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In this age of globalization and increased competition from foreign entities, our economy finds itself in a bit of a conundrum. One of the surest signs of a robust economy is the willingness and ability of companies to offer their employees benefits at what I will call the societal level. These types of benefits, pension plans, retirement, stock options, and health care are the types of things that make jobs worth the while. These benefits represent long term security for the worker and display the true magnitude of a particular corporation's economic clout.
The problem is that U.S. companies have been facing increased competition from foreign companies that can pay their workers much lower wages and offer little to no benefits. We are a rich country and, therefore, our people expect a certain amount of wealth from their jobs. Poorer people may be perfectly willing to accept their low wages that at least provide a little bit of food and material substance. The fact is, Americans don't want to give up their wealth, but companies are continually forcing them to in the name of competitiveness.
I see this phenomenon as a trend of global redistribution of wealth that will spread the limited amount of material well-being in existence more evenly around the globe. If it continues it will materially harm the average American. There will be less wealth to go around in this country. However, the upshot to this, at least on a grand scale, might be more prosperity in the rest of the world, alleviating many of the problems associated with poverty cycles, including the mass discontent caused by the anguish of living in poverty. In short, the redistribution of wealth around the globe, that results in a more even distribution of wealth and power might result in a more stable and, ultimately, peaceful world society.
The problem is that here in America, nobody wants to lose their way of life, nor should they. All productive members of society spend vast portion of their lives seeking material goods and the expected sense of well-being associated with their accumulation. That is one of the founding principles of our society and has been built into the very framework of our government, economy, and even our very lives. Proponents of globalization and worldwide free markets cite the need for new sources of labor, raw materials, and capitol in order to sustain the American way of life- and these people are not wrong. However, the expansion of our economy into a global one comes at a price and we, as Americans, must ask ourselves whether we are willing to pay it.
2 comments:
One issue rarely addressed with fee trade arragements such as NAFTA and particularly CAFTA is the labor standards of some of the poorer countries we trade with. Not having trade barriers often touted as a positive thing stemming from an absolutist belief in free markets. I hestiate for a moment on that note because some of the countries that U.S. manufacturers are competing with allow for slave labor, child labor and other things we don't allow in the U.S. and therefore I wonder if some trade barriers would not be best against such froms of labor which most Americans arguable don't want to compete against on moral grounds and not just economic ones. Often these forms of forced or coerced labor are mistakenly seen to be part of the increased competition we face when in actuality if we allowed for these forms of explotation of the work force here in the U.S. we could 'out compete' these countries. I think the U.S. should be much more careful than it has been in openning up U.S. markets, otherwise we let our nation give up economic benefits here at home and squander progressive and moral labor standards abroad all in the name of 'globalization and free trade.' And we ultimately lose both ways.
- Pedro
The problem is not only in North and Central America, but with major trade partners such as China and India as well. The fact is that human rights standards do not exist in much of the world, exposing such countries to an unfair market advantage while U.S. companies must (and ought to) stick to stringent labor standards. Our morals put us at a natural disadvantage in this case and it would do well for proponents of a global free market system to recognize that fact. Free markets only work properly on a level playing field, it is only recently that the U.S. has felt the effects of unfair market activities in any meaningful sense. The rest of the world has been forced to play by our rules for some time now.
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