We Are #1

We are number one.  Perhaps not in healthcare or education, a long way from it, but the United States is the #1 consumer nation in the world and it isn’t even close.  Japan is second, with less than a third of our consumption and Germany is third with less than a fifth.  We consume a little less than a third of what the entire world consumes and that is with less than a twentieth of the world’s population.  So take a little pride, consumers.  Consumption is power.  Perhaps more power to improve the world than our military has. 

 Right now our power of consumption is creating 1%ers and abused laborers all over our planet, particularly at home.  With a little thought and a little planning, we could accomplish the opposite.  A better world for all.  Even the wealthy would probably rather live in the foothills, above a middle income community, than above a slum.  I mean, one has to go to the market unless a servant does the shopping for you.

Our present creative consumer malice is best exemplified in the big box stores.  Volume flows to the lowest price.  This translates into the creation of slave-like working conditions and wages for the third world nations that strive to own the big box market.  The cheap labor in Mexico loses its jobs to the cheaper labor in India.  Only the CEOs and top managers in these sweat shops earn a living wage.  The American worker cannot compete, nor can our manufacturers.  Sounds like a free market driven world and it is.  We are describing a down spiral of world wages and living conditions.  Our middle class real earnings are falling.  We have an unfavorable balance of trade.  Can the down spiral be stopped?  Hell yes.  The world’s greatest consumer nation has the power.  We need to use it.

How about we power an up spiral instead of the down one we presently sponsor?  If a foreign manufacturer wishes to be certified to export goods to The United States, they must pay all of their employees, at least, our minimum wage.  That rule would apply to their suppliers as well.  Our workers would then exist on a more level playing field.  Our production facilities would be more competitive.  Better paid foreign workers would become a viable market for our manufactured goods.  Better paid workers, with lower unemployment are less likely to be snookered into a war.  Our brave young soldiers could be converted into brave young auditors, making sure that the certified exporters are, in fact, paying their employees a fair living wage.  They would be armed with lap tops, rather than assault rifles.  This would not be forced on the employers.  Certification would be a choice.

You are going to pay a little more for goods with this system in place.  But it will increase living standards the world over.  Retail price competition will not disappear, as well it shouldn’t.  This program will not harm the people of any nation.  “A rising tide lifts all boats.”

Cheers, Buz