When will I be OK with the "Security and Prosperity Partnership" that Dubya, Calderón and PMS are shoving down our throats?
When labour standards and police practices in Mexico match those of the US and Canada -- as well the incomes.
When people's e-mails and phone calls in all three countries aren't just wiretapped for no good reason.
When people are allowed to support the troops and oppose the military missions they're sent on without being called unpatriotic.
When the powers that be stop talking about the wrongs of the previous governments and actually talk about what they're doing right now.
When people are actually allowed to protest right at the doorstep of the resort where the three leaders are staying -- not from a distance where the leaders can "watch on television" which means they'll just turn it off and watch something that they can agree on, like Fox News.
When the three leaders stop treating legitimate dissent in general with the contempt they do.
When will I support the SPP under the present conditions that are proposed -- without any consideration at all in Parliament, Congress and the Mexican National Assembly?
I'm a free trader, but not at this price. North America is not Western Europe.
À c'est prix-là, c'est rien!
UPDATE (4:55 PM EDT, 2055 GMT): Some may note I said rien, or nothing -- rather than jamais or never, as in "At this price, it's nothing." No, it's not a mistake. The SPP is not worth the paper it's printed on -- not until it's ratified as a treaty by the national legislatures of all three countries.
To vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers, click here.
2 comments:
What happens if they get around to changing our money to Amero..I would scream, and so would a lot of other people. We have our Queen, the Prime Ministers on our bills and I sure do not want to change that for any American face. Bush has about had it, I do not think Calderon has a majority ,or Harper, so what do they think they are creating...a reason for treason?
Lizt, that belies the point also.
From a US perspective, the "Amero" would also be a disaster. American investors and even the US Federal Reserve are flocking to the Canadian dollar among other currenies as a safe harbour or at least a hedge, as people become more aware not just of the sub-prime lending issue but also the US debt in general.
A union of currencies would devalue the greenback overnight by at least a quarter and given it's done that already in the last two years on its own, I think Americans would flip even more than Canadians -- but by that time it'd be too late.
Again, the point must be made -- North America isn't Western Europe. There, where economic conditions are generally similar, it makes sense to have open borders as well as a common currency. We're nowhere near ready for that.
Post a Comment