It’s unfortunate that a great portion of Americans are enjoying the present state of our union, and are actually hoping for more job losses, more war, and more of our earnings being dumped into the health and welfare of foreign nations. These are the anti-Dems - the faux patriotic mass who love projecting their bitterness onto Democrats and the “Liberal Left”. Those who raise the American flag the highest and who like to believe that Republicanism automatically instills patriotism, are backing the “war hero” John McCain, whose ideals are proving that he has anything but a love for our country.
Though championed by many on both sides at their inception, both NAFTA and CAFTA have proven to be major elements playing to ruin middle-class America. Because these agreements allow for the exploitation of the poorest people in countries throughout North and Central America, the only benefits that come from these go directly into the coffers of the corporations who hold the freedom to do what they want, where they want. Corporatists could say, “We’re creating jobs where there weren’t any before,” without telling you that American workers are out on their ear since their jobs have been outsourced to places where the workers will work longer hours for little income. The bonus for these corporations is that they do not have to uphold any moral standard, since they no longer have rules or regulations to follow, and they surely don’t have to provide benefits to their employees. They call it “globalization” and they tell us we need it to keep pace with the rest of the world. Yet, when a person claims that America may no longer be number one at everything we do, and hints at the possibility that we may be losing pace with rest of the world, we’re chided by those faux patriots whose views on reality are being blocked by the stars and stripes. McCain, not only believes strongly in his support for NAFTA and CAFTA but goes even further to say that we should allow free trade with any country except those which may cause a security risk. Obviously, McCain doesn’t think the exploitation of foreign workers could spark an uprising that could easilly become a “security risk”.
Currently, many Mexican and Central American migrant workers carry the attitude that America should open the borders to anyone who wants to cross into America to work for better pay, and it’s hard to blame them when these agreements make it perfectly legal for American corporations to cross into their countries and freely open shop. Why is it wrong for the people to want the same rights the corporations are given? After all, “the corporations” are only people, but with a whole lot of money.
If you find yourself asking, “Who cares about migrant workers?” or, “Who cares about the poor workers in Mexico, or Costa Rica?” and think, “It’s good for America, since these are American corporations, and the bigger they get the more jobs will be available,” you need to think again. The reason so many American corporations cross the border is for the same reasons I mentioned earlier - in those countries they do not need to worry about rules and regulations, or having to shell out what would be profits for employee benefits, like healthcare or paid time-off. Rules and regulations also cost money, because they need to hire people for oversight, and buy equipment to ensure a safe working environment. So the trend is to move into these countries to help the “bottom line” - profit. In doing so the American worker is now unemployed, and without benefits. The more companies that defect, the more Americans lose their jobs, proving that NAFTA and CAFTA are only good for the corporations and the politicians taking kickbacks for keeping these agreements alive and protected.
This is only one area that proves John McCain’s agenda is not aimed at helping the American people. If he truly does care about America and its citizens then he’s only proving to be as ignorant as the current president who enacted CAFTA, and his NAFTA-creator predecessor. I think it’s safe to say that we don’t need another four years with a thoughtless politician at the helm.
But it doesn’t end there. There are more reasons why voting for John McCain would be a mistake, and most can be summed up with that one word - ignorance.
Being held captive during a time of war does not make a person an expert on warring. Especially when considering that they are locked up and without any way to be in battle, or any way to be a part of a war strategy. And though McCain is considered an expert in war because of his time served in Viet Nam, time and time again he has stated that we can “win” in Iraq without ever providing an answer to what “winning” is supposed to mean. If he believes that we can win a war against terrorists then he would have to define what type of war we’re fighting to win. Can we win a conventional war, where both sides dress in uniform and make their appearance noticeably different so as not to mistake friend from foe? One in which good guys fight the bad guys until one lays down their arms in surrender, and peace treaties are signed thereafter? Of course we could win a conventional war against terrorists in this manner. But, if terrorists fought this type of war then they would be considered soldiers of an army, not terrorists. George Bush’s “War On Terror”, is as absurd as the Reagan’s “War On Drugs”, simply because these “wars” cannot be won. Terrorism is a methodology, not an army. The guy who blows up an abortion clinic is a terrorist, as are the college kids who burn down a church. The disgruntled postal worker is a terrorist, as is the kid responsible for shooting 17 fellow high school classmates. Morally speaking, we could write the definition of a terrorist as ‘one who instills terror in another’. With that we could say the rapist is a terrorist, but our dictionaries stray from becoming too profound with the meaning.
John McCain should realize that terrorism is used when a person knows they could never take on a military the size of our own. They make their mark in small bursts, literally. They want to make it known that America is indeed vulnerable, and know they could damage us both in our image and economically, so they manipulate their way in to when they could use our own commercial jets to drop the World Trade Center. They want to make it known that America’s warships are not welcome in the heartland of modern-day pirates and power-wielding gangs, so they sink the U.S.S. Cole with tiny boat packed with explosives. Afterwards they run and hide to a place they could hunker down, let the smoke blow over, and regroup; to a place they may even call “home”. They’ve accomplished their mission, and now they have all the time they need to plan their next attack. Since they live in the region, many in somewhat of a nomadic sense, they see themselves as being right where they need to be. Their job is to expel the western invaders and the mostly unwanted culture they insist on spreading. They could go about their daily shopping, and laundry-washing while we run about in desperation to find the one man who placed the IED that exploded from under a pile of trash amongst many piles of trash, until we think the man is long gone. Once the incident has been forgotten, and the American soldier who had his legs blown off is at home learning to propel a wheelchair, that same man could walk into a neighborhood where his real enemy lives, his sectarian enemy, and place another IED just outside a mosque.
People like John McCain, in their infinite ignorance, believe we can change the mindset of people who have spent two thousand years perfecting their hatred for their neighbor. They believe we can win a war against a tactic where an army should, but doesn’t, exist. And though many believe that we’re doing a good thing over there; trying to spread peace and democracy to a region that has always known very little about peace and nothing about democracy, we should ask ourselves some questions. The first one being “Why?”
Why is it the duty of America, and by way of the lives of our children, spouses, and parents, our job to instill a way of life that the majority of their population doesn’t believe in, nor would ever consider dying to obtain? Why should we send our citizens into what has been a civil-war zone for thousands of years?
The second question should be “Where?”
Where do we fight to “win the war on terror”? Iraq? Afghanistan? Iran? Syria? Pakistan? Egypt? Sudan and along the Sahel through Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, and on to Mauritania? Do we send our troops to Columbia? Cuba? Spain? or England, until we bring them home so they could take out the Timothy McVeighs in Oklahoma? At what point do we send them to Indonesia? And this leads us to the question “How?”
How do we convince our nation’s children to enlist in our ever-shrinking military when they understand perfectly well that they are destined for battle in a war they do not believe in? How, when states are reporting their highest job losses since the Great Depression, and the cost of living has only gone up while the value of the dollar keeps tumbling to record lows, do we drum up the money for more war over-seas? Once again, I will ask how we can win a war against “terrorism” when “terrorism” cannot be fought, but can truly only be decided against using as a method of killing?
The only answer to all of this is to stop pouring money that we don’t have into glorious goals that are impossible to obtain. This is not a time to drive America into further ruin with war and free-trade agreements, but a time to refocus our efforts onto America itself. This is a time to reinvest in our nation, and our people, as opposed to spending our money in a vain attempt to buy “freedom” and “democracy” for a culture that never asked for them, and have told us with bombs that they don’t want them.
In closing we should all ask ourselves two questions - How will John McCain’s plans of extending the war, and leaving open the possibility of what would undoubtedly be a suicidal invasion into Iran, help the American citizen? And how will his pro-NAFTA and pro-CAFTA stance help the American citizen when both agreements have already proved themselves damaging? I believe it’s time the true patriots of this nation, the people who love and care for the welfare of our country and our fellow countrymen, take back the title and point to those who favor the policies drummed up by the corporatists and war-profiteers in the Bush administration, and tag them with what they prove themselves to be – treasonably ignorant, and unfit to lead this nation.
By Brian A. Burns
