Dav
DP Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2009
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- Libertarian - Right
I have been reading the arguments made in this thread, and at this point, find them very intelligent. However, I would argue against extremes in either direction.
One extreme is to cut off China completely. We did this at one time, referring to China as "The Yellow Peril". A lot of good that did us. One good thing Nixon did was to open the door to China, and as a result, it's Communism has been moderated to a degree. That is a good thing.
However, there is another extreme, which is allowing Communist China (Yes, China is still a Communist nation) to beat us, gaming our own Capitalist system by manipulating its currency, paying below poverty wages, and even using slave labor to unfairly unbalance the playing field. China has unfairly manipulated the market, successfully, with these and other shady methods, and as a result, we could eventually become dependent on, and even economically subservient, to China. The last words I ever want to hear would be from a Communist nation, saying "Uncle Sam, your banker will see you now". If China is going to game the system, and cheat, in order to gain an economic advantage, then tariffs are just what we need to stop it. And if China chooses to retaliate, then let the trade war begin. I will more than support our side in a trade war. After all, we are not the ones who started it by cheating. And we could win this war in seconds, by renouncing our debt, and refusing to pay it.
Finally, our own forefathers warned us about foreign entanglements, and this also included economic entanglements. What a web we weave when we decide that comfort is more important than avoiding economic servitude. Once completely entangled in that web, all that remains is to wait for the spider to come down and suck our economic prosperity from us, thus turning us into a third world nation. We ignore our forefathers' advise at our own economic peril.
IMHO, it is much better, and patriotic, for us to live a little less comfortably, at this time, than to become a client-state of a Communist nation, and losing a portion, however small, of our own economic freedom in the process. We should not give in. We should fight instead.
You can't "game" the economy. If you could then everyone would be doing it.
As a consumer, I make an effort to buy products made in the U.S. Walmart used to make a big deal about buying American products. I would like products to be clearly labeled so I can choose between buying something made in China, and buying something made by American workers.
Good for you. Just don't think you can impose your buying habits on me.