WSJ on A16

[Max B. Sawicky]

YF:
. . . I think that the rhetoric of protecting "American" jobs, keeping China
out, stopping cheap labor abroad from bringing "our" living standards down,
etc. has not appealed to activists of color.  It's not just coincidence that
the most vocal critic of AFL-CIO's China focus on this list here has been
Rakesh (an Asian-American), is it?  . . .

Um.  Rakesh as representative of American minorities.  Um.
As Bhandari goes, so goes Furuhashi.

We did a report on public opinion and trade a couple of
years ago.  Monday I'll see if it has any stats on minorities.
Once place that works on polling is the Joint Center on Political
and Economic Studies, D.C.'s "black think tank."  They might
have something too.

. . . The loudest message from the movement's
media-chosen spokespeople has been that imports made by foreign workers of
color . . .

Now we're channeling Philion.  Two weeks ago labor
was supposed to be talkin' 'yellow peril,' then
they were 'goosestepping.'

IMPORTS.  Who makes 'em is irrelevant.  What they
get paid is relevant.


>>>>>>>>
are threat to American workers (even though, as Rakesh notes, most
imports from, for instance, China don't compete with products made in
America). . . .

Basic economic boo-boo.  If an entire industry is moved
from the U.S. to Malaysia, we could say Malaysia does not
'compete with products made in America.'  But we would
be wrong.  Competition is not a question of products
when they can be made anywhere, but a question of
barbaric labor/enviro standards used to "compete."

peace and love,
mbs