Okay, I know, DIY blog here, but it also happens to be my personal blog, and I personally have a need to share my feelings on the big Air Force Tanker controversy, and here’s why…

Two years ago I would have heard all of the propaganda about giving $35 Billion in tax dollars to European countries that aren’t supporting our war effort, and how that money should be used to infuse our failing economy, etc. etc. And that’s all I would have heard. And I would have said yeah, that’s bullshit, rah rah rah, and a very ignorant part of me would have gotten swept up in all of the spin.

But then I spent 14 months studying the impact of globalization and international trade on pretty much everything that we do today. It doesn’t make me an expert, but it did enlighten me on one key aspect of the business world (highly relevant in this case) that I otherwise would not have thought of.

The necessity of competition.

Here’s what happened. Airbus(Northop Grummon) offered a bigger, better product. In all of the articles I’ve read and debates I’ve seen on TV the issues that are being debated never center around the actual product. Instead, people that like to start fires say things like ”this is going to hurt our economy” and “we’re giving money to people that won’t send troops to support our war effort.”

But you know what happens when we decide ‘hey, we should just keep the contract in the US to support ourselves’? No competition. So maybe that works out okay for us this time, but next time Boeing knows it’s going to get the contract since it’s an American company, so they don’t need to worry about making a bigger/cheaper/more efficient product. Then our military isn’t working with the best equipment it could be and there’s absolutely no incentive for a big company like Boeing (who doesn’t have any real national competition) to offer a better product.

What I don’t understand is why everyone is up-in-arms against the Air Force. If, as Americans, we want to be pissed that the Air Force contract went overseas, then it’s Boeing we need to pissed at. Offer a better product, Boeing. Step up to the frigging plate next time so that the jobs stay in America.  

Outsourcing is not the devil.

We believe in a free-market economy in this country, and for good reason. It breeds competition, innovation, and it responds to the needs of the consumers. Any time a country tries to close its doors, and any time a government tries to take over and control a country’s economy, the same things happen: lack of efficiency, inflation, and economic failure. Why wouldn’t the same principles apply on a smaller scale (think Unions and how the lack of motivation/incentive for workers has essentially killed the American auto industry) or on a larger scale, as in how we as a country function in the global market.

Frankly, I think we’ve gotten lazy as a country. We’ve been sitting at the top for so long that we don’t feel like we should work for it anymore… like its unnecessary to be the the most educated, the most innovative, the most hard-working. We want handouts, and we’re blaming all the wrong people when the jobs go somewhere else.

You would think at some point the government, the companies, and people of America would start taking responsibility for themselves instead of engaging in all of the finger pointing, fire starting, and laying of blame.

But that might be asking too much.

End rant.

(And just for putting up with it and to prove I haven’t gone off the DIY deep end, I’ll post my Cube Steak Sandwich recipe first thing tomorrow.)

Tags: air force, airbus, boeing, competition, economy, politics, tanker deal