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Strategies & Market Trends : Galapagos Islands -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bramble88 who wrote (28613)	2/24/2003 3:16:28 PM
From: Jorj X Mckie	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 57110

b, I agree that we are all better off by having good international trade relationships. I think that the issue that I have is that the international relationships are normally presented as if the U.S. strongarmed every deal and that every country is the victim of both political and business strongarm tactics. As someone who has spent much of his career in the international arena, I have found that everyone tries it. My experience is that China and France are the worst. However, I have always had the right to say "no deal". If I don't like a deal and say "yes" to it, I find it difficult to view myself as a victim of anything but my own failings. Seriously, if doing business or having international relations with the U.S. is so painful, please, please, can't the world just say "no" instead of turning buyer's/seller's remorse into some sort of victim status.

To: bramble88 who wrote (28613)	2/24/2003 3:17:35 PM
From: gypsees	Respond to of 57110

I never said we had smart politicians who come up with these deals. But I for one would be willing to lower my standard of living and pay more for everything and do without other things to get rid of all this foreign crap we are forever in the middle of. I think in the long run the country would benefit far more by keeping it's dollars and jobs here at home. At the very least it seems to me that we could have a better deal going that what is currently in place.

To: bramble88 who wrote (28613)	2/24/2003 3:32:05 PM
From: bramble88	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 57110

Something that is generally ignored in this sort of discussion, because by necessity it is almost invisible to Americans (again-perspective), is the fact that this country is an empire (that should be Empire with a capital E). Empires are held up to different standards, and for some good reasons. An empire exercises more influence and more power. The claim that such and such peoples at such and such place should be grateful to us for saving them from whatever, is I think besides the point (many of them ARE grateful, no doubt). The US is not an empire because our values dictate that we have to protect the world from itself. It is an empire because we are engaged in pursuing what our leaders have identified as our national interest (and have been since this country's inception). So if as a nation we chose to wield this kind of power and have the historical-socio-economic luck to be able to do so, we should expect to be held to a different standard. This is because our actions and even our culture (which we actively export -again, to satisfy what we see as our interests) heavily impact people around the world. Often, critisizing the US is the only say-so these people have in matters that effect them personally and directly.