Reply #21: Man are you ever missing the point by a mile [View All]

[kcwayne]

Global trade proponents are all about opening the borders and eliminating government restrictions to allow everyone with something to sell to come here and do it. Of course there are restrictions to this slipped into the law by special interest groups, so not the trade doors are not entirely open.

This open corridor is very much appreciated by countries anxious for access to US markets. But they all take the view that open trade is a one way street.

For example, I could not go to India or China to work because they will not allow me in, even though I have advanced engineering degrees and years of highly relevant experience. But Tata (an Indian company) is able to bring thousands upon thousands of programmers to the US, pay them $5000 per year and cover their living expenses in company apartments (they put 5-8 in an apartment), and destroy the fair value price for contract programmers. They do it on a large scale, as evidenced by their multi-billion dollar per year revenue stream, mostly culled from the US.

Offshore restrictions go well beyond labor exchange. The have tariffs to prevent US companies from exporting goods into their country in industries they want to protect. It is part of the reason why the imbalance of trade in the US is so catastrophic, and is going to lead the US into an Argentinian style currency collapse.

So its an issue of fairness. And what is happening is extremely unfair to the US workers that built this country with the vision that their children and grandchildren would benefit. Their investment in schools, infrastructure, and community development that created the economic engine that the entire world is clamoring to sell into. They cannot sell into their own countries because they have not made these investments and have not moved up the economic ladder. The reasons for that are beyond the scope of this posting.

The hegemony issue is a red herring. It has nothing to do with the 20 man machine shop in Milwaukee that has to close because his cost for labor and adherence OSHA and EPA guidelines make his parts more expensive than the shop in China where they are allowed to dump solvents into the river, and pay people $3.00 per day and not provide social security type benefits. That machine shop owner has nothing to do with the political manipulations this government has been guilty of.

And as far as alignment with the religious right goes, I presume that you are unaware that the leading proponent in Congress for expanding the H1B visa program because of the "lack of available talent" is Orin Hatch, the definition of a religious right winger.

I doubt you are very familiar with the liberal tradition in the US. From the early progressives fighting for voting rights, elimination of child labor, 40 hour work week, workman's comp, Medicare and social security, a common theme has been the protection of workers from capitalists. Liberalism is noted for standing up for the rights of workers. It is well within the tradition of liberals and progressives to speak out against unfairness to workers. The fact that you are benefiting from this labor imbalance does not change the fundamental fact that the policy is taking advantage away from the labor class and bestowing it on the capital class.