Here's the thing about trade agreements.
We had prosperity in this country. Certainly compared to some other countries. A while back in the 1990s and before, we realized we needed the world to come along with us to support that prosperity. We needed to boost other countries in order to boost ourselves.
Along the way that got lost a bit in our not protecting ourselves as well as we should have. Of course to boost other countries we had to give some things up. It may have started innocently enough, but the trouble with it was that those in power and with money discovered they could benefit too. So of course, they got carried away.
We were originally told that some jobs would go elsewhere to other countries (the flood of jobs overseas). But that was supposed to be okay. And it was, but that meant pain here. It meant some types of jobs would disappear and go to not first world countries and just other countries.
It meant we would have to do other jobs, hopefully raising our standards of living, of jobs and levels of job types and our economy. We would make old world jobs, factory jobs, go away. We would start having better, higher paying jobs replace them. More high tech, service and first world type jobs.
That hasn't really happened to the extent that we needed now, has it.
Why is that?
The trouble there was that education started getting cut. Drastically. And other things. Our infrastructure has suffered. Needed education leading to the right types of jobs simply didn't develop. High schools weren't teaching our kids what they needed to know for getting a job out of high school anymore. They were stuck in a previous era as many still are.
Republicans more and more put off what they were supposed to do (along with some democrats). They got lazy. They claimed people should do for themselves. Do for themselves what we were all told they would set up for us, so we COULD do for ourselves.
That began the conservative trend to do for yourself, otherwise you were considered a loser. They began to warp what government was and should be. They worked to monetize government, privatize, incentivize.
This started to make the rich richer, the poor poorer. They knew that, but said the opposite and still do. It's failed, and their Emperor's new clothes are now seen as a nude Emperor. They did things like cut charitable services. "Let the churches and charities handle all that," Pres. Reagan said. "That's what they do best!" But it overwhelmed the churches and charities in trying to do what it would take a government to do.
We moved things from one stage, that didn't go to the other. Jobs suffered, people suffered, our economy suffered. In the end, we've all suffered.
Many (of the elite few wealthier class) have gotten rich though this and once won, they wanted to hold onto it. For some, at all costs. To others. To, us.
The masses have not gotten rich, the middle class has been dying because they aren't holding the reins, they can't group together to use the reigns they do have because they have been fractured by those who do have the power or simply the ability to do so.
Religion has told people to suffer, to put their energy into God, into prayer, but not into action.
Politicians have told people the same, but also given them hype and empty promises as evangelical techniques have suffused government.
We need a paradigm shift. We're on the cusp. Things can topple either way at this point.
While republicans and conservatives are pushing us back into the cup of poverty all while claiming it's anyone's fault but their own.
Democrats, many of them, don't get it either. They aren't helping as much as they should because they too do not fully understand. A few do though. Bernie does. And he has made others get it through his run for president. He has altered the talking points. Raised issues. Raised national consciousness. All while Republicans plug their ears and go on as always with their tired old arguments.
Part of the issue is that economics is complicated.
It's about not just America but the entire world. We have to consider the world, and ourselves, and the symbiosis between the two. It's a give and take. It's not just give. It's not just a take. It's give an take as things develop. It takes constant vigilance, occasional action, not too much action, not too little. We have an entire political allegedly conservative party dedicated against fixing this, and they think that is not the case.
A liberal party who also do not understand it clearly, but they are getting there. Finally. We need a progressive party handling things. Progressive in a way that shouldn't be considered progressive, but needs to be seen as such in order to maintain reality, affect correct and positive change with concerns for the masses and not just the wealthy, but the most and many and not the few and wealthy.
How does the few keep power over the many so well when there are so many?
Conspiracy theories, mis and dis information. Greed and perverts (not sexual but some of them to be sure as we see in the news, republican and religious leader after leader charged with crimes of illicit sex, hetero and homosexual (not hetero or gay sex as crime, but in paying for it and their dishonesty of it), crimes against women, children, things they most profess again). And fiscally related crimes. Even crimes against entire cities and in some cases, even humanity.
Crimes against entire cities in poisoning their water supplies. Abusing their power to shut down bridges. But of course, the "true criminals" THEY say... are in another party. It could never be them! It's others. Always others. But those others are not being charged with crimes.Those who are pointing the fingers are the ones being charged of late and finally.
We need to pay attention to reality, band together against what is really attacking us and holding us back.
Show me the money. Because someone has it. And it is not me, or anyone I know. And I'm doing far better than many others who are economically lower on the tables than where I fit in.
We need to see this. And act.
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