draft
The
NY Times has published an editorial describing how rejection of the
Trans-Pacific Partnership was self-destructive and will allow China
to take over the world and destroy America. <insert link here>
They
may very well be right. But whoever wrote this is in the dark about
some fundamental issues that seem to have escaped them. So allow me
to help my brilliant, elite editorial writer learn about some basic
reality in American in 2016.
First,
although we hear how Globalization and NeoLiberalism has been good
for the world economy and especially the American economy, most of us
have not seen it. We have seen the rich get richer, the middle class
get destroyed by taxes, reduced wages, reduced pensions and the
destruction of jobs but we have not seen how this new economy helps
us. We have seen the government lie about unemployment and do
absolutely nothing about helping the middle and working classes
except perhaps to suggest that we could learn to type and become a
secretary, or maybe work at Jack in the Box for minimum wage.
And
furthermore, this has been going on for 30 years. But no response
from Washington, no acknowledgement of the problem. No attempts to
fix it that are not laughable. But we do see bankers and fund
managers destroy the economy, not get prosecuted and given their
multi-million bonuses nevertheless. We see Wells Fargo commit fraud
for a decade, fire 5,000 little people, but no one goes to jail and
the CEO retires with 100 million dollars after some insider trading
which of course is not investigated. We see middle class people get
assets seized by the police without being accused of a crime and the
DOJ say that it is OK.
Now
before you read any further, you should reread the above two
paragraphs. You should reread them again. You should keep rereading
them until you understand them. Until you understand that they are
true. Then when or if you finally get it through your head that we
have a corrupt and unacceptable economy for millions of Americans,
then we can move on. The point is that your trade deals and
Globalization is not a favorite concept among millions and millions
of Americans. Ok, got that?
Second,
the TPP was negotiated in secret and sprung on the American people
about a year ago. When it was released to the public with the
statement that we must ratify this treaty at once, and no discussion
permitted, people demurred. Since a ratified treaty becomes law, it
makes sense that there be some discussion of what is essentially a
proposed law(s). We cant have that, the Government says, we must
ratify this at once!
But
what we discovered when we looked at the TPP was some very egregious
and unlikeable provisions. Well, unlikeable unless you are a large,
corrupt corporation of course. In fact, there is a lot to dislike
about this “partnership”, when it was finally presented to the
American people.
Third,
you now tell us that the TPP had nothing to do with trade. In fact,
it had to do with national security as manifested by trade blocks
that will form a bulwark against China and Russia (if anyone cared
about Russia as an economic power, which they do not, apparently).
Well,
that is interesting and it may even be true. But your efforts to
slide that past the American people without discussing your real
motives or the slightest effort to protect the American people
against the egregious and manifest crimes of international
corporations doomed this effort.
As
you say, it has nothing to do with trade. It may or may not have
something to do with national security. But it certainly has a lot to
do with the trust that the American people have in their government,
and that is where you lost.
But
there is a way forward. All you have to do is be honest with the
American people about what your real motives are, fix the problems
with the treaty to protect the American people and their laws, and
convince them that your trade policies actually help Americans
instead of just stridently assert that they do against all the
evidence of people's experience of the last 30 years.
If
you do that, I have no doubt that a treaty can be ratified.
Good
luck.
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