MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2024 - CHANGE IS INEVITABLE

 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2024, CHANGE IS INEVITABLE

LUDDITES

In the early 19th century, weaving was a cottage industry in Great Britain. Generally, women sat at their looms and made cloth. They might have used wool from the sheep or linen from flax fields.  

But, there was a big push to get the weavers together.  So, instead of weaving at home, they went to a shop, and maybe ten weavers (and more) would work together.  Some new looms could weave faster (frequently powered by water wheels).  

As I understand it, some people didn’t like the idea of a weaving shop.  They wanted weaving to continue to be done in homes.  So, these people found the development of weaving shops. 

Wikipedia writes, “The Luddites were members of a 19th-century movement of English textile workers who opposed using certain automated machinery due to worker pay and output quality concerns. They often destroyed the machines in organized raids. Members of the group referred to themselves as Luddites, self-described followers of "Ned Ludd," a legendary weaver whose name was used as a pseudonym in threatening letters to mill owners and government officials.”

There were raids on the weaving shops intending to return fabric-making to the previous methods.  

Mill and factory owners took to shooting protesters, and eventually, the movement was suppressed by legal and military force, which included execution and penal transportation of accused and convicted Luddites.

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Change is inevitable

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I’m writing that change is going to happen - no matter what.  If you are as old as I am, you might remember the “Look for the Union Label” advertisements:

Look for the union label
When you are buying that coat, dress or blouse.

Remember somewhere our union's sewing,
OOur wages are going to feed the kids and run the house.

We work hard, but who's complaining?
Thanks to the I.L.G., we're paying our way!  (Basically the “International Garments League” (or union))

So always look for the union label,
IIt says we're able to make it to the U.S.A.!

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Yet, when you buy a shirt, dress, top, skirt, or slacks and check the label, it might say “Made in Vietnam,” “Made in China,” or “Made in Bangladesh.”  

Yup - very little fabric and shirt-making is happening in the United States today.  It’s been shifted to the Far East - where labor is cheap.  So (in my opinion), instead of buying a shirt made in the United States for $20, you can buy a similar shirt made in Vietnam for $10.  American consumers opted for the cheaper-priced products.  

One way to keep foreign producers from flooding the American market is to establish tariffs. For example, if an item costs $10 from China, if the United States puts a 50% tariff on that item, it will now be $15. Thus, think twice about buying a shirt from China for $15 and an American-made shirt for $20.  

However, many of the things I use regularly come from the Far East. I buy most non-essentials from Dollar Tree for $1.25 an item, but with a 50% tariff, that amounts to $1.85 (or so). So, Dollar Tree would have fewer (or no ) cheaper nylon hoses.  

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CHANGE IS INEVITABLE. Staying in the current situation limits us (as individuals and as a country). In tomorrow's election, it seems as if one political party wants to stay the same while the other advocates change.

In a surprise to me, eight years ago I stepped across a threshold and gradually became a woman.  (yes, that was a shock).  However, some states and locations are enacting laws that will require me to use men’s restrooms (the term is “assigned male at birth”).  I left a church because some complained that I was using the ladies’ restroom.  At 77 years old, when I need a restroom - I need a restroom!!!  And I will NOT be using a males-only restroom.

CHANGE IS INEVITABLE

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

Karen Anne White, November 4, 2024