It's time for some plain straight talk about this "global economy" and American trade deals. First, I'm in my 60's and I can't think of a single instance in my life where trade deals have helped the middle class. All I've seen is the constant off shoring of American jobs to countries we have trade deals with. 60,000 factories closed in America since NAFTA was passed.
The narrative that this new trade deal will open up markets is rhetoric. Those markets are already open. Another narrative is that trade deals will help America sell products in those markets and allow inexpensive goods from off shore to be imported for American consumers. THAT’S WHY WE HAVE THIS PROBLEM NOW! American consumers need money to buy. Yet, everyday thousands of jobs are lost to off shoring. The middle class is in danger of disappearing all together because of lack of jobs and manufacturing shipped over seas. If Americans aren't working, they have no money to buy products. So to say these trade deals and the global market is good for the middle class IS A LIE! It’s only good for corporations. The results of past trade deals like NAFTA? An increase of the U.S trade deficit of $181 BILLION dollars, and U.S. corporations like GE, Chrysler and Caterpillar fired U.S. workers and moved operations to Mexico. Proponents of trade deals argue that the volume of U.S. exports have risen. This is a typical example of double talk and smoke and mirrors because the exports of which they speak are not meant for sale in the country they're exported to. But rather, materials are exported to off shore manufacturers, assembled, and imported back to the U.S. for consumption. Imports that could have been manufactured here before plant closings caused by NAFTA and other bad trade deals.
The "catch 22"? If we don't manufacture here, we have nothing to sell there. Open markets are only good if you have something to sell. We've been told we'll be able to sell big ticket technology to those open markets. Really?...What?....I can't think of a single piece of computer equipment, televisions, router, telephones or really any other consumer technologies that are made in America. So I’m guessing the technology our administration is referring to is military weaponry? It certainly can't be clean energy technology, because other countries are "kicking our asses" there. Yes we make weapons...but the MIC will be the only ones benefiting, not the American middle class. And the rhetoric relative to others "dictating" the terms of trade deals is just that, rhetoric. Countries will buy from those who sell what they need, trade deals be damned.
Countries will import items that are either not manufactured in that country, or are cheaper. In case anyone has missed it, there are a lot of products that are no longer made in America because those factories have been closed and those jobs were shipped over seas. Sure, it may have an American brand name...but it's not made here. So who really benefits? Multinational corporations benefit, NOT the American middle class worker.
The fact is China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, and the other countries where we have these so called trade deals in place manufacture products cheaper than America because their labor costs are significantly cheaper. Does anyone really think other countries aren't going to buy those goods cheaper from somewhere else? This is the global economy double talk and the smoke and mirrors proponents of these trade deals are proliferating.
If we really want to help America...we must STOP these bad trade deals, we MUST halt the off shoring of manufacturing and good jobs by any and all means necessary, and abolish the bad trade deals America has implemented in the past. We can't afford this kind of participation in a global economy where the "playing field" will NEVER be level unless American wages go down to 35 cents an hour, a situation corporations are counting on. Don't be fooled. Do not allow America to lower our wage standards. Doing so won't make us stronger in the global economy, it will destroy America and the American worker! |
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