The New York Times picked the wrong writer to mess with.
Not that it directly called me out, mind you. The article it published over the weekend only uses Spartanburg, South Carolina, to make its point, not me.
But being born and bred here, I take my hometown seriously. So, I can’t help but be annoyed by someone using it to spread utterly ignorant political talking points.
Let’s start with the title: "In South Carolina, a Once-Thriving Textile Hub Is Baffled by Trump’s Tariffs.” And then the immediate summary:
The Upstate region of South Carolina was saved by foreign companies after the fall of its textile industry. Now, tariffs pose another round of uncertainty.
That’s something I happen to know a thing or two about. Personally. I lived through it. I saw the transformation firsthand and even helped facilitate it.
So this article? This article is personal.
It begins by describing the now-retired Adolphus Jones, who worked in the 1970s, “when the Upstate region of South Carolina was known as the textile capital of the world.” But that booming economy fell apart “by the end of the 1990s” thanks to “automation and cheaper labor overseas.”
That latter issue, incidentally, is the very thing President Trump is successfully combatting. If you missed my Wide Moat Daily about that yesterday, I recommend you at least skim it here to see what the mainstream media isn’t highlighting nearly enough.
Speaking of such offenders, the final “above the fold” paragraph in the New York Times piece reads like this:
“The textile industry is dead,” [Jones] said, buttoning his wool suit made in Italy. “Why would you want to bring it back here? Truthfully, why would the younger generation want to work there?”
The immediate answer to that last question is obvious – just with some hidden details you need to know about.
When American Jobs Get Shipped Overseas
Democrat consultant James Carville famously coined the phrase, it’s “the economy, stupid.” And I do understand that’s precisely the point the Times is trying to make.
It notes how “many retirees still remember what it was like to work in the textile mills” of Union, Greenville, and my hometown of Spartanburg. And what they recollect isn’t grand.
For one thing, the textile mills apparently didn’t pay well “and upward mobility was nonexistent.” Worse yet, “Many developed ‘brown lung disease,’ or byssinosis, a respiratory condition caused by ingesting dust particles from fabric materials.”
That’s why one longtime resident, Rosemary Rice, told the Times, “I wouldn’t want my son working there.”
Understood. Completely. But there are still two points that need to be made:
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Technology, medical understanding, and safety requirements have come a long way since the 1970s. So, working in U.S. textiles today would look very different than they did back then.
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I know what the Spartanburg area looked like after that textile industry went away.
The article doesn’t mention the first point until well into the article and utterly bypasses – intentionally or unintentionally – the second, skipping right from Ms. Rice’s quote to this:
Today, companies like BMW and Michelin – from Germany and France – are the economic engines of the region. Since BMW opened its plant in Spartanburg County in the early ’90s, it has invested more than $14.8 billion into its South Carolina operations. The plant has more than 11,000 jobs, its largest single production facility in the world, according to the company. And it is the country’s largest car exporter by value, with $10 billion in shipments last year.
That’s all very true. In fact, I’ve written about what a game changer the plant was myself. But do you know what this area looked like in between textile jobs being shipped overseas and BMW coming in?
It included run-down and crime-ridden areas, complete with rampant prostitution, drug dealing, and high unemployment. And while Spartanburg has rebounded, these conditions are still very common in other parts of the country.
In 2020, two researchers from Princeton published a book – based on their 2015 studies – detailing the alarming rates of suicide, alcoholism, and drug addiction in previously industrialized parts of the country.
From the introduction of Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism:
Jobs are not just the source of money; they are the basis for the rituals, customs, and routines of working-class life. Destroy work and, in the end, working-class life cannot survive. It is the loss of meaning, of dignity, of pride, and of self-respect that comes with the loss of marriage and of community that brings on despair, not just or even primarily the loss of money.
That’s what happens when U.S. and global companies find it more profitable to do business elsewhere.
Hard times follow.
Industry Needs to Be Incentivized
The New York Times seems to think that BMW decided to come in and change Spartanburg out of nowhere. It was out of the goodness and kindness of its business heart – or at least because there were no tariffs to contend with.
That’s the message you’re supposed to accept. But the reality, which I experienced firsthand, is very, very different.
You see, after graduating from college in the ’80s, I went to work for a real estate office in Spartanburg. There were maybe 30 of us there, and we all had to chip in $25 per month to an office pool – the equivalent of about $61 today.
That money went to the local board of realtors to incentivize BMW to come here. I kid you not.
We “upstate” South Carolinians literally lobbied for it to happen.
As a young man trying to get my life in order, I wasn’t happy about that expense one bit. But as the Times (actually) accurately reports, the result has been immensely beneficial.
This place is booming now, with new apartments, office buildings, and other real estate going up all the time. In fact, my local CBS station reported last month that “the Spartanburg Metropolitan Area was among the fastest growing in the United States” two years in a row.
That wouldn’t be true if we hadn’t gone out of our way to make it worth companies’ while – exactly what President Trump is doing right now. That’s why, as I mentioned yesterday, BMW is now “considering boosting output at its plant” here “by 80,000 units.”
It’s not running away in the face of Trump’s tariffs. It’s contemplating the idea of doubling down!
Moreover, many other foreign car companies are doing the same. Many other companies all around, in fact.
One of the latest – and perhaps the most significant so far – to announce MAGA-induced plans is none other than tech darling Nvidia (NVDA). According to Barron’s, the “Magnificent One” business will invest up to $500 billion in AI production here in the U.S.
Like it or not, Trump’s tariffs are working. That kind of business decision never would have happened on anyone else’s watch.
One ‘Final’ South Carolinian Note About Trump’s Tariffs
As for the notion the Times is trying to promote that Trump will kick BMW out of the U.S… It’s nothing short of nonsense.
The article describes the president’s top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, as “attacking” BMW last week when he told CNBC that:
This business model where BMW and Mercedes come into Spartanburg, South Carolina, and have us assemble German engines and Austrian transmissions – that doesn’t work for America. It’s bad for our economics. It’s bad for our national security.
An intelligent, honest reporter would have noted what that was in reference to: how so-called “American-made” products are too often only “American-assembled” from parts and pieces made everywhere else.
In all fairness though, that would mean there would be no article to write at all.
For those of us interested in the truth, however, there’s no need to get “creative.” There are so many actual facts and figures related to Trump’s tariffs to analyze… and so many resulting opportunities to write about.
That’s why I’m writing a piggy-back article tomorrow about a great way to play this developing reality.
So stay tuned for more from me on this topic! You do not want to miss out on the investable shifts taking place all around us.
Regards,
Brad Thomas
Editor, Wide Moat Daily
MAILBAG
What pros and cons do you see coming from Trump’s tariffs? Write us at [email protected].