Closing Libraries

Rhode Island shows a $100 m drop in revenue so far this year. Public employment and services face a great deal of uncertainty - closing schools and libraries to 'save' money.

During the 70s and 80s New England and Rust Belt manufacturing made a massive exodus to the South for cheaper labor and less regulation. In the 90s and 00s companies moved offshore, taking advantage of no government regulation and extremely cheap labor. The big box stores proliferated and undermined small local businesses. In order to sell to the big box stores, you had to have the lowest prices
so they favored offshore manufacturers - managers who favored local manufacturers were fired for not inviting bids from offshore manufacturing.

The consumers were happy since they got things a bit cheaper than they did before. But, manufacturing was no longer helping to sustain a middle class and small businesses that reinvested their profits locally were gone. Brand after product brand was either copied offshore or pushed offshore to compete. Intellectual property became almost meaningless with patents copied, manufactured in bulk
and dumped on the local markets.

As everyone saved a little bit and bought more and more - the money left the country. It went to China to help build their roads and bridges and military. It went offshore to tax havens for the big business owners - no longer investing in the local economy. As business proliferated in China, demand for materials and energy went up - driving up oil prices. So, we used our credit cards to sustain our quality of life - borrowing from China and the middle east investors
who had bought the banks - to pay double in energy costs - plus interest at usury rates.

But we all 'saved' a little bit and got things a little cheaper at the expense of our neighbors, communities and finally ourselves. And, it turned out not to be a savings at all. Now we are closing schools and libraries to 'save' money.

Buy locally, support your local business owners and manufacturers and reinvest in your local economy. Create real sustainable stimulus. As consumers, we created the problem - as consumers we can solve it.

R. Balliot
http://oceanstatelibrarian.com
http://yeswecan-ri.com