“The reason we are in dire straits in the first place is because gov.org has regulated heavy industry practically out of existence in the USA.”
There is nothing laudable about companies moving to countries where they can exploit people in conditions nobody here could defend; unregulated industry showed just how far they would go here (and gave birth to socialism and communism here in the US as a result). I hike in former mining areas along the NY/NJ border where people worked 6 1/2 days per week, year round (the temperature underground was fairly constant), and at the end of each week settled up at the company store (often resulting in growing debt). When the mines were closing, people literally left with the shirts on their backs and the families they started, abandoning their shacks and the IOUs to head elsewhere for opportunity. They had a much shorter lifespan, few luxuries like school or medical care (not that industry should have provided them - their incomes left no allowance for them), basically nothing to keep them out of the hands of leftist revolutionaries.
We are sliding back towards that era, and while people here might feel safe in their jobs (from the “before-time”; decent paying jobs), for some of us there are generations that will follow us for whom those opportunities probably won’t be available. This “global economy” will continue to destroy our way of life until we stop trading with countries with labor practices we would never permit.
I do work in one of these jobs, and I can assure you I do NOT feel safe in it. I have been through indefinite layoffs, a plant closing, and most recently at my latest place of employment we gave up our pension, vacation time, and a percentage of our pay to try and reverse a several year trend of financial losses.
I have no idea where you got the impression I was suggesting going back to the era of company towns and the company store, I do suggest that there IS a point where more regulation is a detriment to the worker and not a help.
Despite our recent givebacks, I still make enough to have a comfortable living while supporting a family of five on essentially one income. I AM very protective of this.
Despite being a leader in our industry for environmental stewardship, and in fact seeing the local environment improve an almost unimaginable amount since the 1960’s, nothing is going to make Washington happy unless required industry emissions are reduced to values that make it totally impractical for any heavy industry to operate.
Remember our president once bragged to the effect that he would bankrupt companies that used coal as a power source?
Yep, I work at such a company. And if we can't get around this issue, I and a great many others will be looking for another job. Again.
Nobody wants to go back to the bad old days of using the rivers as open sewers, but we must be realistic about our goals. Remember, business that leave are jobs gone, and we will still end up breathing the junk they put into the air. (which is probably a great deal more that if we were able to keep them here).