Cary,
Free trade and free markets benefit the society of the whole world, but they tend to bring American wage rates down to world levels or they export jobs entirely to to low wage rate areas
You might be surprised to hear how much of the world is doing, under the capitalist free market system. 1.3 Billion people currently live on less than one dollar a day and 3.1 Billion people live on less than two dollars a day. I am currently reading an excellent book which provides case studies in numerous countries, including our own, that get's one thinking how free are the free markets really?
amazon.com
The money for this must come from the businesses and individuals that are profiting from the free trade and markets and the opportunity to exploit lower cost labor overseas.
I agree that there should be some type of cost of doing business where there are no safety or environmental guidelines, because Transnational companies are getting away with murder, quite literally, in many countries at the expense of those who can least afford it.
FWIW, George Soros came out several years ago and said something to the effect that we had crossed the line- from Capitalism to a form of Ultracapitalism, where everything is subjugated to the almighty dollar. Unless this trend is stopped, or at the very least slowed, living conditions for the majority of people on the planet will be miserable in the 21st Century. Don't get me wrong, I am an optimist, but I also see what happens when families "need" 2 SUV's, or a larger home, or thenumerous othernecessities that are really luxuries.
Americans are unhappy largely because we spend so much of our time working for things that we feel we need, which cuts down on the time we spend developing meaningful relationships. We may make more money than any other country, but we also feel we need LOTS more to achieve happiness. Maybe it's the media that portrays images of young adults living implausibly affluent lifestyles, or advertisers relentlessly flaunting their products to us 24/7, but this society is rapidly turning into a generation of materialistic, out-of-shape & self-absorbed debtors.
OK, I'm getting off the soapbox:-)
Regards,
Brian. |
