All we need to do is to solve our economic problems is to go shopping. It is easy, just go shopping. I think you must know that this is some kind of trick and it is, but you have to go shopping first. Here is what you do.
Go shopping any place and check out the things that you would like to buy. Check them over well. Next, figure out how you could make that product just as good and for less money. That is the trick. Some one made the product that you are checking out and the price is right there. Now, they were able to make that product for a little less than what it is selling for since the store has to make a little profit too. Figure that some one made that product for 75% of what it is selling for. If you know 4th grade math, that calculation will be a snap. Now you have the number you need to work from. The first thing that you need to do is to estimate the cost of the raw material. If you made the same product, you would have to pay the same price for the raw material that the manufacturer did so we are even on that one. If you take out the raw materiall value from that 75%, you now have the amount that you could get if you made that same product. In most products, you would be looking at making the product for less than a third of what it is selling for. Next, figure how many of the items you could make per hour or per day. Next, multiply the number you could make per hour times the one third of the selling price and see what you get? This is our first cut at what you are worth per hour. If you did this right, you notice that you are now worth very much per hour. Sorry, but those are the facts of life.
Now, I say that this is the first cut, because in reality, the labor cost is much less than one third of the selling price. In many products it is much lower. Now are you starting to understand why China is selling all the products to us that we used to make right here? From the figures above, the people in China are very happy working for the value that you calculated. While most of us sit around looking in our mirrors thinking we are worth a lot more, most of the people of the world are very happy making this much per hour. The people in China and most of the world are cleaning our plow. I have no idea where the expression "cleaning one's plow" came from, but that is what is happening to us. Get used to it, most of us Americans are not worth all that much. Isn't it intersting that you would shop for the cheapest gas for your car and think you were smart, but when the world shops for the cheapest labor, you can't figure that one out? Just may be, we are not all that smart!!!
PS, John Deere made millions by inventing a plow that "cleaned its self". At one time this was a big job for a farmer and many asked their kids to "clean the plow".
