The article “Blue-Collar Jobs Disappear, Taking Families' Way of Life Along” and Michael Moore’s documentary were very similar subject matters. The article was about a town in Ohio where many of the major employers were leaving. This meant that many people were laid off and had to get low paying, entry level jobs, if they could get one at all. Moore’s documentary, “Roger and Me,” was about the same concept. The people of Flint, Michigan were all left in a horrible economic condition after a General Motors plant decided to shut down.
Both of these reports focused on small towns that were devastated because of a lack of employment after the status quo changed. The reporting relied on the personal stories of people who became poor to try to emotionally appeal to the audience. The common trend in these towns is that a major employer left and destroyed the local economy. Perhaps it’s not a good idea for towns to rely too heavily on one business or another. The market is always changing and there’s always a chance that a factory will have to shut down or a business will have to relocate. When a town puts all their eggs in one basket it leaves itself open to numerous disasters. The town plays a part in it but business ethics play a large role in these situations too.
It can be argued that these businesses were wrong for just moving and leaving these towns in poverty, an opinion that I, personally, agree with. Businesses have rights too though; it doesn’t seem fair to say that once a factory is made somewhere that they aren’t allowed to close. It also doesn’t seem reasonable for a large factory to close and leave everybody unemployed. I think that the best solution would be that when a large employer closed they offered new jobs, even if the positions were out-of-state, to the people that work there. That may not be a great solution but at least it would help those who are in desperate need of a job. In conclusion, I think that many economic situations are full of compromises where it is very rare that everybody wins.
1 comment:
Great synthesis, Ben. You have two parallel situations, and by contemplating them, you come up with your own independent ideas. I especially like your observation that, perhaps, it's not so good for a town to put all of their "eggs in one basket" with a company. It would be nice to trust a corporation to take care of all your town's citizens, but people should remember that it is under no real obligation to do so. Sure, as you say, their obligation is ethical, but that doesn't bind them when times are economically tough.
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