When you look at the last fifty years, America has done some great things and has created many technologies that grew into their own separate industries with sophisticated global markets.

The Space Program is always looked at as something that really grew the Aerospace industry, but what about all the technological byproducts that grew into their own industries and spawned more products besides ones that were needed in the Space Program?  All the ancillary industries connected to the Space Program flourished with new applications and creative approaches to cross-pollinate new ideas.

Medical technology grew by leaps-and-bounds due to the needs of the space program.  By building more micro-diagnostic devices, many of them transferred into the more traditional areas of medicine as well as created submarkets of new products.

The computer industry and related integrated chip manufacturing industry grew by leaps-and-bounds as well because of the need for miniaturization of electrical and computer components used on spacecraft.

The whole idea of solar-powered systems goes back to the 1960s.  It is not a new technology of today.  This was a proven technology with some of the first spacecraft and satellites that needed a source for recharging their batteries.

Many industries benefitted by the research and development as well as the manufacturing of new computer chips, micro-electronics and development of software languages that went from basically machine-level binary code to high-level languages.

No one can argue that the Space Program created a huge amount of jobs not only directly within its governmental agencies like NASA, but also in all the supporting industries that then spawned off new industries with the technologies they perfected.

Today, the Space Program has been cut back.  Nothing has been mentioned that will take its place.  Having a manned space flight to Mars might recharge the Space Program and its acceleration of many industries, but that has yet to materialize.

Is there no value in having these types of programs?  Some would say yes.  To me, the Space Program created many high-tech jobs and spawned many new technologies, applications and products that went way beyond the needs of the program itself.

Where do all those people with advanced degrees and years of experience go to, now that they cut back on the space program?  Here is one story where the person is homeless.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eNPAH46oI8&feature=related  Something is fundamentally wrong when you have this type of talent literally on the street.

ONCE YOU GIVE UP AN INDUSTRY SEGMENT, IT’S GONE

A long-time friend and business associate of mine pointed out that there is no “next frontier” that America is zeroing in on that can create and sustain new jobs.  The cutting-edge area of software development and engineering seems to have slipped away to other countries as those experienced professionals in the United States got laid off in the last decade and never re-hired into comparable positions.

“Why hire someone for $100,000 if we can get someone for $45,000?” was the typical attitude of many multi-national companies.

The same can be viewed by other industry segments that used to be US-dominated industries:  Steel, automobile, consumer electronics, and the list goes on.

What are we establishing that will be the “new frontier” that offer good-paying jobs to large groups of people?  Can we re-claim any of the industries that have slipped away?

My friend asked, “Can you name any industry that we have lost to global competitors that we can re-claim?”  That was an excellent question and I don’t think there is any answer for it except – none.

Think about it.  We lost our leadership position within many industries.  I remember when the Big Three (GM, Ford, and Chrysler) laughed at car competition from Japan saying, “they (customers) may have bought that small import, but they will be back to buy their “prestige car” from us.”

Instead of switching up from their Honda, Nissan or Toyota to a Buick, Chrysler or Mercury, many stuck with their Japanese cars looking at better fuel economy and more loaded larger cars.  The Big Three started to lose ground in the 1980s and have had to play catch up.  Two out of the three had to be bailed out and the question now is, was it worth it?

Other industries did not fare as well when their Japanese competition steamrolled them into oblivion.  How many television makers are still here in the United States?  None.  Consumer electronics like DVD players?  Cameras?  It is all dominated by someone else.  Teletype, a company most wouldn’t even remember, at one time, owned 98% of the terminal market.  In the early 1980s, they owned about 3% of that market.  Today, they are long gone.

What about other appliances?  What we have seen is a new generation of appliances like washers, dryers and refrigerators coming from South Korea.  They have also entered and made substantial gains in the automobile market.

THE FALSE PROMISE OF “GREEN TECHNOLOGIES”

Thousands of jobs are not going to be generated by moving into green technologies.  Any major solar panel manufacturing and assembly can be done much cheaper in over a half dozen countries and not the United States.

Once a manufacturing facility is thoroughly thought out, the labor costs would be much better in a different country.  So if there is a big push to build a plant, chances are, it will not be in the United States.

As to manufacturing electric cars, where is the market?  The latest sales volume for GM’s Chevy Volt is abysmal.  They only sold 125 cars in July for a total of just over 2,000 since its roll out in December 2010.

When you look at the Volt’s price-tag ($40,000), many people walk away.  Those who might be the most proactive when it comes to the environment, are surely not putting their money where their mouth is.  $40,000 buys a lot of car or SUV.

For $40,000, you can get a Mercedes C350, a Cadillac SVX Luxury crossover (FWD, AWD at about $1,500 more), or a loaded Nissan Maxima for about a grand less ($39, 171).  Those who can afford that type of vehicle are not opting for the electric car.

If you really want to be “environmentally conscious” you should go out a buy a used car (“pre-driven” for those who like euphemism better), instead of a new car.  The actual manufacturing of the car is what takes up so much energy, so we should be promoting “buy used” instead of promoting “buy new”.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS NO INDUSTRY

As to the social media “industry”, it is no replacement for a real industry segment.  Social media is not an industry, it's many people's last grasp at some type of pseudo-expertise that says they are really into networking with others who are really into networking - to try a find a real job that isn't there.

In order to get out of this recession/depression, we have to identify and support a new segment for growth, high-paid jobs and become the dominant country within that segment.  Otherwise, we are going to continue to wallow in a shrinking job market with jobs programs as well as educational curricula that doesn’t match today and tomorrow’s needs.

CARLINI-ISM :  Shovel-ready projects did not work.  Keyboard-ready projects might have been a better program to get the unemployed and underemployed back to work.

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