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The United States of America was founded with this in mind. The founders made it known that the US should avoid excessive entanglement in the affairs of other countries.
Corporations in the US and of course most of the governments of the other world obviously fear this happening. The provision in the economic stimulus plan is being removed that stated steel and other construction goods had to be purchased from the US.
Most economist support globalization. I understand the arguments for or against... i'm no economist, but I don't think isolationism would be bad for the US.
With the exception of oil (and if researched better methods to extract oil shale, etc... there would be no exception) most everything we need can be supplied here. We have vast lands and resources, and see no reason not to support ourselves.
Prices would go up, but so would jobs. Think of the immediate need to fill jobs in the US for manufacturing and even tech jobs that have been lost to India.
I've heard the argument that many corporations are worried of losing money because of how other countries would respond... people say those corporations would pack up and leave the US. This may be true for some, but I really don't think it would have a negative effect if we are supplying ourselves. Supply and demand. A corporation that supplies a product may leave, but the demand doesn't go away and someone will pop up ready to take care of that demand.
I'm not against trade of certain goods, but I am against us having walmart sell tons of cheap stuff from China that could be made here but would be more expensive. Would it really hurt if it cost more? At the same time i'm against unions that will artificially inflate wages.
I don't like our current "global economy" our country shouldn't be dependent on what is going on in other countries.
Free trade has it's strengths in allowing each country to do what it does best and people to benefit from it, but with places like India and China where wages are different and people have low standards of living, the playing field is not even.
Isolationism and Protectionism would lead to our downfall and destroy our country.
This stance is like saying preventative maintenance is bad. It's like saying being reactive is better than proactive... All things that are well known now to actually be a good thing.
Reformed structures of cities and neighborhoods could go a long way.
Suburbs should be built with sidewalks and the houses built around a neighborhood center. You see some of this tried already with "new urbanism" projects... some people criticize it as feeling too structured, but its new, of course it will feel like that. It's more important what it accomplishes.
A neighborhood with sidewalks that lead to a neighborhood center which has a small market, cafe, a few small stores... connect these neighborhoods to by light rail to downtown markets, and all major cities connected by rail. It'd spur jobs, give rise to more mom and pop style stores, reduce fossil fuel usage.. people would actually know their neighbors, and maybe the US wouldnt be near the top of the list on obese people.
I'm not against chain stores, I think they serve their purpose... my favorite clothing store is the Buckle. Tho in my vision they wouldn't be in the neighborhood centers so much.
personally if we were responsible for more things here I think it would spur even more innovation among US citizens.
Very key word. Innovation and entrepreneurship would thrive if small business didn't have to complete with the Wal-Marts of the country.
Really, how large do the revenues of Wal-Mart have to get before they stop diversifying? Do we really need a haircut, do our banking, eat, buy contacts and eye glasses, get our damn pictures taken and get our tires changed while we **** our money away to China?
I don't think the people are to blame. It's our **** poor government who ignored trade deficits for so long to keep their lobbyists’ happy and feed the mega corporations.
I hope the price of oil shoots to $150/barrel. Hopefully that will spur more mix-use urban developments which could allow locals to walk to a locally based retailer or grocer and start buying goods from home.
Unfortunately, that may not even be possible as many small retailers buy wholesale from retards that also supply Wal-Mart (China)
Maybe we need to publish a nice little picture book for stupid Americans to flip through that can hopefully convey a message of why "consuming" lifestyles have been the downfall of the country the last 30 years.
But none of those things are stuff we can't make here.
Agreed, it just means we may be making some big changes. Right now our main money export is our trash. Countries like China buy it and use it to make those convenience items. With them winding down their production there'll be no need for the packaging, which is where most of it goes. That impacts the people here who handle the recycling. If we could create a domestic industry of our own that would be a huge plus. I'd predict the sticking point would be labor costs.
Isolationism and Protectionism would lead to our downfall and destroy our country.
Oh no, we would not want to destroy the prosperous way of life that has materialized here over the past years. We are doing so well in this country that I say don't change a thing. I love the fact that Wall Street fat cats are partying on my tax dollars. In fact, another illegal occupation of a soverign nation might be in order as we have money to blow. I adore the crap that China sends over here, especially the poison toothpaste and pet food. Please do not protect America, because that would be unpatriotic
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