Part 6: NAFTA's True Lies
In a nutshell, NAFTA was born out of a big lie, i.e., NAFTA will benefit everyone. We mistakenly trusted those telling us the big lie because it is our style to trust those who lead our society.
The Nazi Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels, was fond of saying; If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” A survey was taken in the United States and 69% of those asked agreed with Mr. Goebbels. Even if what we’re being told about NAFTA are half truths - they’re still lies. Half right is still wrong.
It has become obvious that our political leaders subscribe to the Goebbels Principle of Political Truth, i.e., lie and keep lying, soon it will become the truth.
We shudder at the thought that our leaders would intentionally harm us. We despair when we realize those who we’ve trusted have let us down. We get bitter when we grasp the concept that our leaders let us down for the sake of their personal benefit.
For some reason we refuse to accept that those who lead us have been corrupted by the power they wield. The days of our leaders adhering to Washingtonian ethics died with that fateful day in Dealey Square in Dallas. Camelot has been replaced with Babylon - the great harlot that glorified herself and lived in shameless luxury. If there are any among you that doubt, search the web and compare CEO compensation rates for the United States and the rest of the world. Search the web and see how many of our political leaders have become wealthy while serving “our best interests.”
At any given time the world’s wealth is finite. So for the new robber barons to receive and amass such ludicrous amounts of money means someone was denied those monies. Namely those of us who must partake of the goods and services they sell.
What is amazing is the barrier our leaders have raised to insulate themselves from NAFTA criticisms. I tried to advise my elected leaders about the treachery of our NAFTA companies. One Senator stated that she would not be an instrument to inflame the passions of a major ethnic block. The other Senator stated this was a Mexican domestic affair, but she would remand it to the State Department for review. The State Department later stated the Mexican Government denied my allegations. My Representative stated he would not get involved until Federal Law Enforcement became involved. Political expediency has replaced “for the good of the people.”
The True NAFTA Lies:
Lie #1: NAFTA will bring about fair trade between the partner nations.
Americans have dumped agricultural commodities onto the Mexican market and bankrupted thousands of Mexican farmers. See:
Moreover, the dumping of our grain reserves onto the Mexican market decreased the supply in the United States. A supply that could not be replaced by Mexican farmers because they were no longer farming. The diminishing of our grain reserves was a major element in the recent dramatic increase in food prices.
Lie #2: NAFTA will create jobs in Mexico and stop the tide of illegal aliens coming to the United States.
Mexican employment in export industries have barely kept pace with the loss of agricultural jobs. Domestic manufacturing employment has been stagnant. Meanwhile Mexico’s population has grown by roughly 28 million souls. Millions more Mexican have illegally entered the United States because NAFTA has not created the jobs promised to the unemployed. See:
Lie #3: NAFTA will create jobs in the NAFTA countries and lead to increased trade.
This is one of the most insidious of the lies. NAFTA pundits have used numerous artifices to obscure the truth. A large segment of the export trade to Mexico consists of affiliated materials. These are materials used to support U.S. jobs. When the jobs are exported to Mexico, the materials follow along. No new jobs to make export materials, just a change in the delivery point of the materials.
Another subterfuge is claiming circular non-commercial transactions are commercial export transactions. An example would be if you take your car to a mechanic for repairs. The mechanics only responsibility is to fix your car and return it.
Under NAFTA, the delivery of the car would be deemed a NAFTA export and the return of the fixed car would be deemed a NAFTA import. The materials shipped to Mexico are not a commercial transaction. This is done in order to bypass Mexican value added taxes.
Global Trade Watch has compiled a report of the many job and export lies told by NAFTA pundits. See:
Lie #4: NAFTA will protect the workers of all of the partner nations.
This is the other of the most insidious of the NAFTA lies. Almost from the beginning, Mexico has failed to live up to the central tenet of NAFTA and NAALC (The North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation). Per the requirements of NAFTA and NAALC, each partner was obligated to compose a booklet regarding the rights of foreign workers providing their services in a host NAFTA country. Mexico did compose the required pamphlet. See:
The only problem is that I can find no instance when the pamphlet has been openly and freely distributed to the foreign workers to be found in Mexico. The Mexican Government knows exactly who and where the Americans workers are. The application for a Work Permit (FM3) provides the data.
Moreover, the Mexican Government performs an annual audit of each U.S. NAFTA company to assure all foreigners have the proper documentation. Periodically, every Work Permit must be renewed.
These are three opportunities to distribute the pamphlet to the Americans working in Mexico. My peers claim ignorance of the pamphlet.
I’ve discussed the pamphlet with Labor Attorneys. In their confusion regarding the pamphlet, some have inquired with State and Federal Courts and State and Federal Secretary of Labor offices and no one claims knowledge of the pamphlet.
Even if they had claimed knowledge, the pamphlet is unusable. My attorney states there is a glaring error. The pamphlet states that the Labor Law can only guarantee foreigners the Mexican minimum wage. The Mexican minimum wage is about $.50/hour. What astute American is going to raise an issue if his pay can rolled back to the Mexican minimum wage?
The pamphlet fails to include an "unless." Unless the worker has a contract (verbal or written) that provides for a salary greater than minimum wage and/or for work hours less than forty eight. This is a huge omission on the part of the Secretary of Labor in Mexico City. It seems the Mexican Government has acquiesced to industry standards.
Mexico has an aggressive auditing program directed at NAFTA companies. Periodically, Mexican IRS (Hacienda), Social Security, and Immigration auditors inspect company records. I have not heard of any NAFTA company being disciplined because they failed to adequately compensate foreigners per the mandates of the Mexican Law.
To the best of my knowledge and belief, no NAFTA company has ever been reprimanded and/or penalized by any Mexican State of Federal agency for having failed to properly pay foreigners all compensation required by law.
The Mexican Government is being very disingenuous when it clamors for the civil and labor rights of undocumented illegal Mexican workers in the United States. Meanwhile, the Mexican Government is being complicitous with the U.S. NAFTA companies in denying the civil and labor rights of documented legal American workers in Mexico
posted by James Sieglitz | 4:25 PM
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