Lifestyles

Making Patriotic Choices To Save The Economy by Richard L. Trumka

Posted: 9/17/2010

Our nation is at a crossroad, and working people are calling for economic patriotism to drive us forward.

(NAPSI) - Every night, 15 million people in this great country go to sleep hoping that tomorrow will be the day they find a job. Hundreds of thousands of employees of our states and cities wake up hoping this won't be their last day on the job. Five million people wake up trying to save their homes from foreclosure by the big banks. And nearly 17 million children go to bed hungry. This isn't the America I dreamed of.

It's time for all Americans to remember that patriotism is about more than fighting abroad. It's also about fighting for ourselves, our neighbors and our communities here in the United States. It's time for economic patriotism. How can we be patriotic?

First, I call on every American to make a choice to be patriotic in our everyday lives. That means demanding to know which products are made in America and then choosing them. We can buy products made in countries where workers make a few pennies an hour with few if any protections on the job, or we can support products made here where our neighbors and community members make a living from what they create. It's time we buy American and buy on Main Street. And when we do that, we'll invest in our communities and ensure that our jobs are good jobs and our children have a thriving future.

We need policies that allow corporations to be economic patriots without being penalized. Over time, corporations made choices that put short-term profits over humanity, and the world market over American communities, and it hollowed out our great nation.

Currently, our policies favor companies that ship our good jobs overseas to countries where there are few laws in place to protect workers' safety, their rights and the environment. We must stop rewarding outsourcing and promote manufacturing in the United States instead. Our leaders must also hold China accountable for manipulating its currency, which hurts America's workers and creates a massive trade imbalance. We must invest in our crumbling roads, schools and bridges, which will create good jobs and create a solid foundation for the next generation. And we must elect leaders who share these goals.

Every one of us has a choice. As patriots, let's choose the path forward to create good jobs, jobs that can't be shipped overseas, jobs that can support a family. It's about time to invest in the country we love.

Trumka is president of the 11.5 million−member AFL-CIO, which represents firefighters, teachers, nurses, electricians, scientists and communications workers.

Photo credit: Andre Martenez