Industrial Production

It is believed by historians that the industrial output of the United States is what made the difference in World War II. Our manufacturing industries produced tanks, ships, aircraft, and munitions whereas the industrial output of our enemies were destroyed largely through bombing.

Likewise, historians, believe that the industrial output of the North was what caused the North to beat the South in the Civil War despite the fact that the South had the better generals.

And so as there is a talk in our society today about World War III and terrorists of Militant Islam. I am wondering where our country's great auto and steel industries are. Apparently they are debilitated.

Instead of being an industrial country, we are becoming a nation of distributors, knowledge workers and service industries.

Head for your local Wal-Mart, start looking where hard goods are manufactured and you will see that they are manufactured in China and the far east.

The electric parts of our motors are made in the Orient.

And so as we think about the role industry plays in war, it is important to realize that the U.S. does not have the industrial self-sufficiency that we had in the Second World War.

Something has changed. We better make sure that China and the Orient are our close allies in the War against Terror. It seems that we have cut off our industrial legs and now rely on foreign industry for our goods and ultimately to supply the materials and components for our own defense.

I believe our country may have been out-foxed in the international area by allowing other countries to steal our ability to do hard core manufacturing through foreign government subsidization of key industries. Oops, did I say something wrong?

Hey, but we got "everyday low prices." And we sent the bill for those low prices to the next generation.

HarleyDad