Who WAS John Galt?
Looting is UN-American
by Glenn R. Jackson
Long, long ago, in a land now far away there lived a philosophy of individual self-sufficiency and enlightened self-interest. In this land the innovator, the creator, and the wealth producer recognized that their ability to produce was built on mutual cooperation and support from workers of like mind and inclination. An enlightened workforce recognized that their efforts were also essential to the production of the wealth of all. That was before the Looters appeared.
Dr. Harry Binswanger in his article “’Buy American’ is UN-American” (found at http://www.aynrand.org/medialink/american.html) takes on an opinion poll that reported 80% of Americans want to buy American-made products. While an opportunity for some enlightened thinking on this “Buy American” surge was possible, Dr. Binswanger instead sides with the looters.
The issue of “Buying American” is not one of competing in the marketplace with the likes of Japan, Germany, France, and Britain. That issue has been decided quite nicely in favor of the United States, evident by the position of each economy in relation to the United States. No, the issue of Buying American is about the American worker, and the nation and economy they helped to build year-by-year being looted by the current crop of American business elites.
In his article Dr. Binswanger confuses business competition with the likes of Japan, France, Germany, and Britain, true industrial nations, with competition from the looted factories and plants of U.S. businesses set-up in third world nations. The Made in – Bangladesh, Mozambique, East Tambour, China, etc. – designations are indications of a looted American economy and a betrayed American workforce.
The sweat of the American worker across the years helped create the high performance American economy as well as the myriad of American businesses now turned “trans-national.” The income of the American worker, across the years, helped capitalize American industry. And the ingenuity, creativity, and independence of the American worker helped the U.S. meet every challenge and defeat every foe. The income taxes taken from every American worker has funded every looter vision from domestic welfare to international bailout, from the IMF (recently bailing out Argentina) to the UN (no explanation needed). The greatest wealth redistribution in all of recorded history has taken place on the backs of the American working stiff.
Why has this happened? Because in the history of the world the shining example of the United States is a singular occurrence of individual control over great wealth, this is too great a temptation for the looters. For the American worker their success brings the recognition of worth and value added. But this value and worth has a price that the looters do not want to pay, only to exploit. For what the American worker has helped to build is being torn from their hands and given to the unproven and the undeserving.
Good jobs, not minimum wage burger flippers, but good paying, hard working, esteem building jobs are being sent away as “jobs American’s do not want to do.” A plant closes in South Georgia; the 600 jobs are going someplace in Mexico. The workers in South Georgia, although the plant has been part of their town for 20 years, are out of luck. All across the South the old textile mills that were sacrificed years ago so that Syria, or Pakistan, or China could make a shirt, dress, or tube sock based on their Third World wages are vacant monuments to the lost rural lifeblood.
With unemployment over 6%, and underemployed American’s having lost good paying jobs for bad, the American Worker Replacement Program of America’s new business elites welcomes increasing numbers of foreign “guest” workers to work American jobs. High Tech positions in Information Technology, Engineering, Healthcare, Education, and the Media are being taken from Americans by H-1B visa holders (supposedly limited to 195,000 per year), L-1 visa holders (unlimited per year), and by “off-shoring” of American jobs.
Free markets yield the best economic results and freedom of ideas yields the best ideals for all. Yet in our society today the clean result of competition between ideas, products, and people have been replaced by creating a false result…creating “perception” over reality. Create the perception in the financial markets that companies are doing better and better. Create value for the “share-holders” and drive the stock values higher…create the perception of growth. Create the perception that products are still made in the USA, and hide the Made in China boxes. And what of the reality?
The beginning is Enron, Global Crossing, Tyco, WorldCom, and Adelphi all crumbling under the weight of reality crashing down on their flimsy foundations of perception. Americans waking up to find that buying American is becoming impossible and that American jobs are gone is next.
Dr. Binswanger is trying to create the perception of “free” trade and let it overrun the reality of the looters. Fortunately 80% of the American people are ready for reality, it is time to stop the looting.
Glenn Jackson is Chairman of the American Reformation Project and a columnist for USA Daily. His columns also appear on EtherZone. Glenn is also a former State Chairman for Buchanan 2000 Presidential campaign, and former state Chairman of the Georgia Freedom Party. Glenn holds an MA in Philosophy from Georgia State University in Atlanta.
© Glenn R. Jackson