One way American businesses ended up in China, Vietnam, Thailand.

[Buckeyeblue]

8. Ultimately it was a way to weaken unions but most people didn't care

Once upon a time in our country unions were very strong. Sure they had some strange bed fellows. But unions instituted worker safety rules, paid vacation, sick days, pensions and to some extent job security. Many union negotiated benefits have come law.

By leaving the country to manufacture, businesses didn't have to negotiate with unions. And ultimately reduced the number of people who belonged to unions.

What they return were cheaper products with higher profit margins. And sadly, union and non-union families purchased these products. Way leads on to way, so other manufacturers followed this strategy.

And would also like to say that many parents of gen-xers who worked in factories hated their jobs. They implored their kids to go to college to avoid working in the factories. My dad would, almost daily, tell me how much he hated his job. This was the case for many of my friends. I grew up in a blue collar town. So while the manufacturing jobs were moving away, we didn't care because we didn't want them.