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As this latest Black Friday clearly demonstrated, Americans are literally willing to trample one another to get the best deals on cheap foreign-made plastic crap. Meanwhile, as thousands of factories and millions of jobs continue to get shipped overseas, the United States is rapidly turning into a post-industrial wasteland. Once great manufacturing cities such as Camden, New Jersey have become crime-ridden, gang-infested hellholes. In some U.S. cities, the “real” unemployment rate is around 30 or 40 percent. The American people desperately need jobs, but the American people are also showing no signs that they plan to give up their addiction to cheap foreign goods. Our politicians keep insisting that the American people just need “more education” and “more skills” in order to compete, but they don’t ever seem to explain how more education and more skills are going to make new jobs pop into existence out of thin air. The truth is that the American Dream is rapidly becoming the American Nightmare and there is not much hope that any of this is going to turn around any time soon.

The video posted below is a compilation of video footage from this past Black Friday. It is absolutely shocking to see what average Americans will do to each other just to save a little bit of money on cheap foreign-made goods….

Very few of the Americans in the video posted above probably even realize that this behavior is destroying our economy a little bit more every day.

Proponents of outsourcing point to all the cheap goods filling our stores as a good thing, but they never tell us about all the good paying American jobs that have been lost.

Sacrificing our industrial base for cheap foreign-made plastic crap is kind of like throwing your furniture into the fire to keep your house warm. We are literally participating in our own economic destruction.

This is a long-term problem that we are facing. The United States has been running trade deficits for over three decades. Big corporations like Ford Motor Company are making record profits by shipping our jobs out of the country.

But without good paying jobs, the U.S. middle class simply is not going to survive.

If anyone can explain how the U.S. middle class is going to continue to exist without good jobs then please let the rest of us know.

Just look at what is already happening in city after city across the United States.

In a new article entitled “City of Ruins“, Chris Hedges does an amazing job of documenting the horrific decline of the city of Camden, New Jersey. Hedges estimates that the real rate of unemployment in Camden is somewhere around 30 to 40 percent, and he makes it sound like nobody in their right mind would want to live there now….

Camden is where those discarded as human refuse are dumped, along with the physical refuse of postindustrial America. A sprawling sewage treatment plant on forty acres of riverfront land processes 58 million gallons of wastewater a day for Camden County. The stench of sewage lingers in the streets. There is a huge trash-burning plant that releases noxious clouds, a prison, a massive cement plant and mountains of scrap metal feeding into a giant shredder. The city is scarred with several thousand decaying abandoned row houses; the skeletal remains of windowless brick factories and gutted gas stations; overgrown vacant lots filled with garbage and old tires; neglected, weed-filled cemeteries; and boarded-up store fronts.

Gangs have stepped into the gaping void left by industry. In Camden today, drugs and prostitution are two of the only viable businesses left – especially for those who cannot find employment anywhere else. The following is how Hedges describes the current state of affairs….

There are perhaps a hundred open-air drug markets, most run by gangs like the Bloods, the Latin Kings, Los Nietos and MS-13. Knots of young men in black leather jackets and baggy sweatshirts sell weed and crack to clients, many of whom drive in from the suburbs. The drug trade is one of the city’s few thriving businesses. A weapon, police say, is never more than a few feet away, usually stashed behind a trash can, in the grass or on a porch.

But before we all start judging Camden for being such a horrible place to live, it is important to realize that this is happening in communities from coast to coast. All over the United States industries are leaving and deep social decay is setting in.

If your community is still in good shape right now, be thankful, because what is happening in Camden is going to be happening everywhere soon.

So can anything be done to reverse all this? Well, yes, but right now most of our politicians are standing idly by and are refusing to even speak up about these issues.

Some time ago, CNN ran a series entitled “Exporting America” that looked into the phenomenon of big corporations outsourcing jobs that used to go to Americans. The following are the U.S. companies that CNN confirmed were sending jobs overseas….

3Com

3M

A

Aalfs Manufacturing

Aavid Thermal Technologies

ABC-NACO

Accenture

Access Electronics

Accuride Corporation

Accuride International

Adaptec

ADC

Adobe Systems

Advanced Energy Industries

Aetna

Affiliated Computer Services

AFS Technologies

A.G. Edwards

Agere Systems

Agilent Technologies

AIG

Alamo Rent A Car

Albany International Corp.

Albertson’s

Alcoa

Alcoa Fujikura

Allen Systems Group

Alliance Semiconductor

Allstate

Alpha Thought Global

Altria Group

Amazon.com

AMD

Americ Disc

American Dawn

American Express

American Greetings

American Household

American Management Systems

American Standard

American Uniform Company

AMETEK

AMI DODUCO

Amloid Corporation

Amphenol Corporation

Analog Devices

Anchor Glass Container

ANDA Networks

Anderson Electrical Products

Andrew Corporation

Anheuser-Busch

Angelica Corporation

Ansell Health Care

Ansell Protective Products

Anvil Knitwear

AOL

A.O. Smith

Apple

Applied Materials

Ark-Les Corporation

Arlee Home Fashions

Art Leather Manufacturing

Artex International

ArvinMeritor

Asco Power Technologies

Ashland

AstenJohnson

Asyst Technologies

Atchison Products, Inc.

A.T. Cross Company

AT&T

AT&T Wireless

A.T. Kearney

Augusta Sportswear

Authentic Fitness Corporation

Automatic Data Processing

Avanade

Avanex

Avaya

Avery Dennison

Azima Healthcare Services

Axiohm Transaction Solutions

B

Bank of America

Bank of New York

Bank One

Bard Access Systems

Barnes Group

Barth & Dreyfuss of California

Bassett Furniture

Bassler Electric Company

BBi Enterprises L.P.

Beacon Blankets

BearingPoint

Bear Stearns

BEA Systems

Bechtel

Becton Dickinson

BellSouth

Bentley Systems

Berdon LLP

Berne Apparel

Bernhardt Furniture

Best Buy

Bestt Liebco Corporation

Beverly Enterprises

Birdair, Inc.

BISSELL

Black & Decker

Blauer Manufacturing

Blue Cast Denim

Bobs Candies

Borden Chemical

Bourns

Bose Corporation

Bowater

BMC Software

Boeing

Braden Manufacturing

Briggs Industries

Brady Corporation

Bristol-Myers Squibb

Bristol Tank & Welding Co.

Brocade

Brooks Automation

Brown Wooten Mills Inc.

Buck Forkardt, Inc.

Bumble Bee

Burle Industries

Burlington House Home Fashions

Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway

C

Cadence Design Systems

Camfil Farr

Candle Corporation

Cains Pickles

Capital One

Cardinal Brands

Carrier

Carter’s

Caterpillar

C-COR.net

C&D Technologies

Cellpoint Systems

Cendant

Centis, Inc.

Cerner Corporation

Charles Schwab

ChevronTexaco

The Cherry Corporation

CIBER

Ciena

Cigna

Circuit City

Cirrus Logic

Cisco Systems

Citigroup

Clear Pine Mouldings

Clorox

CNA

Coastcast Corp.

Coca-Cola

Cognizant Technology Solutions

Collins & Aikman

Collis, Inc.

Columbia House

Comcast Holdings

Comdial Corporation

Computer Associates

Computer Horizons

Computer Sciences Corporation

CompuServe

Concise Fabricators

Conectl Corporation

Conseco

Consolidated Metro

Continental Airlines

Convergys

Cooper Crouse-Hinds

Cooper Tire & Rubber

Cooper Tools

Cooper Wiring Devices

Copperweld

Cordis Corporation

Corning

Corning Cable Systems

Corning Frequency Control

Countrywide Financial

COVAD Communications

Covansys

Creo Americas

Cross Creek Apparel

Crouzet Corporation

Crown Holdings

CSX

Cummins

Cutler-Hammer

Cypress Semiconductor

D

Dana Corporation

Daniel Woodhead

Davis Wire Corp.

Daws Manufacturing

Dayton Superior

DeCrane Aircraft

Delco Remy

Dell Computer

DeLong Sportswear

Delphi

Delta Air Lines

Delta Apparel

Direct TV

Discover

DJ Orthopedics

Document Sciences Corporation

Dometic Corp.

Donaldson Company

Douglas Furniture of California

Dow Chemical

Dresser

Dun & Bradstreet

DuPont

E

Earthlink

Eastman Kodak

Eaton Corporation

Edco, Inc.

Editorial America

eFunds

Edscha

Ehlert Tool Company

Elbeco Inc.

Electroglas

Electronic Data Systems

Electronics for Imaging

Electro Technology

Eli Lilly

Elmer’s Products

E-Loan

EMC

Emerson Electric

Emerson Power Transmission

Emglo Products

Engel Machinery

En Pointe Technologies

Equifax

Ernst & Young

Essilor of America

Ethan Allen

Evenflo

Evergreen Wholesale Florist

Evolving Systems

Evy of California

Expedia

Extrasport

ExxonMobil

F

Fairfield Manufacturing

Fair Isaac

Fansteel Inc.

Farley’s & Sathers Candy Co.

Fasco Industries

Fawn Industries

Fayette Cotton Mill

FCI USA

Fedders Corporation

Federal Mogul

Federated Department Stores

Fellowes

Fender Musical Instruments

Fidelity Investments

Financial Techologies International

Findlay Industries

First American Title Insurance

First Data

First Index

Fisher Hamilton

Flowserve

Fluor

FMC Corporation

Fontaine International

Ford Motor

Foster Wheeler

Franklin Mint

Franklin Templeton

Freeborders

Frito Lay

Fruit of the Loom

G

Garan Manufacturing

Gateway

GE Capital

GE Medical Systems

Gemtron Corporation

General Binding Corporation

General Cable Corp.

General Electric

General Motors

Generation 2 Worldwide

Genesco

Georgia-Pacific

Gerber Childrenswear

GlobespanVirata

Goldman Sachs

Gold Toe Brands

Goodrich

Goodyear Tire & Rubber

Google

Graphic Controls

Greenpoint Mortgage

Greenwood Mills

Grote Industries

Grove U.S. LLC

Guardian Life Insurance

Guilford Mills

Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.

H

Haggar

Halliburton

Hamilton Beach/Procter-Silex

The Hartford Financial Services Group

Harper-Wyman Company

Hasbro Manufacturing Services

Hawk Corporation

Hawker Power Systems, Inc.

Haworth

Headstrong

HealthAxis

Hedstrom

Hein-Werner Corp.

Helen of Troy

Helsapenn Inc.

Hershey

Hewitt Associates

Hewlett-Packard

Hoffman Enclosures, Inc.

Hoffman/New Yorker

The Holmes Group

Home Depot

Honeywell

HSN

Hubbell Inc.

Humana

Hunter Sadler

Hutchinson Sealing Systems, Inc

HyperTech Solutions

I

IBM

iGate Corporation

Illinois Tool Works

IMI Cornelius

Imperial Home Decor Group

Indiana Knitwear Corp.

IndyMac Bancorp

Infogain

Ingersoll-Rand

Innodata Isogen

Innova Solutions

Insilco Technologies

Intel

InterMetro Industries

International Paper

Interroll Corporation

Intuit

Invacare

Iris Graphics, Inc.

Isola Laminate Systems

Iteris Holdings, Inc.

ITT Educational Services

ITT Industries

J

Jabil Circuit

Jacobs Engineering

Jacuzzi

Jakel, Inc.

JanSport

Jantzen Inc.

JDS Uniphase

Jockey International

John Crane

John Deere

Johns Manville

Johnson Controls

Johnson & Johnson

JPMorgan Chase

J.R. Simplot

Juniper Networks

Justin Brands

K

KANA Software

Kaiser Permanente

Kanbay

Kayby Mills of North Carolina

Keane

Kellogg

Kellwood

KEMET

KEMET Electronics

Kendall Healthcare

Kenexa

Kentucky Apparel

Kerr-McGee Chemical

KeyCorp

Key Industries

Key Safety Systems

Key Tronic Corp.

Kimberly-Clark

KLA-Tencor

Knight Textile Corp.

Kojo Worldwide Corporation

Kraft Foods

K2 Inc.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Kwikset

L

Lancer Partnership

Lander Company

LaCrosse Footwear

Lamb Technicon

Lau Industries

Lands’ End

Lawson Software

Layne Christensen

Leach International

Lear Corporation

Leech Tool & Die Works

Lehman Brothers

Leoni Wiring Systems

Levi Strauss

Leviton Manufacturing Co.

Lexmark International

Lexstar Technologies

Liebert Corporation

Lifescan

Lillian Vernon

Linksys

Linq Industrial Fabrics, Inc.

Lionbridge Technologies

Lionel

Littelfuse

LiveBridge

LNP Engineering Plastics

Lockheed Martin

Longaberger

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation

Louisville Ladder Group LLC

Lowe’s

Lucent

Lund International

Lyall Alabama

M

Madill Corporation

Magma Design Automation

Magnequench

Magnetek

Maidenform

Mallinckrodt, Inc.

The Manitowoc Company

Manugistics

Marathon Oil

Maritz

Mars

Marshall Fields

Mattel

Master Lock

Materials Processing, Inc.

Maxim Integrated Products

Maxi Switch

Maxxim Medical

Maytag

McDATA Corporation

McKinsey & Company

MeadWestvaco

Mediacopy

Medtronic

Mellon Bank

Mentor Graphics Corp.

Meridian Automotive Systems

Merit Abrasive Products

Merrill Corporation

Merrill Lynch

Metasolv

MetLife

Micro Motion, Inc.

Microsoft

Midcom Inc.

Midwest Electric Products

Milacron

Modern Plastics Technics

Modine Manufacturing

Moen

Money’s Foods Us Inc.

Monona Wire Corp.

Monsanto

Morgan Stanley

Motion Control Industries

Motor Coach Industries International

Motorola

Mrs. Allison’s Cookie Co.

Mulox

N

Nabco

Nabisco

NACCO Industries

National City Corporation

National Electric Carbon Products

National Life

National Semiconductor

NCR Corporation

neoIT

NETGEAR

Network Associates

Newell Rubbermaid

Newell Window Furnishings

New World Pasta

New York Life Insurance

Nice Ball Bearings

Nike

Nordstrom

Northrop Grumman

Northwest Airlines

Nu Gro Technologies

Nu-kote International

NutraMax Products

Nypro Alabama

O

O’Bryan Brothers Inc.

Ocwen Financial

Office Depot

Ogden Manufacturing

Oglevee, Ltd

Ohio Art

Ohmite Manufacturing Co.

Old Forge Lamp & Shade

Omniglow Corporation

ON Semiconductor

Orbitz

Oracle

OshKosh B’Gosh

Otis Elevator

Outsource Partners International

Owens-Brigam Medical Co.

Owens Corning

Oxford Automotive

Oxford Industries

P

Pacific Precision Metals

Pak-Mor Manufacturing

palmOne

Parallax Power Components

Paramount Apparel

Parker-Hannifin

Parsons E&C

Paxar Corporation

Pearson Digital Learning

Peavey Electronics CorporationÊÊ

PeopleSoft

PepsiCo

Pericom Semiconductor

PerkinElmer

PerkinElmer Life Sciences, Inc.

Perot Systems

Pfaltzgraff

Pfizer

Phillips-Van Heusen

Pinnacle West Capital Corporation

Pitney Bowes

Plaid Clothing Company

Planar Systems

Plexus

Pliant Corporation

PL Industries

Polaroid

Polymer Sealing Solutions

Portal Software

Portex, Inc.

Portola Packaging

Port Townsend Paper Corp.

Power One

Pratt & Whitney

Price Pfister

priceline.com

Pridecraft Enterprises

Prime Tanning

Primus Telecom

Procter & Gamble

Progress Lighting

ProQuest

Providian Financial

Prudential Insurance

Q

Quaker Oats

Quadion Corporation

Quantegy

Quark

Qwest Communications

R

Radio Flyer

Radio Shack

Rainbow Technologies

Rawlings Sporting Goods

Rayovac

Raytheon Aircraft

RCG Information Technology

Red Kap

Regal-Beloit Corporation

Regal Rugs

Respiratory Support Products

Regence Group

R.G. Barry Corp.

Rich Products

River Holding Corp.

Robert Mitchell Co., Inc.

Rockwell Automations

Rockwell Collins

Rogers

Rohm & Haas

Ropak Northwest

RR Donnelley & Sons

Rugged Sportswear

Russell Corporation

S

S1 Corporation

S & B Engineers and Constructors

Sabre

Safeway

SAIC

Sallie Mae

Samsonite

Samuel-Whittar, Inc.

Sanford

Sanmina-SCI

Sapient

Sara Lee

Saturn Electronics & Engineering

SBC Communications

Schumacher Electric

Scientific Atlanta

Seal Glove Manufacturing

Seco Manufacturing Co.

SEI Investments

Sequa Corporation

Seton Company

Sheldahl Inc.

Shipping Systems, Inc.

Siebel Systems

Sierra Atlantic

Sights Denim Systems, Inc.

Signal Transformer

Signet Armorlite, Inc

Sikorsky

Silicon Graphics

Simula Automotive SafetyÊ

SITEL

Skyworks Solutions

SMC Networks

SML Labels

SNC Manufacturing CompanyÊ

SoftBrands

Sola Optical USA

Solectron

Sonoco Products Co.

Southwire Company

Sovereign Bancorp

Spectrum Control

Spicer Driveshaft Manufacturing

Springs Industries

Springs Window Fashions

Sprint

Sprint PCS

SPX Corporation

Square D

Standard Textile Co.

Stanley Furniture

Stanley Works

Stant Manufacturing

Starkist Seafood

State Farm Insurance

State Street

Steelcase

StorageTek

StrategicPoint Investment Advisors

Strattec Security Corp.

STS Apparel Corporation

Summitville Tiles

Sun Microsystems

Sunrise Medical

SunTrust Banks

Superior Uniform Group

Supra Telecom

Sure Fit

SurePrep

The Sutherland Group

Sweetheart Cup Co.

Swift Denim

Sykes Enterprises

Symbol Technologies

Synopsys

Synygy

T

Takata Retraint Systems

Target

Teccor Electronics

Techalloy Company, Inc.

Technotrim

Tecumseh

Tee Jays Manufacturing

Telcordia

Telect

Teleflex

TeleTech

Telex Communications

Tellabs

Tenneco Automotive

Teradyne

Texaco Exploration and Production

Texas Instruments

Textron

Thermal Industries

Therm-O-Disc, Inc.

Thomas & Betts

Thomasville Furniture

Thomas Saginaw Ball Screw Co.

Three G’s Manufacturing Co.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Time Warner

Tingley Rubber Corp.

The Timken Company

The Toro Company

Tomlinson Industries

Tower Automotive

Toys “R” Us

Trailmobile Trailer

Trans-Apparel Group

TransPro, Inc.

Trans Union

Travelocity

Trek Bicycle Corporation

Trend Technologies

TriMas Corp.

Trinity Industries

Triquint Semiconductor

TriVision Partners

Tropical Sportswear

TRW Automotive

Tumbleweed Communications

Tupperware

Tyco Electronics

Tyco International

U

UCAR Carbon Company

Underwriters Laboratories

UniFirst Corporation

Union Pacific Railroad

Unison Industries

Unisys

United Airlines

UnitedHealth Group Inc.

United Online

United Plastics Group

United States Ceramic Tile

United Technologies

Universal Lighting Technologies

USAA

V

Valence Technology

Valeo Climate Control

VA Software

Velvac

Vertiflex Products

Veritas

Verizon

VF Corporation

Viasystems

Vishay

Visteon

VITAL Sourcing

W

Wabash Alloys, L.L.C.

Wabash Technologies

Wachovia Bank

Walgreens

Walls Industries

Warnaco

Washington Group International

Washington Mutual

WebEx

WellChoice

Wellman Thermal Systems

Walls Industries

Werner Co.

West Corporation

Weavexx

Weiser Lock

West Point Stevens

Weyerhaeuser

Whirlpool

White Rodgers

Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company

Winpak Films

Wolverine World Wide

Woodstock Wire Works

WorldCom

World Kitchen

Wyeth

Wyman-Gordon Forgings

X

Xerox

Xpectra Incorporated

Xpitax

Y

Yahoo!

Yarway Corporation

York International

Z

Zenith

ZettaWorks

That was a really long list, but hopefully it got the message across.

The United States, once the greatest industrial power on earth, is rapidly becoming a post-industrial nation.

As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time that less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.

Meanwhile, our trade deficit continues to soar. Every single month, tens of billions of dollars more goes out of the United States than comes into it. We are literally being drained of our national wealth.

In the video posted below, Daniel R. Amerman, CFA, describes some of the horrific dangers that our absolutely massive trade imbalance is causing….

But most Americans could care less about these issues. They just want someone to “fix” things so they are the way they used to be, and they want to be able to continue to get great deals on cheap plastic crap down at the local Wal-Mart.

Unfortunately, the obscene lifestyles that we have all been living are not even close to sustainable. All of this consumerism is going to come crashing down one way or another. Most Americans seem to think that somehow this great bubble of debt can just keep expanding forever, but that is just not possible.

America is in such deep economic trouble that it is hard to even put it into words. Most Americans will not even understand this until the whole thing comes rudely crashing to the ground.

By then it will be far too late.