Long long ago in a world where few of you existed there was a war. Thousands of soldiers died fighting to take or protect homelands. Poland and France were just two of the many that fell. China was under assault from Japan and masters of the battlefield met the monsters of the Holocaust. It was a dark time for the world, but prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor tens of thousands of Americans faught to keep us out of war/ It didn't concern us, Hitler was going to stop with France and only wanted to take over the Soviet Union. He wasn't even going to take over England, just sue for peace, right? And Japan would defeat China, but really what did that have to do with us??? America had anti-semites, racists, and problems of it's own dealing with the tail end of the Great Depression. Great American heros such as Lindbergh rose up to fight for isolationism, to keep America safe and protected in it's shell away from the evils of the world.
Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel
But we are Americans, and we are a part of the world. And Dr. Suess knew this and wrote editorial cartoons to help sway out opinion to work and save the world, as well as end racism, and persecution at home. To guarantee free voting rights and to make the world better for all people in the world as a whole. He saw that we were a global power and needed to act as one. Pick up Dr. Suess goes to war and see what he did for us long before The Cat in the Hat or The Grinch Stole Christmas.
Today I was dismayed to see an article in CNN http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/25/mexico.border.herbicide/index.html Here we see the US ready to poisen the Rio Grand so plants will die and it will be harder for immigrants to sneak across the border. What nonsense is this. We have already gone against NAFTA and we still will not allow free passage of Mexican trucks onto US roads. As a result Mexico has begun imposing large tarrifs on some of America's greatest products. Mexico is hurting from our isolationism and so are we. And the more Mexico hurts the more Mexicans try to live "The American Dream" and sneak into the US. At some level every one of us came from an immigrant wether it is a boat from Germany in the 1800s or ancient groups of nomads travelling across a land bridge to North America. This is what we are, immigrants, and we are only on this earth for a short time. Lets make it a better place for everyone.
1st we need to reform immigration and begin to allow more people into the US.
2nd we must work with the Mexican authorities and get the drug wars under control, even if that means leagalizing pot in the US. Too many people are dying without real reason and it is tearing Mexico apart.
3rd we must open communication with Cuba and other Central/South American countries. They are our closest neighbors and yet all too often we have stepped on them. All too often I see our actions being called "American Imperialism". If we can make the lives of people anywhere better we must as a mandate of humanity, and as a result the lives of Americans will get better.
4th finally we must use these new allies and opportunities to rebuild America's industrial base. We became lazy and and let our strengths fade and as such we have become a service based economy. China will not make cheap stuff forever, and with the right incentives we can make stuff better. Then we can sell these items to our allies. This works especially well for out automakers. Ford needs to expand internationally and become a brand to have again. GM used to be a great company, but it faltered and is now suffering. We must remake GM into an agile company that can pump out cars that the world wants. Lets make American Cars the best again. I know we can J.D. Power and Associates just named Buick as the top car in reliability dethroning Lexus for the first time!
So lets come to terms with who we are and work together to change the world for the better. Obama has the right idea when he looks at the whole picture. Now is not the time to say fix America first and energy, technology, fuel efficiency, health care, the world later. It is time to fix the world because no matter how you slice it we are a Global Economy and a market crash in any country has ripples that will hit us here. Lets take a lesson from Dr. Suess and get rid of isolationism forever.
