Re: [A-List] US Imperialism: Scapegoating China

[Waistline2@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 9/19/03 5:58:51 AM Pacific Daylight Time, evs@xxxxxxxxxxxx
writes:


Jobs are lost to China and a much
lower standard of living results as currency exchange rates compete with one
another.

No one has the moral high ground. Jobs at $0.50 an hour can be argued as
exploitative. One can even conjure up some rhetoric's: China should raise
their minimum wage. The families that control China are merely enriching
themselves, exploiting their working class. Income and wealth disparity in
China is comparable and may even exceed that of other countries.

Gary


Jobs are lost. And then found in China.

Reminds me of the time my daughter's report card had "c" and "b" grades
instead of "A's." I asked "what happened?"

"My grades fell dad," was her reply.

I looked her in the eye and asked if that meant I needed to go to the
hardware store and get a "Beware of falling grades" sign. Grades do not fall. Rocks
might fall from a slope or incline plane and in such instances one puts up a
"Beware of Falling Rocks" sign. Grades do not fall. Something else takes place.
Jobs are not lost and then found somewhere else - in this instance China.

The lower standard of living is not the result of jobs lost, assuming that
one is speaking of the technological transfer from primarily the imperial
centers, along with capital and productivity infrastructure. I would argue that the
minimum wage in my own country be raised, but that is besides the point.

The lower and lowering standard of living in America is the result of
government policy that protects the economic interest of capital in the hands of
private individuals. The moral question in my opinion is to be directed at my
government, which through political decree could raise the standard of living of
the working class tomorrow if is so desired and deprive no one in the country
access to material wealth.

America has enough productive forces, human and natural resources to banish
poverty, destitution and social degeneracy in one generation. The currency of
China has absolutely nothing to do with the refusal of our government to
provide for the peoples of America. What we are dealing with is bourgeois
imperialism and the exploitation of the worlds peoples. In America we are paying for
this exploitation.

It gets a tad bit more difficult to understand because trade at this stage of
bourgeois imperialism does not equal development or compounded expansion of
productive forces that allow for continuous development of material values and
resources. If China changed the "value" of its currency along the lines you
suggest, how will this help development in the East?

I would suggest that the increasing poverty in the world is the result of
more dynamic factors than currency. What about Africa and "Latin" America? If
China changed the "value" of its currency along the lines you suggest, how will
this help their development?

I do not dispute that the ruling class and their family by default live
better than the "masses." There is no connection between my rising water bill,
insurance rates, medical cost, interest rates on mortgages, food cost and currency
in China, although it may appear as such. Government policy - my government,
is responsible for the economic policy is enforces on the American people.

I would argue that money - American dollars, do not represent real value or
real wealth and as such can be given away to our citizens for purposes of
consumption, with zero affect on the productive capacity of our country.

I believe that it was Ann that started this topic and there is a reason it is
called "scapegoating China."  Jobs are never "lost" and "found" somewhere
else. Jobs are taken way and this "take away" is enforced by government through
the threat of force.

Melvin P.