The Docks by Bill Sharpsteen

Author:Bill Sharpsteen [Sharpsteen, Bill]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: University of California Press 2011
ISBN: 0520261933
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

economy that all it takes is a small fire at a crane or a single labor dispute to ripple across the country, potentially costing the nation billions.

On my way back home, I visit the major retailer’s store in Dallas and browse through the shelves. The place overflows with “widgets,”

most of them no doubt hitting the shelves just when they’re needed to replace purchased merchandise. I pick through a few labels: “Made in China,” “Made in Pakistan,” “Made in India.” Granted, these are hardly life-and-death items whose absence would cause a crisis, but that’s not the point. If something happens at the port so many miles to the west, sales associates might be out of work. Given Americans’ flirtation with extreme debt, that loss in pay might mean a lot of unpaid bills adding up. Those in the shipping industry could find themselves out of work as well. Stockholders, many depending partly on the major retailer’s fortunes to keep them afloat, could lose money. All these people could experience some minor to serious financial grief.

As I’m driving west, once again along the Sunset Route’s tracks, the locomotives dragging hundreds of containers pour past me, going east.

But instead of tons of metal, I’m seeing more than a few Americans unaware of what it all represents to them.

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9/27/2010 1:35:31 PM

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