For those of you who haven’t noticed, Jason Busch over on Spend Matters has found a new cause – Anti-Dumping Fever (because “Dumping is Code for We Suck, Help Us”. (Much better than the China Fever he had last summer and fall.) And I have to agree with him this time … but what’s really peaked my attention is how fast the “no-trade” protectionists who want to transform America into the Soviet Union or China of times past when the iron and red curtains were drawn tightly shut have jumped on him like a hoard of hungry jackals on a wounded rabbit.
Take yesterday’s comment from an anonymous poster offering one opinion:
You offer up an interesting argument but it is only one side of the story. What about the jobs that Leggett and Platt provides to its workers? Will they be sent to China? Shouldn’t US workers have a right to a job in global economy. It is not their fault that their employer has made business mistakes. And what happens when there are no inner spring manufacturers left in the US? What will we sleep on? Trade is a tricky subject with multiple perspectives.
Wow! What an argument! Maybe the government should step up every time management in a company screws up and “protect the jobs of the workers”! Can’t produce parts cheap enough? No problem, anti-dumping. Granted mortgages you never should have granted in the first-place? No problem, bail-out. Stupidly hired more workers than you can afford? No problem, tax-break.
While we’re at it, why not start “socializing” all of the businesses! The government can be a part owner in everything. That way, at the first sign of trouble, it can start creating and enforcing new anti-dumping and anti-free trade laws instead of waiting until things get too bad. That way, no jobs get lost and no massive bail outs are needed.
Aw, heck! Why stop there? Why not repeal all the free trade acts introduced by past administrations – you know, the ones that catapulted America to times of unmatched economic glory and solidified its place as the leader of the free world. After all, in a free market, there are always losers as well as winners, and the losers will have to lay people off … and even though many of them will be instantly snatched up by the winners, there’s always a few that might be out of work for a while – and we all know that it’s the good of the few, or the one, that matters, and not the good of the many – so let’s make sure their jobs are protected for life! That way, even the lazy and incompetent, a small minority but a minority nonetheless, will never have to worry about their jobs again!
And yes, I’m being very sarcastic. I don’t know how else to describe how backward-thinking or narrow-minded these individuals are. If they have their way, America would be the next socialist/communist regime – and one only has to look at Venezuela and Zimbabwe for some recent examples of how devastating that can be … and for those with longer term memories, the former Soviet Union or China before they started opening the iron and red curtains. Where people stood in lines for days just to get basic food and household items because the economies were in a constant state of collapse.
And it’s not like the US economy isn’t in a bad enough state as it is. The dollar is already worth less than its northern neighbor on some days and is now worth roughly half of a British pound. Closing the borders and finding new and creative ways to block free trade is only going to make things worse.
So what if some jobs go away? In a global economy, new jobs are also created every day. And for first world leaders, these are usually better jobs. If you’re a qualified engineer … you’re in demand. No more inner-springs? Okay. Make springs for automotive assemblies. Those get outsourced too? No problem – design springs for next generation automobiles. Remember, outsourcing intellectual tasks is always exponentially harder than outsourcing grunt labor. And leadership is one thing that just can’t be outsourced.
Furthermore, isn’t the US supposed to be a leader in education and accessibility thereof? Can you not only retrain for another job but also retrain to be a world-class designer and leader versus just a rank-and-file doer and follower? Then, not only will you always have a job in the global economy (though not necessarily the same one you have tomorrow that you have today – and that’s the point!), but you will be a leader in the global economy – and possibly one that manages R&D teams around the world.
So what do you want? A continued rise to glory? Or do you want to oppress the country into a state that would make even the dark ages of olden times look good? It’s your choice, and I hope the majority of you, especially at the polls in November, choose wisely.
And to the whiner’s, I dedicate this poem:
To the whiners on Spend Matters
Who moan about free trade spatters
I wish they’d all stay home
I dedicate this poem
To the whiners on Spend Matters
To the whiners who always moan
So much that they would fill a tome
On issues big and small
Their moans don’t enthrall
Oh why should we throw them a bone
The winds of change are always blowing
And every time you try to stay
The winds of change continue blowing
And they’ll just carry you away
To the whiners so full of strife
Go suck it in, it’s free trade life
We don’t live in a dome
I dedicate this poem
To the whiners so full of strife
To the whiners so pitiful
Who will cry you a bucketful
You’ll never get my heart
Even though you are a part
Of the populous resentful
The winds of change are always blowing
And every time you try to stay
The winds of change continue blowing
And they’ll just carry you away
To the whiners against free trade
Who always belch such long tirades
If you had just stayed home
I couldn’t dedicate this poem
To the whiners against free trade
