from the deck


On NAFTA

By John B. Shanley

Man, they don’t make nothin’ round here no more Union Sundown, by Bob Dylan


Dylan wrote those lyrics back in 1985 and today I see proof that he was on to something just by looking in a westersly direction.

From my deck on the back of my house I can see big freight ships come and go. They go out real high on the water and they come in real low. There is a reason for this, and it is, as Dylan said, because “We don’t make nothin’ round here no more.”

We Americans are indeed a consumer society. We buy stuff and we discard it at an ever-increasing rate. But what do we make anymore? Not muich.

I have long been asking the question that I heard CNN’s Wolf-boy Blitzer pose to the Democratic candidates for president. “Was NAFTA (the North American Trade Agreement a mistake? Was Ross Perot right?” He could have added Pat Buchanan who also railed against NAFTA in the 92 campaign, stating that it would destroy traditional union jobs and wages.

In responding Hilary Clinton did what politicians often do – rather than answer the question she mocked Perot. “All I seem to remember is a lot of charts.” I suppose this was an attempt to be funny, but when asked a serious question during a presidential debate I would prefer an intelligent answer to a joke. When pressed to respond to the question, Hilary said something to the effect of, “NAFTA was a mistake to the extent it did not give everyone everything they expected.” OK…so does that mean it was a mistake or not.
Let me be frank that I think NAFTA has been a huge mistake and I am disappointed that Democrats can’t see this. For those of you who may consider yourselves to be progressives, let me ask you about traditional progressives issues that are important to me.

First, do you support minimum wage laws? Do you support child labor laws? Do you support work-place safety laws? Do you support clean-food and drug regulations. If so, why do you support NAFTA? How do you feel any of these measures designed to support working men and woman have been enhanced by NAFTA?
I see nothing noble about NAFTA and the Democrats inability to even discuss it in an intelligent manner is disappointing to say the least. So now the Christmas (yes, I said it) holiday season is upon us and parents are concerned that their children might be poisoned by cheap toys made oversees. Where is the concern for the workers, many of whom are underage and almost all of who are paid slave wages? I have not heard those concerns expressed.

If we are now a nation that is comfortable buying cheap goods made by people in slave like conditions then I fear that we are poisoning our children with something much worse than lead. We are poisoning them with a sense of elitism that may do our nation more harm than lead.