[GCFL-discuss] Made In Mexico

[gcfl-discuss at gcfl.net]

Dear Jeff, and all,

I don't know how to comment on a letter like this without engaging in
political discussion. I will avoid saying anything about George W. Bush
though, since he is not the topic of the original submission. (Besides,
you all know what I think of him, and I know what most of you think of
him, we've all opened our digital mouths on the subject).

As far as I have read, the marriage of John Kerry and Theresa Heinz Kerry
involved some complicated pre-nuptial agreements that kept him out of any
real control of the business interests she inherited from her late
husband. It could hardly have been otherwise with so much personal
history and money at stake.

After all, it was her first husband's FAMILY business (albeit writ
corporately large) which she married into, and that she inherited. I
expect their children, the Heinz children that is, the children of the
former Republican senator from Pennsylvania, are going to ultimately
inherit, not Kerry or the Kerry children.

There are, of course, also stockholders outside the Heinz family to
consider, and they have the right to sue the board of directors
(including but not limited to Theresa Heinz Kerry) if it takes actions
that diminish the value of their stock, no matter how benevolent the
board's hypothetical intentions toward American workers may be.

In my much younger days, it made moral sense to me to boycott everything
made by exploitation of impoverished work forces, but MOST of what we
need and want is made by impoverished and exploited workforces. You can't
boycott it all without becoming a hermit living on grass. (And the cute
coops charge more money than Wal-Mart, which we can only afford if we are
lucky enough to have a high paying job, probably from some corporate
exploiter, or a big stock portfolio).

The reason to have government policies in matters like this is very
simply to level the playing field. If one company does "the right thing"
while another company does "the wrong thing," the first will go out of
business and the second will see its stock go way up. So, until laws are
in place to demand the same of all, the market will do what it does. That
includes the corporate decisions of Heinz.

I do think that the issue of exporting jobs is important, but I think the
political rhetoric about it so far is trite. Donors to both major parties
are exporting jobs, and neither party can simply outlaw the outsourcing.
We need a strategy for building up production jobs in the U.S., in ways
that can be sustained in a global market, so we don't become a hollow
service and finance economy. We should be in a position to feed and
clothe ourselves it the global economy falls apart for a time. We should
be making real tangible things to sustain the service portion of our
economy. That requires more complex thinking than an election campaign
generally stimulates.

A comforting thought: some of our greatest presidents are remembered for
contributions that either were not campaign issues, or that they would
not have dared to present to the voters. When Roosevelt was re-elected in
1940, American public opinion was overwhelmingly pacifist and
isolationist. If Kennedy had run in 1960 on a platform of passing a
comprehensive civil rights bill, he would have lost by a landslide. I
have more confidence in Kerry's ability to handle the NEW challenges that
the next four years will bring, and I have confidence that Edwards will
provide a perspective that neither Kerry, Bush nor Cheney can offer --
since all three are children of wealth and privilege, while Edwards is
the son of a cotton mill worker from a small town in South Carolina. (But
still, his rhetoric on outsourcing jobs isn't up to the complex task that
will face our nation in the next decade. His heart is in the right place,
which counts for something, his method needs more work).

Siarlys


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