NAFTA And Globalization
Globalization over the past twenty has become an issue in many countries.
This
industrialization of second and third world countries by Western
Civilization
creates many opportunities for the inhabitants. Not only does it
expand trading
markets, but also promotes productivity and efficiency; thus
improving the
country and integrating it into the industrial world. This
process not only
benefits third world counties, but also industrialized
nations by allowing them
to export goods to the developing world and increase
their profit margin. East
Asia and Latin America seem to benefit most
from this. The East Asian economy
has developed the fastest with an annual
growth of nearly 8 percent (Stand 43
4). This has been achieved through
maintaining economic stability and production
output. However, western
influence in some ways has harmed the culture within
these countries, many of
them now talk of returning to their roots through
Asianization or
Islaminization. Many of these people feel that western influence
has stripped
away values and hindered their cultural growth. With the rise
of
international industries such as McDonalds, Wal-Mart and K-mart western
culture
has invaded the world in an attempt to "modernize" these countries
that
could very well do with out. CEO’s may think that they are helping
by
providing jobs and easy access to goods, but with this help there is also
the
price of destroying values and exploiting workers. They attempt to
Americanize
these people and enforce our values upon them. With the rise
of
industrialization, the question of free trade has arisen. Free trade is
the
elimination of taxes, tariffs and quotas over international borders. The
North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), consisting of Mexico, the
USA and Canada,
creates the largest free-trading zone in the world (Stand 51
1). Does NAFTA help
or harm an economy is one of the most poignant questions?
The Mexican economy
seems to benefit from NAFTA through increased trade of
Mexican made products and
the availability of more jobs to the Mexican
people; however, along with
benefits comes a downside. Many American
companies have taken advantage of NAFTA
and moved production plants to
Mexican because there they can exploit the
workers. Many companies pay less
than 1 dollar an hour in unsafe and unsanitary
conditions. While these
American companies benefit from NAFTA, the American
workers suffer. As a
result of large companies moving production plants to
Mexico, thousands
of American laborers are laid off, often with no benefits or
compensation.
Many American companies deny the moving plants to Mexico in an
effort to
evade the Labor Department. One city that has suffered the most is
El
Paso, Texas. The majority of its workers are willing to accept minimum
wage, the
average unemployment rate is 11.7 percent and has lost more than
5,600 jobs to
Mexico (Stand 57 8). An example of this is Johnson &
and Johnson, who
laid-off 110 workers and moved to Mexico. The company
claimed that they did this
because all their competitors had left because of
NAFTA (Stand 58 7). To
conclude, while NAFTA helps the Mexican economy and
American businesses, it
harms workers in both America and Mexico; whether, it
is through job loss or
exploitation. While I don’t believe that America needs
to become a
protectionist nation-sate, I do believe by allowing this to
happen we are
harming our citizens. I do believe we should help developing
countries has long
as it doesn’t interfere with the lives and jobs of the
American people;
unfortunately, NAFTA does interfere and I believe should be
disbanded.
Bibliography
STAND: Contending Ideas and Opinions.
World Politics, edited by Marc Genest,
copyright 1999, Coursewise Publishing,
Inc. Boulder CO. Works Cited STAND:
Contending Ideas and Opinions. World
Politics, edited by Marc Genest, copyright
1999, Coursewise Publishing,
Inc. Boulder CO.