hings are tough in America, these days. There’s no doubt about it. The American work force is struggling to adapt to a changing global economy. The competition from foreign workers – especially in manufacturing – is growing increasingly intense. And that’s not changing any time soon. Countries like China will continue to adopt technologies, and produce a more and more educated work force. They’ll be moving up the manufacturing value chain, with the Asian Tiger economies like Thailand and Malaysia right behind them.

American workers have a hard row to hoe. And the solution, in the aggregate, cannot be to become the low-cost provider. No American can compete with a rural Cambodian on price alone. Unions have been a thorn in the side of American manufacturing, yes – and with disastrous results for their current crop of members (outside of the public employee unions). But keep in mind America’s unique value proposition: America has never been the ‘low-cost’ provider of anything in the global economy. America’s value proposition is and always will be something better than that: Freedom.

That’s more than a word. Freedom – and the economic attributes that only a free people can develop – is still a global economic catalyst, and a powerful argument for American prosperity going forward:

Ingenuity. Freedom encourages and rewards inquiry, innovation and progress. The world still looks to the United States for new inventions and scientific breakthroughs in computer science, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and engineering. Slaves keep their heads down and try to stay out of trouble. Free people still create. And Americans can still outcreate any communist regime.

The rule of law. Yes, there is corruption throughout American public life. But it is nothing like that openly and shamelessly practiced in most of the rest of the world. In America, bribery and graft are aberrations, and the guilty know they run the risk of being brought down at any time (Illinois residents, take note!). Much of the world’s population has resigned to being powerless to fight it. It’s business as usual throughout the developing world. Americans, on the other hand, don’t accept it – and still have access to a functioning court system to combat it. American companies may move manufacturing abroad. But their core headquarters functions, and all their capital-raising functions, are still located here in the U.S. – largely because they can do business on a level playing field.

Respect for Property Rights. People in foreign countries live under the gun: They know the government could come in at any time and nationalize their assets. Not just their businesses, but everything they own. The older people in China remember the horrors of Mao Tse Tung and the Cultural Revolution. Zimbabwe has all but collapsed as wealth fled the country to escape their brutal nationalization policies. Cubans remember how wealth fled the island after Castro took power – and Venezuelans are always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Viet Nam is still near the bottom of the manufacturing value chain nearly 40 years after the communists sacked Saigon – and Cambodia never recovered from the brutality of the Khmer Rouge and the mass collectivization of farms and wholesale destruction of property – much less from their wanton disregard of human dignity and life itself.

None of this works to save manufacturing jobs in the U.S. But as job seekers, be very cognizant of where the opportunities lie. Chances are the key to your future advancement is not going to be in the factories. In view of the terrible job creation track record of U.S. manufacturers in recent years, it would be crazy to hitch yourself to that wagon.

Instead, you should direct your efforts at the “head sheds” – the corporate headquarters elements. Develop the skills that will be in demand, on site, no matter what the economic situation:

• Information technology and on-site networking and repair.
• Communications, including satellite communication and audio-video.
• Security.
• Relationship-oriented (not commodity) sales.
• Marketing.
• Public Relations.
• Construction (it’s cyclical, yes. But it can’t be sent to China).
• In-person customer service.
• Research and Development.
• Health Care.
• Education.

Each of these fields has a significant barrier to entry that no foreign provider can readily surmount. All of these fields maximize America’s strengths, and none of these jobs can be readily outsourced abroad.

Remember: People from all over the world are still emigrating to America to raise their families and to seek their fortunes. The opposite isn’t happening. The American dream is still alive and well, and to the rest of the world, the huddled masses yearning to be free, the American Dream still exists.

In his 1630 sermon, “A Model of Christian Charitie,” the early American theologian John Winthrop described our infant nation as a “shining city on a hill.” Nearly four centuries later, America is still that city – a beacon of freedom and hope to the rest of the world.

Don’t forget it.

Your DREAM JOB is just a step away! Step in & grab it!