Guardbridge, Fife, Paper Mill---- to close

My take on the economy or lack thereof.

I’m so grateful that I was born in Earlsferry and lived my early life in the East Neuk of Fife as it is from there and from my mother that I learned the thing that I still think is the most important thing that I ever learned, empathy, putting myself in the shoes of another--the Golden Rule.

The pages that I’ve written on my web site have given me fun and no doubt have been of some interest to the people who’ve found my site but I think that the lessons that I learned when I was a youth about life and economics are of far greater value than anything that I’ve written about so far. How East Neuk of Fifers ran their lives and their businesses was vastly different compared to the lifestyles of today.

 The joint villages of Earlsferry and Elie operated as an economically self sufficient unit. Unlike today with most of the houses having become little used holiday homes, all of the houses were lived in by families on a permanent year around basis. Every one knew every one else on a social basis and the Earlsferry Town Hall was extensively used as the place where all kinds of social events and functions were held.  To cater to the needs of the villagers a great many of the homes were also shops and also the work places of every trade necessary to carry out the needs of the village. There were painters, plumbers, carpenters, weavers, fishermen, farmers, golf club makers, shoemakers, a doctor, a nurse, hairdresser you name it who could be called on to take care of all the needs and problems of the villagers as they arose. In addition to tradesmen, shops of every description sold things such as clothing, footwear, bakeries, groceries, fish, confectionaries, meats, vegetables, newspapers, books and all the things that people find necessary to buy in order to carry on a lifestyle. Goods laden vans from the larger stores in the outlying larger towns came to the villages on a regular basis with their specialty wares. There was virtually no need, except maybe on a once or twice a year basis, for anyone to travel out of the village for anything. A car was a luxury and absolutely was not a necessity.

In the village the plumber engaged the services of the carpenter, the carpenter engaged the services of the painter, the painter engaged the services of the stone mason, the stone mason engaged the services of the golf club maker and so on. Everyone in the village, who wanted to be, was gainfully employed. Most all of the shopkeepers and tradesmen were self employed. It was unthinkable to go out of the village to fulfill a need if there was someone in the village who could provide the service. Someone in another village could possibly do what was needed for less money but to go out of the village just to get a cheaper price was unthinkable. The same went for quality. What was accepted was the best that another in the village whose trade or profession it was to do it, did it. It was unthinkable to go out of the village unit to obtain goods or services that might be of higher quality. The thinking was that if we all persevered with each other then over time we would become as good as or better than anyone else in doing that which we did. Everyone knew that if we did not utilize the services of each other that a rot would set in and the entire economy of the village would collapse. We would have unemployed people that would have to be provided for and supported. (Ye can gan faur but ye'll fare waur) Everyone did the best that he could and traded his services on a fair and even basis. The values of all services and prices were relative and interdependent and everyone was gainfully employed. The people were happy. Everyone paid cash up front. No one was in debt and enslaved to a money lender. However the borrowing of money for a sound business enterprise was encouraged knowing that the interest on the loan could be paid on a regular basis and that over time the loan would be paid off. The dogma was never ever borrow money for personal imagined needs or desires. Do not ever become personally indebted and have to pay interest on borrowed money for that reason. Pay cash as you go and if you can’t do that then do without or settle for less. By all means if you have the money and the desire to own a grander home, a Rolls-Royce or a Bentley, go for it but if you can’t pay cash at the time of purchase then settle for what you can pay for. Live within your means and always add to your personal wealth by saving a part of your income even if only a tiny amount. Never be dissatisfied with your lot but at the same time try to steadily improve on your situation and life style.

The village had a great asset in that  a considerable number of residents were either independently wealthy by inheritance or they had ventured around the world where they had established successful enterprises and amassed considerable fortunes. This brought in a considerable amount of “New Money” to the village that augmented the “old” round-robin money. This was what made Earlsferry's economy sustaining and viable.

St. Monans our next door neighboring village to the east.

The economy of St. Monans was somewhat different to that of Earlsferry and Elie but not entirely. The St. Monans people took business to another level. Whereas the people of Earlsferry worked pretty much as self employed individuals who traded their goods and services on a one to one basis with each other, St. Monans people utilized the natural resource of the sea as a means of generating wealth. Boats were built to sail upon the sea and fishermen who were hardy and brave enough to stand up to the rigors of foul weather went out in these boats to reap the harvest of fish that were prolific and were there for the catching in both the Firth of Forth and the North Sea. Fishing required that several men work together as a crew in what today we would call a business unit. The fortunes of the crew and the owner of the boat were dependant on the success of each fishing trip. Because the money that fishermen made was very hard to come by the fishermen were by nature not frivolous spenders. Quite the contrary, they were frugal and saved their money. When a fisherman died, hopefully from natural causes, it was quite common for the widow to take their lifelong savings and invest it in the building of a new boat. She then arranged for a skipper to buy all of the nets and working gear, provision the boat and obtain another 5 or 6 men for the working crew. Each member of the crew was an independent contractor of his services. The word employee was not in the vocabulary of the St. Monans fishing industry. There was no such thing as wages. All concerned with the venture worked on a share of the profit basis including the skipper. The profit was the amount of money that was left over after all operating expenses had been paid including money set aside for accumulated maintenance expense. All business could benefit by studying the model of the St. Monans fishing industry. The participants knew exactly why they were a member of the crew. First and foremost was the responsibility of the crew to do their best to make sure that the owner of the boat would be adequately compensated for risking the money to fund the enterprise. The operation ran lean. There never would be any possibility or reason to downsize as every participant in the venture was a vital link in the operating chain. Every activity was directly pertinent to the end result. Fishermen knew the consequences of the failure of any link of the chain. Every participant was the expert as to what his job was. Although the skipper had overall responsibility for the success of the venture every participant was responsible to do what was necessary at the moment in time that a situation occurred. There were no such things as orders from another to do anything. Everyone knew his part in the game play and it was up to him to perform without having to be told to do so by another. Direct face to face communication was at all times vital and was done when needed. Such a thing as a notice of a meeting was ludicrous. An overhead slide projector would be the ultimate useless piece of equipment, whether at sea or on shore. Each person was responsible for his actions. If a rogue wave appeared from nowhere there was no time to call for a meeting to discuss what should be done. There were several words in the fishing business that were not in the fishermen’s language. The words employee, manager and mistake were not in his vocabulary and did not exist. Every participant in the venture was responsible to manage himself in performing his segment of the operation. He did his best and if the outcome of any one’s decision was less than beneficial, what happened was not a mistake but a very valuable strengthening and learning experience. The creed of the fisherman is there is no substitute for experience and adversity makes for wisdom and ability to better handle the next situation. Whatever is done at the moment in time that it is done is deemed to be the right thing to do, no matter what may be the outcome.

(To give a contrasting viewpoint; In a practice emergency surfacing the United States Atomic Submarine the USS Greeneville came up from under, collided with and sank a Japanese fishing vessel with loss of life. The sub was commanded by Commander Scott Waddle.  The navy way for such an event is that a head must roll and Scott Waddle after taking full responsibility for the mishap "elected" to retire. After the sinking, from this experience, Scott Waddle was most likely the best and most valuable man in the entire United States Navy. Assuming that if Scott Waddle was still in the navy and if such a tragic event ever happens again it would be a safe bet that it would not occur on Scott Waddle's watch. The US taxpayers lost a very valuable member of the armed forces and a man who, because of his experience, was qualified for the highest of naval command. 

Thinking of Murphy’s Law, in February of this year a Japanese naval destroyer, the AEGIS equipped 7700 ton “Atago”, which has on board the very latest radar and navigation equipment, collided with and sliced clean through another Japanese fishing vessel.)

The sea and the land are closely linked. I used to wonder why there was always a cloud of seagulls that followed the St. Monans fishing boats as the returning boats got close to their own home harbor. From this observation I learned a very valuable lesson. The fishermen were feeding their own local seagulls the entrails of the fish that they had been gutting when they were further out at sea. The fishermen could have dumped this fish offal overboard when they were far out to sea but they  saved the entrails of the fish to feed to their own local seagulls. These same gulls frequented the local farmer’s fields and kept field pests under control thereby contributing to the success of the local farmers and the general well being of the local economy. The scraps of fish that the seagulls missed sifted down to the bottom to sustain the inshore stocks of crabs and lobsters that ended up on our dinner tables. From this I heard and remember the local adage, “Ye  gie yer ain fish guts tae yer ain sea maws.(seagulls)” Charity begins at home. These St. Monans people certainly had down to earth common sense.  What I was observing was the "Trickle Down" factor from the prime creators of the wealth. 

Today we are informed that after 135 years of being in the business of making paper, which provided employment for the locals, the Guardbridge Paper Mill is shutting down. Does that mean that the demand for paper has diminished or is the need for paper still there but the plant is being shut down  because paper can be imported for less money than it costs to make it? Whatever the reason for the closing of the Mill the economic effect in the area by the loss of jobs will be considerable. 

When the Guardbridge Paper Mill was operating and raw material was converted into pulp then paper, wealth was  created.  Guardbridge did it's share of helping to keep the money chests of the nation filled for the consumers of the wealth to dip into.  With the Guardbridge Paper Mill now closing that's one less source of revenue to pay the salaries of the nation's non wealth creating individuals and money doesn't come from nowhere.

 From flying overhead at 40,000 feet it would be easy for a farmer to look down at his land and see beautiful green fields and from that observation conclude that all is well on the farm. The green that is perceived from a distance and from on high as lush crops on close inspection from ground level can well be green thistles and weeds. I remember a conversation that I had with a St. Monans farmer when he said to me, “there is no substitute for walking the fields and seeing up close, just what it is that appears to be green.” The same is true for C E O’s of large corporations who look down from their penthouse suites and ivory towers and conclude that because the sun is shining and those around them are smiling that all is well. To feel the true pulse of an operation the CEO, like the farmer, must walk the "factory floor," to converse  with and get the thinking of every one of the ventures participants.

Global thinking and concern is good but as we practice it today we have definitely put the cart before the horse.  Global thinking makes no sense if you haven't thought out the long term consequences for your economy.  To say that we are now “Global thinking people” is absolute rubbish. Our idea of global and so called free market thinking today is no more than a way for a few to make a fast buck regardless of the consequences for the people at large, our children, our grandchildren and the entire nation. Try telling someone who can't find work that we are a global nation when the entire factory where he once worked has been shipped overseas. Maybe a hundred years from now this process of global thinking and global oneness may come about but I very much doubt it. To neglect and  abandon your own nation’s family of working class people is a guaranteed recipe for disaster. If we don't change our ways and fast we're in for a long period of winter cold and global darkness. We need selfless and thinking leadership and we need it now.

The USA was created by ingenious hard working immigrants; thinkers who were farmers, loggers, miners and engineers, builders of cities, bridges, roads and railways, industrial and manufacturing plants.  Importers, price manipulating cash back, discount, creative financing artists, sweepstake and lottery promoters, conniving stock market and insurance gamblers, wide-boys and spivs who never worked a day in their lives are  relatively new breeds of birds. These smart but not very bright individuals have become billionaires while our would-be workers are forced to join the ranks of the unemployed to the extent that their standard of living degrades to that of third world countries. Workers used to add value to raw materials over and above the cost that went into creating finished products. You can only compete and be successful on a global basis if every country is playing by the same rules, has comparable humanitarian and environmental standards and has the same wage scales which is many, many years away from happening. To allow goods to indiscriminately enter our country from countries where the wage scales are pennies an hour when our country's economy is based on  dollars an hour (or pounds as the case may be) is ludicrous.  This can only have the effect of bringing about the demise of the manufacturing industries within the country and the idling of the workers, the creators of the nation's wealth.  The closing down of our manufacturing plants and the auctioning off of the machinery and the equipment which is happening one by one in all of our industries is our self destruction. 

Lower spiraling downwards standards of living for everyone and especially the retired who are on fixed incomes has to be our ultimate fate. The wealth of our nation is the measure of our ability to make two blades of grass grow where only one grew before. 

At best, with little manufacturing going on, most displaced, skilled workers can only find low paying service jobs that do not create tangible wealth.  We have to do better than sit on chairs and look at  computer screens in high rise office buildings. Old Henry Ford had it right when he increased the wages of Ford workers so those who made the cars could also buy them. I’ve talked to several of those with holes in their shoes who stand on street corners with cardboard signs around their necks begging for help. These men and women were not bums. At one time, before the demise of their jobs, every one that I’ve talked to was a well paid wealth creating person. We're in this thing together. Every man for himself is a guaranteed recipe for the collapse of a nation.

Beethoven's 5th pales in comparison to the sounds of a busy manufacturing plant full of smiling, happy, bustling individuals as with pride they  go about their tasks of processing materials to create parts that end up with  hundreds of other individual components that come together to make finished products; the accompaniment  sounds of the shipping dock where loaded tractor/trailers are daily leaving the parking lot and the knowledge that money is pouring in to the corporate bank account that results in well earned paychecks, happy shareholders and a prosperous community.

A country can’t last for long when the economy is based on service jobs and non wealth creating services. The producers of wealth, what few are left, must make enough to be able to live and pay taxes sufficient to provide pay envelopes for the millions of the non producers, the nations military and the monetary needs of all the numerous money consuming programs we have voted into law. 

Does it make sense to borrow money from foreign countries for these needs and accumulate an ever  higher and astronomical national debt?  Sooner or later the day of reckoning comes and the piper must be paid. The wealth of a nation can only be achieved by creating tangible wealth by adding value to raw materials that are manufactured and produced within the country by the working local residents. It also doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that if jobs are created within your own country to manufacture shirts, shoes and widgets that those making the shirt, shoes and widgets would also have the wherewithal to buy them. 

Outsourcing and trade agreements such as the North America Free (one sided) Trade Agreement have sounded the death knell of the USA as to the USA being a country of wealth creating manufacturing enterprises. Today the oceans of the world are jammed with enormous container ships that are loaded with foreign made goods that will be unloaded onto the docks of the USA. Very little is going in the other direction. The bell is tolling but it doesn't seem like anyone is getting the message. The flood gates of ruination that we've opened need to be closed before we all wash over the dam.  All includes our billionaires.  

The predictions and dire warnings of Ross Perot fell on deaf ears.

How can nations and corporations really believe that it makes sense and that it’s good for the well being of the nation to have critical component parts of products and indeed entire products manufactured in far away places abroad rather than by skilled, capable and competent individuals at or close to home? The same workers who have been idled or have not been given the chance to become employed are the ones who are expected to be able to buy the goods that are imported that they could well have made, Essentials like shoes and clothes are a good example. If nothing else the locals speak and understand the English language.  The money generated by the manufacture of components and products  is a critical part of any nations economy and the country can only be the poorer by outsourcing when manufacture at home would have provided local employment and payroll. 

If the nation becomes incapable of making even  humble screws, nuts and washers, far less ball bearings, then look out but by then it will be too late.

Problems of communication, quality, delivery on time and cost increase in direct relationship to the distance from the home plant to the place of component procurement.

It boggles my mind to think of the amount of money that must be being spent by having to send expediters and trouble shooters all around to world to try to solve the enormous number of manufacturing problems that must exist as a result of outsourcing.  ( I'm told that I have it all wrong.  Long distance and overseas, tax deductible, jaunts are now corporate perks. Heaven help us.) 

As to product integrity and quality can you ever be sure of these factors on a consistent basis when the control factor is out of your hands.  

A theory of manufacturing that makes no sense is the concept of “Just in Time” manufacturing. I think that brainwave was the dream of some non-vision accountant who couldn't see the wood for the trees. It’s virtually impossible to operate a money making manufacturing plant without inventory. Inventory you pay for once then keep rotating it until the final batch is sold. The only way to go is to have min/max bin levels of every component right down to the smallest washer. Component parts can then be ordered in “economic order quantity” which is what automation and low cost/high quality/stream lined manufacturing in the United States is/was all about. The actual and usually unaccounted for cost of making or using components on a hand to mouth, low volume basis to satisfy “just in time” thinking is horrendous not to mention driving the on-the- shop-floor, manufacturing people crazy. We have people who know little about the economics of manufacturing and the setting up of high production machinery and manufacturing processes to thank for this one. How and why do we let ourselves be swayed by such individuals?

Around the USA skilled, capable and well educated workers are standing on street corners with “Will work for food” cardboard signs around their necks. This is The United States of America I’m talking about, not a third world country. No doubt the families of these disillusioned people are shabbily dressed, their children are hungry, their homes, if they still have them, need paint and at best they’re driving an old beat up car while others around the globe are living in fat city and are laughing at our stupidity and incompetence.

The other day the tax payers of the nation received checks from the Federal government to spend in order to stimulate the nation’s economy. I decided to use the money that I was allocated ($600) to have a suspected tooth cavity filled. The dentist’s bill took all of this check plus additional money. As I went out of the dentist’s door the first thing I saw was an almost new foreign car. When we buy these foreign made products it’s a safe bet that most all of the governments stimulus money will immediately be transferred overseas to enrich the economy of some other nation.  Within a few days the media put out the information that General Motors and the Ford Motor Company have announced enormous losses and large cut backs are in the offing and it's well known that Chrysler is having problems. At the rate we're going it may not be long before  even these prestigious names may become memories.

Outsourcing, global and world wide “equal opportunity” are unwise concepts and it should be a very rare occasion that manufacturing at home and the filling of a job by promotion from within or locally is not done. There are more willing and able smart individuals right under our noses than there are in far away places.

From the global standpoint of manufacturing  we have  stacked the deck against ourselves. If you are in business and you think that someone else can do the business of manufacturing better and cheaper than yourself it is just a matter of time before you will prove yourself right, lose your standing in the marketplace and your name will disappear from above your door. Once a manufacturing plant is shut down and the equipment and the skilled people with your specialty know- how are scattered to the four winds and foreign manufacturers with their cheap labor scales have filled the vacuum you created, with so called free trade it's well nigh impossible to get back into the market. 

I’m all for the methodology of doing everything for yourself that you possibly can with a parent company being at the center of totally owned but stand alone subsidiary mini businesses.      ("Mony a mickle mak's a muckle")

From the East Neuk of Fife I learned in my early life that once the concept stage of a new business has been verified you first enlarge the venture by bringing on board all of your relatives who can do, need and want the work. Next you bring in all of the friends of your relatives and their friends. Next you bring in people who are local. Now this doesn't mean that this grouping of individuals will fill key positions. Far from it.  (It could be that my retired father wants to work and his comfort level is sweeping the floor and we have a floor that needs to be kept clean.) When the local resource of people dries up then go slightly further a field for talent while keeping the radius of search as close to home as is possible. It makes no sense to employ people from far away places and countries that have different wage scales and economies when your family, friends and local citizenry are available and want to work. The art of bringing others on board is to find the comfort level and the right and meaningful  niche for each person.

I’ve read the works of Adam Smith and I do remember the St Monans dogma,  “Ye gie yer ain fish guts tae yer ain sea maws“ and "charity begins at home".

The ones  whom we elected and appointed to lead us to greener pastures  are instead leading us to an abrupt cliff at the end of the road. 

It’s very strange that "We the people" of the United States choose to tax ourselves so we can spend billions to fund war, billions to build atomic powered subs and aircraft carriers, billions to build aircraft and systems that can deliver our weapons of mass destruction, billions in foreign aid, billions to send space ships to the moon, billions to build and operate jails and enormous penitentiaries, billions to bail out losers, yet we who contribute the money to fund these enormous programs choose not to fund ourselves for the cost of national dental and health care. How can we believe that these things are more important than the health of our children and ourselves?  Strange priorities. This is just plain backwards. It's also shameful and a disgrace. With the cost of everything at an all time high it's impossible for wage earners who have homes and families to take care of and who have to work for minimum wages to have any money left over, after paying on a mortgage and paying taxes, to pay a dentist's bill to have even one cavity filled far less pay to have their children's teeth taken care of. Prevention is better than cure and good health is wealth.  The staggering cost of hospital and medical care falls into the same category. For as long as I can remember politicians have mumbled words like "affordable health plans"  which have never materialized. Affordable insurance, what a farce. Insurance companies are in it for the money, big money. If you can't pay you're in a world of hurt. What is affordable and a pittance to some can be completely out of reach to others. It's always the poor who can't afford to pay who have the greatest need. We're in this thing together and we are each others keeper. Greed, selfishness, survival of the fittest and every man for himself thinking is below the dignity of the great and enlightened nations of the world. To quote Woodrow Wilson, " A nation is as great and only as great as the rank and file."

If I were president of the USA  my first order of business would be to set policies in place that would  make  outsourcing and indiscriminate free trade the exception and not the rule followed on by making dental and health care for every citizen of the United States a birth right.

First things first. Our children are our investment in the future of the nation and need to be given the best send off possible to meet the challenges of living in today's world. 

Rule number One, ---- Employed people who are healthy, smiling and happy achieve the impossible. 

This must have been my soap box day.   Where was I? 

Guardbridge Paper Mill shutting down, indeed

For 135 years a series of "with it" captains on the bridge of the Guardbridge Paper Mill have had healthy, happy, motivated crews that have  consistently made the ship exceed it's maximum design speed. Now is the time to emulate John Paul Jones, "I have not yet begun to fight" and James Lawrence, "Don't give up the ship".

My down to earth thought for the day is ----,

Lifting our kilts and squatting in the heather is all well and good but without paper in our sporrans we'll have to be creative.   

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 November the 5th 2008---The dawn of a new age.

Barack Obama has been declared president elect of 

The United States of America.

January 20th. 2009--- Leader