Nafta/Cafta/Shafta? Do Borders even matter?

[SoCalDem]

Wasn't the whole idea of these "ground-breaking" trade deals ALL about "breaking down borders" that slow the commerce between nations?

If THAT was the case for merchandise, why would it not also include labor? The moving of Job-generators OUT of the country, while importing the same products that used to be made here, seems to be little more than a waste of energy, except for the huge amounts of cash made from virtual slave labor wages paid to produce them. Of course the products have to be cheap, because the well-paid jobs necessary to buy more expensive goods, went out the window with the deals. For government to all of a sudden be worrying about the fact that labor is being "imported" as well, is disingenuous.

If the "border sealing" is going to be di rigueur, to prevent low paid workers from entering, then perhaps the same should be done for the low cost products.

To have one foot on the gas and the other on the brake is a pretty dangerous way to drive.

OWNERS of companies have NO problem "moving" for labor, so the JOBS can be (and are) outsourced across borders, the merchandise produced by those companies can be (and IS) moved across borders..

These trade deals have made borders rather insignificant.. The EU has apparently pretty open borders between other EU members' citizens, even though they are also sovereign nations (are they?)...

Perhaps a better tack to take with the 'gubbmint' is to question and re-define exactly what all these "deals" are doing to the integrity of our labor force.

In one issue they want the doors flung wide open for the goodies to flow freely, and cheaply, but in the other issue, they want complete lock-down, stay-where-you-belong rules. There is no ying to their yang..

If workers are expected to stay here and work, then the companies actually should be "encouraged" to stay here too..

There ARE NO jobs that Americans won't do..there are some jobs that have been so devalued that most American can't afford to do for the wages they now pay.

[katty]

1. Nafta/Cafta giving everyone the Shafta...great question

real borders?! that's a joke-we're ALL in the global corporate gulag together.

[Xeric]

2. These trade deals are a scam

What NAFTA and CAFTA have done is to allow global corporations to shop for cheap labor and less restrictive environmental policies. We are all supposed to be serfs tied to the land.
It's too bad that the whiners about "illegals" here on DU don't see that bigger picture. They've bought into the divide and conquer scheme from the corporations. I hate to say it but they are just as dumb as the freepers.
If you think immigrant bashing is going to stop global corporations from buynig the government and shipping your job out while shipping cheap goods in, you are nuts.

[SoCalDem]

3. Yep.. It's all just a summer diversion cooked up by Rove

at the present it seems to have thrown shit on both parties, and hasn;t had the desired effect he had hopes for,..Has the poor boy been "distracted".:)

[Triana]

13. One of the first things some of us whiners about illegals have suggested..

...is doing AWAY with NAFTA/CAFTA as part of the solution to the illegal immigrant issue. So, um...we must be getting that picture.

edited to add LINK:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1084992&mesg_id=1085109

[NNN0LHI]

4. I think gratuitous has the inside info on all this stuff

I am pretty ignorant on this subject.

Don

[ulysses]

5. this is the issue

on which those bleating about job losses to immigration and how union supporters should oppose immigration should focus.

[The2ndWheel]

6. Only for actual human beings

Borders are just one more thing in the long line of exploitable issues that power can use.

[SoCalDem]

7. Smoke & Mirrors is all we get..

It always, but probably should't, surprises me when a new "deal" comes up, and is passed with record speed, and only AFTERWARDS are we treated to the slimy details. Most, if not ALL of these deals affect every one of us in some way, and yet our elected leaders go out of their way to keep us in the dark until the ink is dry.. :grr:

[Erika]

8. That's why borders should be opened

to follow the jobs. We've gone global, like it or not.

[Igel]

9. The EU is having troubles with its open borders

policy.

The Central European countries have much lower standards of living; open the borders, and you can get a lot of immigration, just as you would have in the US. What prevents that kind of equalization of standards of living is having them already in near equilibrium; I may settle for a lower paycheck to stay in my own cultural milieu--think of it as a 'cultural penalty' required for increased income--but there's a limit to how much of a reduction I'll go for.

There's too great a gulf between the US and Mexican/Central American standard of living, still, and between educational levels (although we're working at equalizing them, and apparently also reduce the cultural penalty). I don't want the US side equalized in the direction that quick equalization would require.

[RagingInMiami]

10. Americans still think they can have their enchilada

And be able to eat it too.

[meganmonkey]

11. Kicked and

recommended :thumbsup:

[bvar22]

12. Freed from restraint, Capital can ALWAYS outrun Human Rights.

In EVERY case, "Barriers to Trade" and "Restrictions on Corporations" were created to protect something valuable!

The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

"NAFTA, CAFTA, SHAFTA"----Stephanie Tubbs-Jones

[gordianot]

14. Why fight it?

Instead of a little extortion by local police, in the USA you can experience world class crime by elected officials at all levels. A substantial number of the voting public is too ignorant to know what is happening even when told.

Give it a few years Americans will want to move to Mexico.