“Down here it's just winners and losers, and don't get caught on the wrong side of that line”

                        -Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen wrote about  Atlantic City’s economic desperation in 1982. That year was critical in defining the gap between winners and losers.

That was the year that personal computers appeared in offices and homes. Technology advanced communications more than anything since Gutenberg invented movable type in the 1500’s.

  As we go into 2007, the education and technology gap keeps getting wider.

  Computers made it easier for educated people to move up the socio-economic ladder and harder for the uneducated to hold their position. In 1982, Bruce Springsteen sang about the line between rich and poor people. In 2007, the line is between those who can communicate and those who cannot.

In a previous generation,  people could make a good  living by working in factories and large companies. Those workers did not need education or skills, just the ability to work hard.  My grandmother never missed a day of work in the 34 years that she stuffed boxes in a potato chip factory.  She had a third-grade education but a world-class work ethic. That was all you needed in her generation.

 Technology is the reason that companies can save money by basing their U.S. customer service centers in India. Technology is the reason that it is cheaper to make air conditioners in Mexico rather than in the United States.

 The winners are big companies who increase profits by increasing productivity. The losers are people who remind me of my grandma. 

Politicians in both parties think that changing a few laws or trade agreements will solve the problem.  It will not.  The solution requires a major effort of time and money to help unskilled people become educated and skilled.

 Passing laws will not stop the reduction of good jobs in the United States. Our economic system rewards the companies that make the most money and punishes those who fall behind.  We are in a world economy.  Many American corporations are owned by companies that are based outside of the United States, and if it is not cost effective to do business here, they can shift the jobs to another country.

 Some wealthy people have found that they can save millions in taxes by moving to the Virgin Islands.  The wealthy have the lobbyists and lawyers to keep finding those loopholes. There is hope that as new legislature is introduced, more of the most outrageous loopholes will be closed. Yet many will survive.

 A social commentator called computers “bureaucracy eaters.” Voicemail has replaced telephone operators, and automated online services have replaced the people who processed paperwork and forms. Many customer service and sales jobs have been replaced or outsourced.  

 Not all jobs are going to foreign countries. Wal-Mart and McDonald’s always seem to be hiring, although those jobs generally do not pay well and or offer long-term security.    Yet even Wal-Mart and fast-food restaurants are eliminating jobs with technology. I can imagine a day when a person will be able to place a hamburger order on a computer, pay with a debit card, and receive it without interacting with a single person.  They are doing it in Japan now. Instead of hiring 50 people per store, they can get by with just a few.  

 There are a number of jobs that can’t be exported easily.  Bricklayers, firefighters, hairdressers, auto mechanics, and nurses will always be needed in this country. People should be encouraged to train for jobs that are sure to be around.

 The bottom line is that there are changes happening in the world that will help some people and hurt a lot of others. We need to help people get the education and training they need to stay ahead.

 It is not going to be easy. Many of the people losing jobs will not be able to adapt to learning a new skill, and there seems to be no alternative.

 Spending money on education and training is the only way we can help the losers in the new economy make it to the winner’s side of the line.