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Entry: They Are The Hollow Men Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/they_are_the_hollow_men#22484 Post contents: Bravo for exposing the fallacy of those who are enslaved to the ideology of dead economists. (I don't mean adam Smith, whose "Wealth of Nations" contains caveats for protection against dumping and for defense industries.) My job involves assisting laid-off workers in Michigan with filing for Unemployment insurance, accessing retraining, and getting Trade Adjustment Act petitions filed, if applicable. Many of the workers get a pittance, or nothing at all. The companies they worked for may be broke, may be moving overseas under duress, etc. The workers may be 45 years old, not 'college material' by their own admission, and they are not as mobile as the capital that employs them, since they cannot shed houses, uproot families, etc., as easily as money can be moved with a mouse click. To expect that one can change the rules of the game without causing harm to tthose unable to reinvent themselves overnight is a utopian fantasy. What I see every day is reality. And no amount of retraining, concessions, union-busting, etc., will make American workers competitive with the Third World. I've heard more than once that workers at Company X could work for nothing but their health insurance, and they'd still cost more than their overseas competition. Thanks again for your article. Sent at: 2008 07 06