In discussions of Maine’s lackluster job growth we hear a lot about the need to create jobs, but we hear almost nothing about decades of systematic job cuts that created the problem.

It should be no surprise that jobs get harder to find. We have a broken economic system that values only shareholder profits. Intent on the bottom line, our system eliminates jobs with determination and without remorse.

Manufacturing jobs have moved overseas in search of cheap labor during the past decades, and now service jobs, once thought safe, are going abroad as well. Good-bye to jobs in paper, wood products, fishing, textiles, shoes and call centers.

Maine-owned and operated businesses once provided many jobs in virtually every Maine town. Now out-of-state franchises crowd out local businesses, skim the cream from every enterprise and leave a handful of low-paying service jobs for the Mainers. Good-bye to local retail stores, restaurants, suppliers and distributors.

Those who lose their jobs through offshoring and franchise displacement are out of work for long periods of time. Those who get re-employed, even full-time and regardless of education level, suffer significant earnings declines relative to what they earned before they were displaced.

If the fundamental goals of our economic system remain unchanged, it’s predictable that jobs will be cut and opportunities will dwindle. We also can be certain that the welfare of employees, communities and the environment will be subordinate to making sure the rich get richer.

Maine can never create enough jobs to offset these systematic job cuts.

Our economic system needs to change. Businesses need to make a profit, but in doing so, they must have obligations to do right for their employees, their communities, the environment, and to maintain and expand job opportunities.

John Benziger, South China