Apple And China - From Problem To Solution

Last week at Netroots Nation we talked about [1] the problem of Apple (and all the others) manufacturing in China, costing our country jobs and dollars. Next week at the Take Back the American Dream Conference [2] we will talk about what can be done to fix things.

Last week I was on a panel at Netroots Nation, talking about the problem of companies like Apple doing all of their manufacturing in China. We used to think companies moved to China because labor was cheap. Now we know that it has more to do with the ability to force workers to do things that they can't force them to do here. I wrote up my talk in the post Why Can't Apple Make Your iPhone in America? [3],

The business advantage China offers is not low wages, it is that in China the people do not have a say, and here people have a say.

When people have a say they say they want better pay, health care, retirement, vacations, sick pay, protections, worker safety, clean environment and taxes to support the country – things like that – the very things China offers to let our businesses escape from.

So what China offers is that China is “business-friendly.” Because people there do not have a say, so they can’t ask for the things people should have.

... When we opened up our borders to goods from China, and let this treatment of workers and the environment offer advantages to our elites, we made democracy a competitive disadvantage.

Next week at the Take Back the American Dream Conference [2], among the many topics the conference will cover I will be discussing what we can do [4] to revive American manufacturing. Please come and join the discussion!

The Take Back the American Dream Conference

Join Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize-winning economist and NY Times columnist; Rebuild the Dream’s Van Jones, Rep. Keith Ellison, Sen. Sherrod Brown, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, MSNBC’s Alex Wagner and Melissa Harris-Perry, Katrina Vanden Heuvel of the Nation, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Peter DeFazio, Rep. Chris Murphy, Rep. Barney Frank, and Rep. John Garamendi at the conference.

Click through to learn about and register for the Take Back the American Dream Conference [2]:

The Republicans don't have a job creation plan, they have a job destruction plan: bring back the Bush economy.

President Obama has proposed a small jobs plan. But Republicans are blocking even that — and Democrats are not doing enough to attack those who are stopping progress on jobs.

This election should be about who fights for JOBS and who stands for job-killing austerity. To make sure that is the choice, we are coming to Washington and we will do it ourselves.

To end the jobs crisis, mobilize! Click here to register for the June 18-20 Take Back the American Dream conference in Washington, DC. [5]

In this election, we have to send politicians a message: Good Jobs First. Turning now to austerity will only create more misery and more unemployment. The best deficit reduction measure is to put people back to work.

We have to make sure that politicians in both parties get the message. So we are coming to Washington to lay out strategies to do just that.

Fight for Good Jobs First! Click here to register for the June 18-20 Take Back the American Dream conference in Washington, DC. [5]

From June 18 to 20, that’s what Paul Krugman, Van Jones, Chris Hayes, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Melissa Harris-Perry, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Katrina vanden Heuvel and many more are going to do.

At the Take Back the American Dream conference, we will shatter the false boundaries of the budget debate imposed by the Washington elites. And we’ll forge the grassroots strategy necessary to rally the nation behind a jobs plan as big as the crisis.

We'll hear Paul Krugman discuss practical solutions to “End this Depression Now!” with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes.

And Rep. Jan Schakowsky and the AFL-CIO's Damon Silvers will take on the austerity conservatives are imposing around the world — and they want to impose here after the election.

We'll get a plan for "Fair Share Taxes to Rebuild America" from progressive champion Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse.

We'll learn the "99 Elect" grassroots strategy to "Build Progressive Power" with former Gov. Howard Dean.

We'll put the fundamental choice before America, "Plutocracy or Democracy," with independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Rep. Raul Grijalva.

And we will sculpt our own strategy to win the argument, not just the election.

Stand up for the 99%. Come to the Take Back the American Dream conference [5].

We cannot sit back and expect the crisis to solve itself. Washington is coming down with European austerity fever while the nation screams out for jobs and growth.

So if you care about solving the jobs crisis, we have a job for you.

The Take Back the American Dream conference is one place this election year [5] where Americans committed to saving our economy and our future will plot and plan to put a Good Jobs First agenda in the center of the 2012 campaign.

This is our chance to develop the strategy and the arguments vital for saving America from the dustbin of austerity.

Don’t miss it. Join us in Washington, and help Take Back the American Dream.

Sincerely,

Robert L. Borosage & Roger Hickey, Co-directors
Campaign for America's Future

Register today [5] to make victory possible, at the June 18-20 “Take Back the American Dream” conference.