mbs: In the present historical context, "protectionism" would not be "practiced by the USA." It would be a concession forced upon the USGov by the working class. How chauvinistic it would be is a legitimate concern, but not one that should foreclose this form of self-defense on principle.
Carrol: Max, the argument is not so much over protectionism vs free trade as it is over the racist and chauvinist elements of that dispute. Any thing which contributes to the racism of U.S. workers is harmful not just to the victims of that racism but, given the threat U.S. imperialism represents to all 6+ billion of us, harmful to humanity. _Nothing_ is worthwhile if achieving it sanctions racist attitudes.
And your dreams and Yoshie's will be equally futile unless we can smash racism Carrol
mbs: Worthy of consideration is the extent to which racism, chauvinism, and 'national identity' are constructed by workers as rationales for particular forms of self-defense. To some extent the economic motive is prior to the belief. Abstention from such struggles by the left only increases the likelihood of such negative developments. If the left abstains from trade politics, workers have nowhere else to go but to the Buchanan types. The insistence by purportedly liberal corporate media in annointing somebody like Buchanan as the trade critic and blacking out left voices is manifest and revealing.
mbs