Every North Carolinian is now a part of the global economy. It has been said so often that it has become a cliche, but just because it is now a cliche, does not make it any less true. Traditional textile workers lose their jobs as their companies move their plants to third world countries.
Mothers outfit their children for school in clothes increasingly fabricated in the Caribbean.
Families buy television sets and VCRs, which almost without exception, are made in foreign countries. Workers compete with and communicate with new residents in North Carolina who speak foreign languages. They and their children struggle to understand the cultures, foods, and holidays of their new co-workers and new friends. Company owners and executives buy raw materials from and sell finished products to customers all over the world. Workers who have spent their entire lives in a job or jobs in North Carolina, suddenly find themselves transferred to supervisory or other positions with their company in foreign countries.