April 21, 2012
Thomas Heffner
The
United States is in open competition with the same countries from which
we buy our goods and finance our government. These countries supply our
consumption while simultaneously competing fiercely against our
companies in international markets. Nations like India, Japan and China,
along with trade blocs like the European Union, rail against
“protectionism” in the U.S. because they do not want to have their
unfettered access to our market tampered with.
The United States is told that it must oblige to its commitment to
“free trade,” not because it is in our best interest, but because it is
in our foreign creditors’ best interest. They want the current system to
continue unimpeded. Foreign exporters finance our government so the
U.S. can continue functioning, and then they make all of their money
back through the goods we buy from them. The U.S. government then pays
back its finance charges and over time foreign financiers virtually
double their investments. The United States is told that it must keep up
its end of the “free trade” bargain. Meanwhile other countries skirt
the rules, using hostile practices to put our companies out of business
and capture sectors of the market.
Other countries limit and restrict the amount of American-made goods
flowing into their markets. The United States puts up no such
regulations, and is thus flooded with foreign-made goods. The WTO,
NAFTA, and other “free trade” agreements favor the foreign producers in
this equation, and the United States is not one of them. We are told by
these international trade regimes that we cannot and should not protect
our own economy. Through “free trade” the U.S. must open itself up to
all foreign interests.
Our government has eroded its own regulations regarding capital
infusions, mergers and acquisitions, and foreign-takeovers. To make
matters worse, all successful American companies are for sale on an open
stock market. As a result the United States has lost thousands of
companies to foreign takeovers in the past 30 years, and stands to lose
even more as the economic crisis deepens. The same cannot be said of
other countries, where takeovers are closely regulated and major
industrial champions rarely – if ever – get purchased by an interest
overseas.
It is inevitable our foreign competitors have economically conquered
us. Our fate is sealed. Most Americans do not realize the gravity of the
situation because so much of the media attention is directed in favor
of the “free trade” system that has bankrupted us. Scholars,
politicians, professionals, and others from all walks of life have been
indoctrinated into the idea that “free trade” is the best and only way
to do business. Our political leaders believe in the whimsical idea, and
those that do not preach the fallacies of “free trade” are bought and
paid for by major corporate interests and foreign lobbies.
With this arrangement we are inexorably heading into the 21st century
as an American colony at full speed. Our experiment with economic
freedom, one which has gone on since 1776, is doomed at this rate. It
was great while it lasted.
As an economically conquered nation we have no ability to resist this
economic and political pressure. Our factories are shuttered and our
industries are unproductive. This country imports consumer goods which
could and should otherwise be made at home. It exports its wealth,
strength, and prestige in exchange.
With no internal capabilities remaining and no strength, we are happy
that our colonial masters even give us a job. There are thousands of
foreign-owned, American-registered companies in the United States. Many
of the automobile factories which presently supply our car market are
foreign-owned. Our state, local, and federal governments continue to
offer tax breaks and subsidies to these foreign companies in exchange
for a few American jobs even after this practice drove our own
automakers to the point of dissolution.
In the near future we may find our living standard diminished and our
prospects for growth and economic independence dampened. Without any
homegrown industries to drive a comeback we will be forced to be content
with our diminishing status. While formerly living in the lap of luxury
we allowed the greatest economy on earth to fall apart by living on
imports and foreign-financed debt. The “me first” mentality which drove
this country has pushed us into a crisis from which we will not return,
if we do not start fixing our problems now.
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