A laborer in Indiana awakes to the alarm on his iPhone. The amazing little device was manufactured more than 7,000 miles away by Chinese laborers. He goes to his closet and selects a long sleeved t-shirt that was produced in Bangladesh. Of course, our laborer does not know or care where the garment was made. Nor could he locate Bangladesh on a globe. He just wanted a plain black shirt to wear to work. His job is to operate the rubber injection molding presses at a nearby factory. The presses churn out rubber components for use in automobiles all over the world.
After putting on his jeans (made in Vietnam) and his socks & work boots (both made in China), he grabs a couple of bananas (grown in Honduras) from the kitchen and heads to his truck (assembled in Mexico). He stops to fill his gas tank with fuel that was refined in Texas and to purchase some cigarettes which were packaged in Virginia. Back in his truck, he turns on the radio. The man on the AM station is terrified of a "nuclear Iran". He says such a "rogue nation" wouldn't hesitate to use nuclear weapons against civilians. He says it will mean the end of Israel. The laborer from Indiana has a vague idea about where these places are. He wonders aloud to himself why we don't just nuke the sons of bitches. The irony of this thought does not occur to him.
Shortly after arriving at the factory, our laborer makes his way to the break room. From the vending machines (which were made in West Virginia) he buys some potato chips that were processed in Wisconsin and, to wash them down, an energy drink that was bottled in California. He sits down at a picnic table that was built in Iowa and peruses the newspaper that is lying on top of it. He begins to read an article that is proclaiming an end to the "Great Recession". The article says that Janet Yellen has performed admirably in her short time as Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The author says that the tricky part now will be to avoid the inflation that could result from higher wages. The laborer from Indiana has never heard the phrase "price/wage spiral". He doesn't know that the theory was debunked long ago. Neither does the Washington economist who wrote the article.
A much younger man joins him at the table. It isn't long before our laborer is regaling the lad with tales of the good ol' days. He tells how he used to get paid so much more for doing so much less. He had worked in a union shop for more than 15 years. But eventually, they shut the doors in Indiana and reopened them south of the Rio Grande. He curses Bill Clinton for implementing NAFTA, but he doesn't really know what NAFTA is...or was. He isn't sure if it's still a thing. But he will still hold it against Hillary. He hates Hillary.
His shift has yet to begin, but he is already ready for it to be over. After work he has plans to go fishing with his new (Korean) fishing rod. Beside the lake, he will not contemplate the way capitalism has connected him, across space and time, to millions of other people. He will not consider that less political barriers to trade would mean a bigger bounty of goods for himself and others. He will see no connection between such barriers and the wars which are fought to preserve them. Perhaps, if it had been explained to him long ago, he could have grasped all of this. But it's too late now. He has no time to reflect on such trivial matters. He has to work. He has to live.
As he heads out to the floor to relieve 3rd shift, he adjusts the hat he is wearing which depicts a bald eagle and an American flag. It was made in Taiwan.
