Clinton didn't create NAFTA, it was instituted by bush I, however, Clinton was a big proponent of free trade. Unfortunately, his vision was bastardized by corporate America and free trade came to mean US corporations were free to pillage third world economies. bush II continues to strong arm third world countries and the World Bank has devastated many countries through their "free trade at any cost" policy.
If the US weren't so interested in pillaging the third world, there would be a lot fewer economic refugees seeking access to the US.
*Warning- this is going to be an opportunity for me to suck Clinton's asshole. Please skip if that seems offensive*
One of the easiest and truest ways to view the quality of a prez is to notice what they're doing after leaving the Whitehouse. Clearly Clinton is and always was an idealist. Like him or not, it's hard to doubt that he believed what he was doing was good for the country, and the world at large. Turns out that the country and the world at large seemed to be in a state of relative ease, so he probably got a few things right.
Since leaving office, he's still out trying to save the world, even though he did let an intern suck his dick. Sure, he makes a good living doing what he does, and he gets paid very well for speaking engagements, but that can hardly be compared to Daddy bush's involvement with the Carlyle Group, and self-centered efforts at amassing personal wealth, like all his forefathers. Clinton actually went and tapped
that man on the shoulder and asked for his help in his global efforts on AIDS, just so more people would take it serious. I wouldn't shake either of the bush's hands without a serious amount of disinfectant, so Clinton did something I have to admire, for a worthy cause.
[/ass-sucking]
Yes, a lot of manufacturing jobs have been outsourced, and bush did use the NAFTA to justify it, but he took a much broader view of its liberties, and we just have to live with that. Clinton saw it as an opportunity to bring more wealth to foreign lands, without slitting the throats of Americans, bush does not see our people as an important consideration. Haha @ the poor who voted for his greedy ass.
On the side of "big business" though, our own people have made themselves obsolete by demanding excessive wages for inferior work. $30/hr is NOT a "fair living wage" for a factory working making cars, and there's no reason for a car to cost $25k or more for a simple stripped-down model. We've priced ourselves out of the market because we bought into the idea that undereducated fatory workers deserved to make far above average livings doing things a trained monkey could do. Sorry, but there has to be a balance between wages and worth. I'm not talking about worth as a human being, but worth on the job market.
Doctors make more than waiters for a reason. When that value system is perverted, there is no possiblity of avoiding a collapse at some point. This was not only predictable, but necessary. If we are to survive, then North America will have to develop the higher tech fields, sciences, and jobs that require a better education, if people want to be better paid. We'll also need to look into college tuitions, which have been allowed to skyrocket FAR beyond the inflation rate, to the point that only the very wealthy can even consider formal education.
If we ever stopped shooting ourselves in the foot trying to apply political principles that have already been proven to fail, we might just have a chance. Sadly, I don't give either of our countries that much credit.
