In his book on the American South, Theroux is very critical of the Clinton foundation. Bill Clinton is from Arkansas. Yet seems to have done very little as a philanthropist to help his home State. Some people in the American south live in worse poverty than some in Africa.
PAUL THEROUX:
… China has been enriched by American-supplied jobs, making most of the destined-for-the-dump merchandise you find on store shelves all over America, every piece of plastic you can name, as well as Apple products, Barbie dolls or Nike LeBron basketball shoes retailed in the United States for up to $320 a pair. …
… if there was one experience of the Deep South that stayed with me it was the sight of shutdown factories and towns with their hearts torn out of them, and few jobs. There are outsourcing stories all over America, but the effects are stark in the Deep South. …
When Mr. Cook of Apple said he was going to hand over his entire fortune to charity, he was greatly praised by most people, but not by me. It so happened that at that time I was traveling up and down Tim Cook’s home state of Alabama, and all I saw were desolate towns and hollowed-out economies, where jobs had been lost to outsourcing, and education had been defunded by shortsighted politicians. …
Some companies have brought manufacturing jobs back to the United States, a move called “reshoring,” but so far this is little more than a gesture. It seems obvious that executives of American companies should invest in the Deep South as they did in China. …
California has a poverty rate of 23.8%, the highest of any state in the country …
The US Census declared that in 2010 15.1% of the general population lived in poverty:
9.9% of all white persons
12.1% of all Asian persons
26.6% of all Hispanic persons (of any race)
28.4% of all black persons.
If you are in the poverty demographic, you should certainly campaign against the Republican Party. Those people (in general) try to move as many dollars from the poor to the rich. 😦
American companies will eventually reshore factories. When it’s financially advantageous. That could be soon.
Apple – the most profitable company in the world – has made some attempts. Those have been problematic, so far.
Rick McCharles 