RomanK
From: Waldemar Dworakowski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Multiple recipients of list prawica <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Prawica: Glos rozsadku z Ameryki Date: Sun, 18 Apr 2004 14:12:41 +0200
http://www.amconmag.com/2004_04_26/taki.html
> Outsource the Neocons!
>
> By Taki
>
> While flying back to the good old USA, I read a letter to a newspaper >from an Illinois
> factory worker who had lost his job to some sweatshop out in the Far East. He told of
> his efforts to keep some kind of dignity as well as the wolf from his >door. The letter
> was well written, and the writer came through as a decent person who wanted to find
> work rather than a handout.
>
> Although Pat Buchanan wrote about suicide by free trade in the last >issue, a column
> by George Will compels me to comment further. Here’s what he had to say >about the
> perils of protectionism in Newsweek: “Protectionism is intellectuals’ >Louis Vuitton
> luggage—a luxury for persons comfortably placed in societies with social >surpluses so
> large they can sustain the injuries protectionism does to economic >growth.”
>
> Who are these purveyors of Louis Vuitton lugagge? They turn out to be >none other
> than ordinary American workers who find themselves thrown out of work as >a result
> of being undercut by low-paid workers in Africa and Asia. The latter, >poor wretches,
> are willing and ready to work in sweatshop conditions for $1 an hour, if >that.
>
> “Workers disadvantaged by globalization,” Will announces dismissively, >“are few but
> concentrated, attentive and intense.” Well, not as intense as George >Will gets when
> face to face with, say, Lally Weymouth or some other hysterical but rich >female. The
> message from Mr. Will is that these people should simply shut the hell >up and be a lot
> more solicitous about the economic well-being of poor African countries, >just like he
> is.
>
> Now of course George couldn’t care less about poor Africans. They come >in handy in
> order to make a point but hardly ever give a chic cocktail party inside >the Beltway. But
> this column is not about Africa. (It would take a War and Peace-like opus just to list
> the murders and thievery of African leaders). It’s about American jobs >and American
> workers. And what I’d like to know is whose interests are being >protected when
> corporations close down their factories in the United States and open >them in Gabon
> because labor there is a lot cheaper? Whose interests are being >protected when these
> corporations then re-import these goods into the United States at prices >so low that
> they, in turn, help drive domestic producers out of business? Certainly >shareholders
> do very well out of this. Without any extra work, labor costs are >suddenly smaller,
> profits are larger, and the value of their shares is higher. American >workers, on the
> other hand, are now out of work.
>
> Please don’t get me wrong. I’m all for shareholders’ profits. I am, >after all, the son of
> a capitalist. But with a difference. My family moolah comes from >industries and ships.
> We created jobs and offered them to Greeks when in Greece, to Sudanese >when in the
> Sudan, and to Americans when in America. We didn’t close down factories >at home
> and open them up abroad, like the Heinz corporation does in order to keep John
> Kerry’s wife in the style she’s never been accustomed to.
>
> Once upon a time, the state was required to defend the nation’s borders >as well as the
> people’s jobs. Now the crooks in Washington no longer protect the >nation’s borders,
> and the corporate crooks no longer give jobs to Americans. What in hell >is going on
> here? I’ll tell you. People like George Will, that’s what.
>
> As a conservative, I favor social stability over shareholder value. The >great bourgeois
> world of the past was built on families confident that the man of the >house would
> always have a job and that his income would rise slowly but steadily. >Nothing
> guarantees instability so much as unemployment or the fear of >unemployment. The
> Wills of this world fulminate about cosseted Americans and extol the virtues of
> competition and suggest that there is something elitist and scandalous >about wanting
> to ensure that American workers are not out of work and are paid >reasonably. These
> champions of free trade claim that cheap imports mean cheaper consumer >goods, but
> if people are out of work, they don’t have the money to buy these goods. >If people’s
> pay is driven down every year because that’s the only way that companies >are able to
> compete with Third World sweatshops, then there won’t be anyone to buy >those
> cheap cars and DVDs—other than people like George Will who make their >money by
> posturing and posing.
>
> However, I do think free trade is sometimes reasonable. I propose that >we outsource
> George Will, David Frum, and the rest of the neoconservative pack to India. There’s
> probably a sweatshop in Bombay that can churn out neocon drivel at a far >brisker
> pace and for less than 50 cents an hour. Imagine what ABC could do with >all that
> money they would save by no longer paying George Will’s exorbitant salary! The
> unemployed Illinois factory worker cum letter-writer made more sense than the fully
> employed but pompous George ever did.
_________________________________________________________________ Get rid of annoying pop-up ads with the new MSN Toolbar – FREE! http://toolbar.msn.com/go/onm00200414ave/direct/01/
