OPINION:
A pandemic may sow fear, but academics spread ignorance. That is to say, few bad ideas are more contagious than the assertion that low-priced goods like disposable face masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) require low wages. The truth is on 70 million face masks sent to FEMA and the federal government, thanks to workers in Virginia.
The truth is in the words “Made in USA,” which guarantees (per the Berry Amendment) the use of goods sourced and manufactured exclusively in the United States. So, with apologies to the likes of Paul Krugman, America’s comparative advantage is America itself.
Unlike China, where trust is the ultimate leap of faith, American companies must be faithful to laws, contracts, suppliers, workers and consumers. The price of failure is bankruptcy, infamy, and civil and criminal prosecution. We do not ask the public to trust what we must verify ourselves: the facts.
Free trade in America means freedom from servitude and slavery. Is a face mask from China so cheap as to justify the cheapening of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Is the savings worth the fear of not knowing if the mask is any good, if the good is the product of evil? Such are the hidden costs of buying goods from bad actors.
The cost of sacrificing common sense for saving 2 or 3 cents per good is no gain, and paying a few cents more for an American-made product is no loss. The real loss is outsourcing that which we have the means to manufacture at home.
Exporting opportunity at the expense of our own safety is not only unwise but unjust. America cannot sustain a double-dip depression of economic death and emotional destruction. We see the results of this depression in depression itself, from alcoholism to drug abuse to suicide.
Reversing this situation begins with the opportunity to earn a living, or: What is good for America is support for goods made by Americans. These workers earn a living — they work full-time — manufacturing lifesaving equipment.
Work is the great unifier of society. Work unites citizens of every background and of almost every point of view. Work is the mustard seed of faith and dignity, doing for individuals and communities what no amount of relief can equal or exceed.
Work breeds ambition, allowing Americans to set an example for the world to follow. Showcasing the diversity of our works is the clearest example of our independence, freeing us from unreasoning fear and unfair trade.
If we are to vaccinate ourselves from a pandemic, we must also inoculate ourselves from policies that are endemic in economics and manufacturing. The policies reflect theories about work, not the reality workers face. The policies reflect theories that undermine the promise of work. The policies reflect theories that do not work, that cannot work unless we surrender our sovereignty by outsourcing it altogether.
Work remains our last best hope of recovery. By recovering our confidence and strength, we restore hope for America’s workers. By restoring our economy, by reviving manufacturing and reopening factories, the hope of a better tomorrow — the hope that tomorrow will see more Americans going to work — we achieve the reality we deserve.
The reality of good jobs and good wages is no dream. If we will our economic recovery and recover our will to succeed, we will emerge from our present danger. Our reality is what we choose to make of it, by making goods in America, for the good of all Americans.
• Vitali Servutas is CEO of AmeriShield, a Virginia Beach-based manufacturer of disposable face masks and customizable PPE products.
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