coal miners into opioid welfare recipients as they were NC textile mill workers as long as the owners continued to make money.

ako 3y ago
Consumers were also ok with manufacturing moving overseas, as they were all buying these cheaper products, making it impossible for local manufacturing to survive.