I just saw Les Miserables. It was quite the epic. Im not much for musicals, and there were quite a few scenes where I wondered why they were singing. But all in all an excellent movie.
Oddly enough we watched The Grapes of Wrath last night, so it was a weekend of social change and the depravations of poverty. And that got me thinking about our current economic situation. Les Mis occurred against the backdrop of a dramatically changing French society, and that change was a by-product of the Industrial Revolution and the effect that had on the French economy and society.
I think that today we are in the middle of a changing world economy, brought about by computers and information technology, and impacted by globalization and the growth of countries like China and India. We may be in the midst of changes that rival those caused by the Industrial Revolution. It is difficult to tell when you are in the middle of it. It might be as monumental, or it might be of trifling importance. But in any event, changed in the world economy are having a significant impact on this country. Manufacturing is effected by the rise of industrial China and the spread of industrialization and factories around the world. That is reverberating throughout the nations economy.
We are in the middle of dramatically changing times. And our politicians are arguing not about how to deal with this new world, but about the tax rate on high wage earners. This disconnect is bizarre.
