Means vs. Ends

By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist

Politicians at the highest levels talk about the middle class as being the backbone, the strength of the country. In one sense they are correct, for a robust middle class has, at least in the past, been an important component of a strong economy.

However, except in a few cases (independent tradespersons, independent small-store operators and so forth), the middle class is the ends, not the means. Anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is either disingenuous or hasn't thought the issue through.

Ends exist only because of means. Traditional middle class jobs were created in factories by entrepreneurs who had great vision and took enormous risks.

The entrepreneurs may have started out middle class, or even in poverty, but they had a drive to make a huge difference, something entirely lacking in the middle class.

The stereotypical middle class person wants a steady job, with steady raises that lasts for their entire working career. They want to think of this job as some sort of one way contractual obligation on the part of the employer, thus obligating the employer to keep them but allowing them to quit whenever they like.

The middle class person seeking such a job no more created that job than did my dog. Again, it is an end for society, not a means.

I have been involved in the paper industry all my career. I have been on the front end, where companies decided to build mills and on the back end, where they decide to close them.

The truth in our industry, I suspect, applies to most others. It is stark and it is this: When deciding where to build a paper mill, I have never heard any concern about the ability to find, hire and train workers.

Subjects covered are markets, raw materials, energy, and the ability to obtain permits. On the closing side, however, after markets and onerous environmental permits, shutdown decisions often do depend on a recalcitrant and unruly workforce. These are middle class jobs, most paying $20 to $25 per hour with lots of overtime.

So where has the paycheck every week, middle class job gone? There are all sorts of "straw men" thrown up – China, profit-grubbing capitalists, right-to-work states.

Let's tackle them one at a time.

China is not nearly the threat it is made out to be. I would dare say the computer and the robot have taken more jobs than China. Why have the computer and robot taken any jobs? They do repetitive tasks with precision, without tiring, and without complaining. They don't sue the company where they reside. Humans simply cannot compete with computers and robots.

Profit-grubbing capitalists, as some like to characterize them, are the ones who create jobs. Why would anyone come to your town and build a business if they didn't think they were going to make a good profit? What would be their motive?

If they are in your town making a good profit and find some place to go where they could make a better profit, why shouldn't they? Have they violated any promise made to you as middle class employee?

After all, it was you who conjured up in your mind that there was some sort of contract promising you a job for your entire working life – they didn't do that.

Now, before you start responding, I'll concede that entrepreneurs and other capitalists have stood before town meetings and Chambers of Commerce and made all sorts of promises that did not pan out. Such promises are no different and worth no more than what politicians say. Again, do you have an employment contract?

Right-to-work states. Hey, the people in those states have spoken. There is individual state sovereignty left in this country on some matters. You have three choices in this case (besides just complaining): (1) You can move to a right-to-work state. (2) You can convince your state to become a right-to-work state. (3) You can go to right-to-work states and campaign for them to become closed shop states.

Many liberals like to tell us conservatives, when it comes to the legislation of today, that things have changed, the Constitution needs to be considered a living document and so forth. When it comes to middle class jobs, I'll gently suggest that things have indeed changed.

Auto factories still exist, but they are not loaded with workers as they were in the 1950s and 1960s. The same with other industries.

Middle class jobs, with a few exceptions, exist in a given locale at the pleasure of investors. No one wants to hire a workforce that causes problems, either by themselves or with the aid of the government. Middle class jobs are the ends, not the means.

It is time we all faced up to this.

Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga., following decades of wandering the world, and is a columnist for The Highland County Press.