The average American shopper knows without being told that our economy has been outsourced. A trip to any department store shows nearly every item bears a tag stating country of origin. Few say the United States. Some, in an effort to deflect our immediate reaction of anger say, "Assembled in the USA" or some other terminology. Some few shoppers are deceived by these labels, hopefully most are not. Unfortunately, many do not see the ugly significance of this outsourcing.

Even our grocery stores, although country of origin is not required on all food products, force us to buy imported goods. Most Americans would be thoroughly shocked to know just how much of our produce, meat, over-the-counter drugs and prescription ingredients is imported, without safety controls, from developing nations. Globalization has overtaken America and we never saw it coming.

Obviously, we should have known. Politicians and financiers, CEO's and stockholders all knew-and they told us so in carefully-disguised terms that they fully intended to outsource our jobs and our children's futures to the siren call of short-term profits. Myriad forward-looking statements' cajoled investors with the promise of untold wealth if they would just participate in the hollowing-out of the American economy. Press releases from major corporations touted their expansion' into foreign countries, neglecting to state their intended contraction here at home.

The major cable news networks all have their week-end investor' news reports. These Hot-Airheads apparently believe whatever is good for their personal well-funded portfolio is good for America. They have no concept of the fact that most Americans are already living paycheck to paycheck-if they do, they blame the "lower-classes" lack of initiative, desire for immediate gratification and generally poor sense of responsibility. Some of this is undoubtedly true in some instances; however it neglects to take into account the cold hard facts of opportunity, family prestige and resources and networks of friends.

That the news media should even speak so freely about there being "lower classes" in America gives lie to the widely-held myth of equal opportunity. The truth is, equal opportunity is available only to the few and is thus something other than equal and becoming more so daily. Simply because some few individuals climb beyond their birth "station" in life does not mean there are equal opportunities for all. Rising to the top requires something

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