Moore is a documentary version of a “shock jock,” and is in the business to get people to both champion his views and criticize them; however, besides disagreeing with his motives on most issues, I have no problem with him. In fact, I would say I agree with many of his conclusions, such as the one stating corporate America has a very influential role in American government and that leads to many of our nation’s problems.

Moore believes this corporate takeover has come at the greatest cost of American jobs and negatively affecting the poor. Although that might be true, it should not be the primary concern of the problem. That concern is the lack of industry we have been left with.

Moore often focuses on General Motors Co. in Flint in this new film, as well as in his first film “Roger and Me.” I, having been to Flint on numerous occasions, understand Flint is very poor and its citizens have no jobs, but what about the industry?

I am not talking about General Motors itself. What about the smaller businesses employing fewer than 100 people who are intertwined with GM?

Those industries are the ones suffering, not GM. GM has been absorbed into the government, and, for all intents and purposes, has been bailed out of its hardships. However, the small suppliers to GM and companies supplying those suppliers have been given the proverbial middle finger and told to float or sink.

Perhaps I am biased on this because of the fact both of my parents work for small suppliers to corporations such as Lear Corp. and Federal Mogul Corp., but do I not raise a point? My parents are both in management in their respective companies, so I have come to understand the money and logic aspect of the problem over the usual sob story about how hard the assembly line worker has worked to just get fired.

Frankly, that is business. No matter what industry you work in, if you are dispensable, then you will be dispensed of if necessary. Although I feel for those who are unemployed, on many occasions it is their own doing. The trick is to make yourself indispensable. Unless you are willing to do that, you can be sure of your fate in hard times.

I have observed the struggle for employers to pay health care costs, foreign nations being allowed to destroy our industry, as well as the costs of resources sky rocketing. This is not an ailment that government handouts can cure — nor is there any such ailment. It’s a process of doing things that must change.

American industry, as I have mentioned on numerous occasions in my columns, is at war not just with industry abroad but with America itself.

People need to understand just how critical these times are. We are moving into a new era in America, one which will see not just some, but all industrial jobs vanish from our shores while more and more McDonald’s and Starbucks are popping up.

The service industry is invading America, and we are allowing it to happen. To be sure, if this invader had a nation and an ideology, we would have a problem with it.

Instead of forcing the employers of a small supplier to pay an astronomical price for health insurance of their employees, why don’t we weaken the influence multinational corporations have on our government? Instead of allowing more than 90 percent of items in Wal-Mart come from China and other foreign nations, why don’t we bite the bullet and force those items to be made in America?

If you want jobs and money in the economy, you need to grow industry in America.

When we accept that free trade and foreign goods is not the be-all, end-all, we can allow America to show the industrial power it showed throughout the first half of the 20th century, especially in World War II. It is time to start making things in America for Americans and let foreign nations profit off their own people. We must take America back from its corporate handlers and give it to Americans.

Eric Thieleman is a State News guest columnist and a political science senior. Reach him at thielem4@msu.edu.