American Samoa: The real story 60 Minutes missed
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ต.ค. 2024
- Schiff Report Video Blog Jan 18th 2010
For more on the minimum wage see my two previous video blogs:
• Head & Shoulders top, ...
• The Minimum wage argum...
also check me out on / peterschiff and / peterschiff
I think you all misunderstood what he's trying to say... He's for American Samoa not against it... And he's saying that Washington's legislation really messed up the economy here which is true. 60mins did not talk about that which is why it's important to educate washington on whats going on here and how it's affecting the people / economy of American Samoa.
Night Samoa
Better if he doesn't mind his own business and finally say something about this issue for once. It is something to be said.
Nope, he doesn't the minimum wage increased don't want to pay, it can tell he got a business and don't want to pay, he loves exploit people as typical white or black Anglo American, he should be kicked out from Samoan..
@@johnnyson7474 Nope, he doesn't the minimum wage increased don't want to pay, it can tell he got a business and don't want to pay, he loves exploit people as typical white or black Anglo American, he should be kicked out from Samoan..
love this dude,finally someone been look after my people.
Nope, he doesn't the minimum wage increased don't want to pay, it can tell he got a business and don't want to pay, he loves exploit people as typical white or black Anglo American, he should be kicked out from Samoan..
The date of this post is 11/3/2010. I just returned from a trip to American Samoa and can tell you first hand that this report is right on. Both canning plants are now closed and are virtually no jobs for Samoan people. However, the people remain kind and welcoming to visitors. There are still people living in FEMA tents since the tsunami and damaged buildings remain untouched all over the island. And yet the beautiful spirit and culture of this people remains intact and as strong as ever.
Thanks for following up on that story. I saw the 60 minutes story and it left me with a lot of questions. You have answered them for me. Nicely done.
Amen Peter, you're right on target. American Samoa has the highest rate of military service per capita of any U.S. state or territory. So the U.S. Government comes along and rewards this by devastating their economy …. sounds about right :(
When you hear "I'm from the government and I'm here to help", in most cases a disaster is soon to follow.
Nope, he doesn't the minimum wage increased don't want to pay, it can tell he got a business and don't want to pay, he loves exploit people as typical white or black Anglo American, he should be kicked out from Samoan..
I'm a samoan who is currently on-island and have just finished watchin ur report. I wish that ur forecast for the economic turnout for american samoa were wrong, but sad to say that it is EXACTLY as u have predicted. The inflation on EVERYTHING from food and groceries to gas and everyday products is staggering!! And the unemployment rate has shot through the roof!! Businesses are suffering and the people struggle to look for work to provide for their families!!
I appreciate that you carefully listened in to 60 mins and realized that there was more behind the story of Samoa. Im sure 60 mins was focused on simething else but yet u managed to see a greater picture beyond their interest.
The US sure did take so many jobs away, but it wasn't just them. They couldn't have done so without the help of our island's greedy politicians also. Sometimes, when the money is so sweet they forget about their children's future and the lives of those who work harder doing the work they wouldn't dare. Most times politicians think for themselves not the lives of those they're hurting. If all politicians had an ounce of consideration for ones behalf instead of himself/herself, this world would be a better place and so would American Samoa!
Go under one banner with the independent side
Nope, he doesn't the minimum wage increased don't want to pay, it can tell he got a business and don't want to pay, he loves exploit people as typical white or black Anglo American, he should be kicked out from Samoan..
Excellent reporting Peter Schiff. Your grasp of economics and genuine sensitivity to ordinary peoples problems is a breath of fresh air.
Good luck with your campaign for the Senate!
Thank you so much for this valuable video...I will pass this on to my family from Charlevoix Michigan to all the way back to Am.Samoa....Again!...thank you...Allyn Alama
May our Heavenly Father richly bless you beyond measure for your courage to emphasize a message when society says otherwise about our Samoan people. Thank you very much for being a voice for the voiceless against the cruelty and hatred veneer of political incorrectness and their arrogant and pride.
We are beyond grateful for reaching out to our Samoan people; it has truly cut so close to our heart in so many levels. It’s our prayer to ensure justice upon our families that had been crushed and in so much pain and struggles by these demean, self centered and less fully human in some way individuals. God bless, sir! ❤️
Thanks for the upload Peter!
Thanks, Peter!
This is what I was trying to explain to my family members in A. Samoa when there was a lot of talk about the minimum wage. Some were mad at the Congressman Eni Faleomavaega for voting against the bill. This is why people, he knew the consequence and how it would affect the Territory.
Nope, he doesn't the minimum wage increased don't want to pay, it can tell he got a business and don't want to pay, he loves exploit people as typical white or black Anglo American, he should be kicked out from Samoan..
Great video peter. Thanks for putting it all in perspective.
What this man is saying (that is if you have any common sense) is absolutely 100% true. Some people just don't get it they just changed the subject and blamed America. Well, America politically is structured within two major political parties. One is right and the other is to blamed for the mess which caused all these hard working Samoans to loose their jobs.
Reid Savea HOW DO YOU FEEL IF THEY PAY YOU ONLY $ 3 PER HR
CAN YOU LIVING WITH THAT ?.
@@luaggaopoa9912 the problem isn't being paid a high enough amount, rather it's getting paid at all. Since the wages were boosted it makes it a lot harder for the big companies to source work from the area, meaning unemployment for many citizens. It's best to have some income than no income
Why would samoa be devastated if it had no jobs? They didn't have jobs or money before whites arrived and they did just fine. They lived off the land. That's one of the nice things about a tropical paradise.
Max Little no we didnt but we still manage to do good on ourselves
This Foo said we might end up all on food stamps ..... We need to go back to the roots we grow we farm we sale we trade that all we need... We are considered American Nationals we have a right to work travel but not vote Who care our vote doesn't matter we just need to wake up...
He has some valid points but it was his skin color that came over conquered our lands so .... Ask your the question who is responsible for Samoa being Americanized or industrialized what ever you want to call it.
Max Little THEN WHO EVER COME VISIT TO SAMOA NEVER WELCOME TO OUR HOUSE AND HOME DARKNESS AT NIGHT NEED MONEY TO PAY THE POWER.
MORE FLY AT NIGHT WILL EAT YOUR SKIN.
SAME THING LIKE UP HERE NO MONEY, NO FOOD, NO POWER.
ENDING UP LIKE DEAT ZOMBIE IN WALKING DEAD. SHOW RIGHT?.
Max Little WE LIKE POTORICO ISLAND SAME THING BUT STAR KISS COMPANY TUNA FACTORY PAY US ONLY $3 . PER HR
AND TUNA FISH IT'S FROM OUR SEA .NOT ONLY PAYING US SMALL OF MONEY AND FISHING OUR SEA.
HOW CAN WE SERVICE ?.
TALKING OUR FISH WITH OUT PAY MONEY WE DEPENDING ON FISHI AND LAND.
peter its a pleasure to listen to you as always.
Well said Sir. I'm Samoan and grew up in American Samoa and what you are saying are all true and are facts. All I have to say is the Samoans there can always go back to subsistence living, which some still do, and some have been doing for thousands of years. Or they have to come up with some other economical idea to provide jobs. That's the more logical thing to do since American Samoa has been spoiled from being Americanized and Westernized and would probably not want to go back to old ways.
I appreciate your concerns and thoughts. It's wonderful that you did this piece concerning American Samoa. Your awesome!
Agree with you. American Samoa is poor now. Before Western Samoa was less economically than A. Samoa, now it is the other way around. A. Samoa needs industrial growth. USA destroyed the A. Samoan economy. USA are only interested to use the port of Pago Pago as their naval port.
Terri Ah Kiau its "Samoa" not "western Samoa"
What great investigative journalism. What other aspiring politicians would take the initiative to get to the bottom of a story like this. Bravo, Peter. Very enlightening.
Awesome video!!!!!!! Schiff for senate!
Perhaps the lesson begins further back in Samoa's history. Had the US not colonized and taken over Eastern Samoa, they could be reaping all of the profits from the tuna cannery industry instead of simply being a cheap labor state for America. Eastern Samoa would also be in control of their own economy and regulations, including defined wages.
lol and is the rest of Samoa prosperous with out the U.S ? Are they rolling in tuna money? Or is American Samoa standard of living higher. I'm betting it's the latter.
you da man uso! im a born n breed new zealand samoan but its good to see someone not from our race make a stand!! dont matter if you wanted it or not..... you are now an uso haha! 4life uso!!
I am assuming that you have never been to American Samoa. I have lived here in American Samoa for the past 4 1/2 years. One of the canneries was sold to a South Korean company way before the minimum wage hike bill was passed. The company was going to move anyway and many conservatives wanted to put the blame on the canneries closing due to the minimum wage hike, and this is completely false. The profits made by the canneries were extremely high, and it was on the backs of those Samoans.
Great Post man... Although I am from Western Samoa it good to see how the inter-workings of a Non-parliamentary government works.
Excellent analysis....
If I were unemployed in Samoa, I wouldnt worry. It's a tropical country. They dont have to worry about winter and having heat, and they can grow garden crops all year round, and plenty of wild papaya, coconut, banana trees, etc.
My Hamo islanders wake up america doesn't car about us islanders I'm Puerto Rican I feel your pain.. the samoan government should cut ties with these white people, change the name from (american samoa) and unite with western samoa become one,and never deal with the Americans they are bad news AIGA!🇵🇷🇦🇸🇼🇸
You know some politician was making money on this deal. Maybe not via Samoa but some other territory. Samoa may be a casualty of a politicians greed.
But as Tent cities pop up everywhere in America, I can't help but see labor for $2 an hour just sitting there making nothing.
Sure it's not a living wage now but I bet it would increase or become the living wage standard if there was no minimum wage laws.
Remember they are doing NOTHING and getting nothing right now.
Great vid schiff.
I support you all the way.
Nope, he doesn't the minimum wage increased don't want to pay, it can tell he got a business and don't want to pay, he loves exploit people as typical white or black Anglo American, he should be kicked out from Samoan..
This man has got it right 100%.
If the minimum wage were scrapped everybody would be better off, more jobs and lower prices. Its no good having a minimum wage then have to pay ludicrous prices for everything that if you can find a job.
Thank You SCHIFF For Being Considerate And Concerning For Our People Back In American Samoa. I MySelf Was Born And Raised There. I Appreciate Your Knowledge On The Matter, And It Is Very Educating. Most Of Us Knows The Situation And Understand It Like You Do But Somehow I Feel Like Our Politician Leaders Either Don't See It Like We Do, Or They Just Don't Care. Thank You SCHIFF For The Post. Hopefully Washington And The American Samoan Leaders Would Look Into This Video And Come To Their Senses.
I thought we are preaching to the choir here but someone thumbed me down.
Most of the public do not understand at all.
Just another example of the law of unintended consequences... Peter, please keep fighting the good fight, because you are right on.
Thank you for your support 😁
Good points, but Samoans are resilient. So they can take their tuna factories if they want. Yes, it'll hurt for a bit, but like 60 minutes with their delusional stories on how football is so important to Samoa. It is not. It's an opportunity, and they really don't care for it. Palagis get on their nerves and they are becoming aware of how America has polluted their way of life. I hope one day American Samoa will stand up and just give the U.S. the finger. Greed was never the Fa'a Samoa way.
You're not bright...
i was looking for some Soccer info on American Samoa.. and found this... interesting. he makes a Great point.
Thank you for this!!! Well said
7 years later...
Heartbreaking story.
Samoa should declare its independency and free itself from these Washington murderers.
Bravo. Great insight.
Typo correction, tuna factory closed because there are no duties on imports to us territories. Means that countries with slave labor conditions can undercut local production costs because human rights cost and are worth big bucks.
It's like I'm watching Puerto Rico. I wish the US takes care of the Islands it claims.
Jericho Mojica I second that.
I wish Puerto Rico would stop electing thefts.
Nope, he doesn't the minimum wage increased don't want to pay, it can tell he got a business and don't want to pay, he loves exploit people as typical white or black Anglo American, he should be kicked out from Samoan..
The way a business work is this:
I calculate the price of raw materials required, I calculate the projected sales price of the final product, then from the difference I determine how many laborers can I hire including my own profit, which maximizes the production.
If my work can be done with unskilled labor, and market price of unskilled worker is $10, revenue diff is $45, then I can hire 2 workers for $10(and $25 is my profit).
Wealth chases cheap labor.
Nope, he doesn't the minimum wage increased don't want to pay, it can tell he got a business and don't want to pay, he loves exploit people as typical white or black Anglo American, he should be kicked out from Samoan..
You Sir was dead on right about what happen and so many did not listen or just disrespected you. Now they are hurting.
Kavika They are hurting anyone come over to samoa will hurt them and eat
Excellent video.
Although I do agree it right for government to stop printing money first then drop minimum wage. It will not help those in tent cities.
Peter should go to Washington to form a bill allow the public to have hard money after a specific amount of time. That time can be determined in another bill just not the one proposed. This does not commit any politician to anything but it's a nose under the tent kind of thing.
He's speaking the truth!!!!
Well Said !!
I'm actually not. When I say "slave wage" I mean your cost of living is higher than your income. Period. The alternative to obedience to this is refusing to work (don't get exhausted) so you can get the hell out (which survival demands). Slaving is all about burning people out and replacing them, not keeping people well-fed or housed. That's the new economic reality for the Obedient.
We are not talking about getting rid of all media of exchange. We are talking about allowing other ones to come in so that competition will sort out the better ones.
He is 90% correct. American Samoa do not NEED a higher minimum wage. Higher minimum wage will definitely put pressure not only to foreign companies but a local businesses as well. Outsiders do not understand most Samoans do not pay rents, they owned their own properties and farmed their land. On the other hand, most people used to work in both canneries are recruited from the independent Samoa mainly because people in American Samoa either DO NOT to work or pure lazies end of the story.
The most frequent complaints I hear about capitalism, are not capitalism at all.
Like I worked for a business where everyone got paid at the same rate, but sure as hell didn't do the same amount of work.
That's not any Capitalist ideal, and was bad for the bottom line, but it is an example of a small group trying to use the same pressures that communists would use to coerce equal individual effort, and failing.
Being paid on productivity even at that microscopic scale would work better.
I agree with most of what you're saying and wholeheartedly with the fact that closing the canneries causes the domino effect with regards to jobs and importation into Samoa. What I would like to add though is the level of government corruption in Samoa is out of hand. I worked for StarKist Samoa as a sub-contractor as well as sub-contracting to the government of Samoa and I was always in awe as to how much corruption was/is there. I
Peter
Your so right as you seem to get the point time after time.
Lou
I live it, I know the truth. It makes a few people richer and a lot more poorer. Here's why: a person who used to make an honest living, could afford the cost of living, now can not. Someone else who can't afford the cost of living is getting the work in another nation, and to compete you either have to take that slave-contract or take LESS. So now slavery is doubled by out-sourcing. When you are expected to work for less than what pays for food and housing, that's slavery. Now it's "normal"
We've nearly reached that point with food. In the West, 3% of the population is involved in agriculture. I think in 1800, around 80% of people were engaged in agriculture.
The prices are relatively high due to farm subsidies - farmers are paid to farm below their maximum productivity. These subsidies are necessary to make farming profitable enough to function in a market economy.
The only way to have lower prices is to remove some agriculture from the market economy, somehow.
The biggest problem in American Samoa was diverting away from what they already know which is how to survive the centuries they have been surviving off the land and ocean. Samoans on Tutuila just need to remember who they are and how they were living. If they took away all forms of modern currency in American Samoa and rebuild their plantations and their fishing canoes, the world economy will never affect them. In fact the world would learn a great lesson from Samoa.
Shearers would get paid per sheep shorn. A guy with a blackboard would sit watching them work, and tally each worker's output.
But there's a famous Australian song, "Click go the Shears", in which the lyrics talk about a shearer trying to get the next sheep on the line because it has a bare belly, (less work to shear, but still counts as one fleece).
It's a good example of how fixated people get on gaming any system, and to what lengths you would have to go to be perfectly fair.
Thanks you for your video
good one Peter!
Nice to hear a variation from the usual subjects. Interesting piece. Would be interesting to see some general stats on minimum wage law's impact on consumer goods prices , and what the overall impact was for purchasing power in the target demographic of those people who were making below the instituted wage increases.
No, I wouldn't say. China is willing to keep it's currency undervalued for as long as they feel it is necessary. If the U.S. was suddenly a source of cheap labor because of the elimination of a minimum wage, China would still have even cheaper labor.
Despite what jingoistic citizens would like you to believe,Chinese cheap labor is just as capable at putting out high quality electronic products as we are. And they do so at a fraction of the price.
My first salary as IT engineer in India was $2.77 per hr(In 06) & my mom distributed sweets, dad threw a party, & I took my gf to dinner in a five star restaurant.
Now I'd want $5 per hr to live in Bangalore decently.
My cousin makes about $10 per hour basic(he is a 7-8 yr exp IT guy in Bangalore) and he has one of the fattest salaries people in my home town have even heard of.
$2 per hour can get you a college grad female secretary in India.
As an American Samoa- thank u.
Nope, he doesn't the minimum wage increased don't want to pay, it can tell he got a business and don't want to pay, he loves exploit people as typical white or black Anglo American, he should be kicked out from Samoan..
You are so true man is the little 🏝️ that missed out God bless you
Sorry Charlie; Mr. Shifty seems right about this one.
Naomi Klein is right. It's not cool-aid. It's the facts.
um, no. More regulations may lead to less out-sourcing. Outsourcing is always a result of non-regulation. I work *for* an outsourcer doing jobs Americans aren't. It started because the company was too lazy and cheap to do something else. Now it continues because they're too dumb to re-do the work and take it back to America. Seriously, you let someone else do your work for you and it's not your work anymore. Now we choose not to train others to take our jobs away and that's too bad.
@WOTM I say those Islands because there are many books published on the history of those islands and can be used to tell the events that took place throughout the Pacific.
This is so TRUE. I work in the can plant across Star Kist, our soul customer. Our jobs are in jeopardy, because our only customer is about to leave due to minimum wage. They just recently let go over 300 workers, trying to lower cost. Now families that work at the cannery, have little to nothing to make ends meet.
what i propose is to end the federal system completely. just have 50 states. its basically what we had for 150 years anyway when the fed was small and did not interfere in state affairs. the states did fine! they prospered tremendously! they did not grow enough to destroy us all like the federal government did. government in general isnt the problem, large federal systems are the problem.
He says its bad and going to get worse, is an expert, and has predicted things like this before. You'br got nothing on your side.
I agree with his thesis totally, however, I think he places the blame incorrectly. It's not the U.S. Legislature that doomed the economy of American Samoa, but rather once again, an example of American corporate greed on the basis of Chicken of the Sea closing down a factory when they were asked to give their employees a living wage. Typical.
I AM AN AMERICAN SAMOAN AND I WANT TO SEPARATE FROM THE UNITED STATES IMMEDIATELY!!!!.....SAMOA MUST BE UNITED!!!
I DO NOT WANT TO BE AN AMERICAN ANY MORE............THE USA IS A DONE COUNTRY....AMERICAN SAMOANS CANNOT LIVE ON ISLAND ANY MORE....SAMOA BROTHERS AND SISTERS...UNITE AS ONE COUNTRY!!!!
The problem in Bangladesh isn't that child labor is illegal, but that Bangladesh lacks the resources to pay for a welfare system to take care of poor children.
CIA Factbook -
Chief Export - 93%
Labor Force - 17,000
2,000 people lost their jobs in just that factory alone when it closed.
this guys has a point.
American Government is a joke when it comes to helping it's governing territories 💯What a slap in the face.Smh
By Schiff's reasoning, there would be no problem outsourcing American jobs to countries with substantially lower minimum wages.
Hi Peter.. we're prayin' that when the suitcase with 50M in it is offered to you to betray your fellow countrymen, you'll pass up that temptation..
I am so angry against the actions of governments, so pissed off every time I hear of the actions of these failures that I really have to control myself. Samoa should call for her independence since the US is rather destroying her economy and cultures and definitively her future!
Wow, great take by the Polangi
India started to liberalize in 1991, and since then India has only gotten richer, less corrupt, more clean, better served. No matter how badly India screws it up, its not going back to pre-1991 hellhole it was until it undoes all the liberalization.
What you call as peanuts is wealth in India, and China, People work even on weekends because it now translates on direct and more wealth(which previously it did not).
You confess something by bringing up jail as an argument:
Are you suggesting that we all should have our wages dependant on the whim of beaurocrats? they're not the ones actually creating the factories, but they have the right to expropriate them?
The people who built the factories are citizens who hold no obligation to provide anybody with jobs in the first place. What if the people who built the factory were just as slothful as the employees? there'd be no wages to speak of
They planned to shut down that plant months before the vote on the minimum wage. They have invested in the automated plant months before minimum wage was an issue.
Americans are not doing these awful things. The american politicians are. We all need to take a close look at what they are doing.
So the minimum wage is the only thing that's preventing us from all living in tents and eating 5 grains of rice a day? The power.
Was King a good man? Thats subject to debate. He certainly helped to avoid much bloodshed and tragedy with his non-violent views and leadership skills.
Worthy of being the only man with a national US holiday in his honor? I dont think so.
My question Peter,is...if these companies don't have money to pay out to their workers,how do they have money to buy property,build a plant ,and go through the hiring process while losing money being shut down? I am not contesting with you,just don't understand how they have that much money left to do so?
It's about profit margins, not absolute wealth. Basically, once the price of labor was artificially increased via law, the company did a cost-benefit analysis and found that the cost of upkeep etc. of a more automated plant was now lower than the new increased cost of paying the American Samoan workers. So they dipped into their coffers and constructed the new plant with the expectation that they would recover their expense over time with the greater profit they were able to then generate.
thank you for this.
The Samoans could refuse to obey the U.S. law. It is not all the fault of the legislators. The legislators only have as much power as the people are willing to give them.
The Boeing Machinist priced themselves out of the labor market here in Everett. The second line for the 787 Dreamliner will be in South Carolina.
An entire society on welfare, depending on the government for their needs. This is the definition of success for the Obama/Reid.Pelosi regime! Change Samoa can believe in.
It's not amazing when you look at how American Black and Hispanic are treated here in the USA. 24 thousand people live on this Island and fast food joints allover the Island. For goodness sake America had the chance to put a new meaning on the word rape. It's the same bullshit being done to many Island/country not at war with America. How sick can this be $800bl in Iraq plus billions more in Afghanistan. These people need to file compensations charges on America and companies that exploit them.
One problem with this is that the minimum wage in the 60's was 9.00 per hour in 2009 dollars. I think the core problem goes back to who controls the money.
As far as American Samoa, they at least won't starve if they can't sell tuna. They'll just be eating a lot of tuna.
However, I completely agree that the government fucks-up everything it touches.
the reason it may of become mechanized is because labor is too expensive due to regulations. labor in china is cheap because its plentiful and they regulate less. we need to do the same. remove regulations and let in more immigrants.