Celebrate Earth Day At Pier 5 Harbor Park
To the Editor,
Pier 5 Harbor Park is celebrating Earth Day on Saturday, the 2nd of May 11am-2pm. There will be many activities for all. Refreshments, music, face painting and other fun, educational and entertaining venues.
As in the past, this is a great way to celebrate our beautiful earth, meet new neighbors and partake in ways to keep our planet sustainable and livable for future generations.
The theme for 2026 Earth Day is, “Our Power, Our Planet.” All of us have something to contribute to the well- being of our planet and each other.
Put that POWER into ACTION. Please join your friends and neighbors and share thoughts, ideas and energy toward keeping all, and our earth, healthy, safe and a joyful place to live.
Thank you,
Ann Kelleher
A New American Century
To the Editor,
The 20th Century saw the United States become the world’s leading power with the world’s largest economy. This was due to the global dominance of it’s production and supply capabilities. It’s large industrial base provided good union jobs that gave rise to the largest and wealthiest middle class the world had ever seen. This period of time is referred to as The American Century.
Today, the U.S. still has the world’s largest economy, however, it has become primarily based on speculation rather than production, as the financial sector contributes significantly to the country’s GDP. Unlike most of the 20th Century, when manufacturing employment accounted for more than 30% of the workforce, it is now at a historic low of 8%. Correlating with this is the decline in union membership, the stagnation of wages, and the increase of income inequality, as evident by the middle-class share of U.S. household income decreasing from 62% in the 1970s, when manufacturing employment peaked, to 43% today.
The decline in domestic manufacturing has made the U.S. vulnerable to the global supply chain, made evident by the Covid-19 pandemic, when vital parts and basic goods were not accessible. China is the largest supplier of imported goods, which is problematic for several reasons. In 2019, it was discovered that Chinese-made Huawei equipment was installed in cell towers near U.S. military bases in the rural Midwest. The FBI determined that the equipment was capable of capturing and disrupting highly restricted Defense Department communications. Also, China may not be dependable in the future, potentially facing socioeconomic collapse due to a demographic structure and shrinking workforce unable to support it’s rapidly aging population, caused by rapid urbanization and it’s one child policy.
The war in Iran has revealed major risks to the U.S. economy. Investments from Gulf Cooperation Council(GCC) sovereign wealth funds have become vital to U.S. economic growth, with significant investments in AI, cryptocurrency, and other parts of the tech and real estate sectors. The wealth of these Middle Eastern countries relies on oil exports shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, which is now controlled by Iran for the foreseeable future. Being desert countries with practically no fertile land or a water supply, nearly all food is also shipped through the Straight of Hormuz. Water in these countries is produced by desalination plants, which are located on coastlines and can easily be attacked. Without income, food, and/or water, these countries too could be facing socioeconomic collapse.
Like the U.S., Boston’s economic vulnerabilities have recently been revealed, as the city’s economy is in a crisis due to a major loss in commercial tax revenue from vacant office/lab space, caused by work from home policies and the restriction of federal research funding. This crisis can provide an opportunity to reevaluate and chart a different path for the future, one that can simultaneously strengthen the City of Boston and the U.S.
With the need to rebuild the U.S. industrial base, Boston can set an ambitious goal to become a vital hub for manufacturing, one that would make the federal government and the nation dependent on the city. Ultimately, the level of dependence would rely on what products are manufactured, which there are many to be explored. For example, with the U.S. only producing 12% of the worlds microchips, Congress passed the bipartisan Chips and Science Act in 2022, to provide funds to support the domestic production of semiconductors. There is also a current shortage of transformers, switchgears, and batteries, which are vital to modern electrical power systems.
Boston is characterized as a knowledge economy, driven by higher education, biotech, healthcare, and finance. The workforce of these industries, being highly educated and high income earners, has resulted in Boston becoming one of the most expensive cities in the U.S., with a large income disparity. There are many that the loss of jobs to globalization has left behind, like the descendants of those who fled the Jim Crowe south to the industrial north, recent immigrants who don’t have the industrial base that attracted the immigrants of the past, or anyone else that must try to make ends meet in today’s gig economy. Things will only get worse, as many young people are not attending a college or university due to high tuition costs and the immense student debt.
In closing, the U.S. must become self-reliant to guarantee it’s national security and ability to function in the modern technological world. With this change, Boston can once again be a beacon light by leading the manufacturing rebirth, and in doing so, make the city invaluable to the nation, while stabilizing its economy and providing the dignity of work to the many that globalization has left behind. This will not only be a New American Century, but a Boston Century as well.
Phil Carr III