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US Accelerated Economic Descent Thanks to
Globalization
By Ben Tanosborn
Al-Jazeerah, CCUN, May 5, 2014
Should it come as a surprise that China is about to take from
America the baton as the world’s number one economy in 2014… a baton America
took away from the Brits well over a century ago? Should Prometheus
act surprised after willingly giving life to mankind? Neither Titan
Prometheus nor Americans should be surprised… for China’s fast and furious
economic ascent has to be in great part attributed to the Promethean great
effort of American capitalism under the guise of globalization.
Sooner or later it had to happen: the realization that implications
from globalization transcend the economic sphere, eventually taking over and
changing the social-DNA makeup of our society. And we are going
through that painful transformation here in the United States of America
now… even if the overwhelming share of the population stays blind to that
fact; proceeding like somnambulistic dummies controlled by an entrenched and
institutionalized cadre of Washington thugs populating the halls of the
Capitol, the Pentagon and the White House. [I prefer to let the
Supreme Court remain “in hiding,” at least for now.] A harsh
statement to make perhaps, but not unmerited after the American collective
will has surrendered without a fight – even the semblance of a light
scrimmage – to the will of a merciless capitalist elite. Elite
that is herding 80 percent of the population to the final trail with a clear
destination: the economic slaughterhouse for the middle class. Here
we are on this May 1st which still commands worldwide respect for the
celebration of the producers of wealth in society, International Workers’
Day, or May Day, being reminded of our roots, and the struggle by labor to
free itself from the brutal yoke of industrial enslavement… even if only a
minute number of Americans has a clue as to what the Haymarket affair in
Chicago was almost thirteen decades ago. But as things so drastically
change with time, leave it to predatory capitalism to make sure things
remain the same when it comes to the indentured status of the working class.
And the brutal yoke of industrial enslavement prevailing in
1886-America has been replaced with the yoke of globalization… a yoke placed
on many among us without any recourse by those holding the strings of
wealth, and their lackeys in politics. It is a moral slippery slope
that we walk on when we place geographical, ethnic or other barriers in how
the distribution of productive wealth is made. And so, the capitalist
elite has smugly confronted the situation of Americans losing US living-wage
jobs by a higher call to universal compassion and the right of other
non-American producers to compete for such jobs. Overall, corporate
leaders tell us, globalization is not about just shifting the labor
component to where the most advantageous economic cost is found; it is, they
claim, the gain overall created by the synergy which is created in free
trade around the globe. But the synergy in question has proven to be
asymptomatic for the most part, while the loss of decent-pay jobs, and the
dignity which accompanies them, has permeated the core of American society
for over two decades, as President William Jefferson Clinton became
capitalism’s champion of free trade, while proving to be chief hangman for
labor. His political palavering, however, is helping him
relegate that ugly, treacherous behavior to the future annals of history;
while now he is amassing enormous wealth he feels he deserves as one of the
key figures in the New World Order. [No, I don’t delve in conspiracy
theories… but what better character than Bill Clinton as a candidate for
leadership in a NWO… if such existed?] No merit should be taken away
from the economic success attained by the industrious Chinese people.
However, Americans should also remember the contribution they were forced to
make by a capitalist elite, and its captive politicians, as they jointly
failed to properly plan for the impact of such labor upheaval in a highly
developed industrial society such as the United States. Government
statistics are continuously being used to mislead what the economic truth is
in America, from the level of unemployment, to the type of jobs (and
remuneration) being created. The state of labor in America could not
be more dismal on this May Day (International Workers’ Day)… but then again,
May Day is a Socialist date of the Second International. Labor Day in
Capitalist America doesn’t come until harvest is over… and people thank
their lucky star for the abundant life they experience living in the world’s
number one economy. Oops! Will we ever admit to saying the
world’s number two economy? And by then, assuming it takes a couple of
decades, will India relinquish its position as number three and exchange it
for number two?
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