NAU

Dec. 8th, 2006

It appears the misanthropes are at it again, only this time it’s the political variety. It's an irritating arrangement, and about to be pushed on the American people without their consent. To me it’s indicative of a totalitarian mindset (mankind is not conforming to my beautiful IDEAL, and is therefore evil, hopeless, and worthless, and I will do anything to bring my ideal to the fore, reguardless of what anyone else wants). Perhaps I'm overreacting a bit, but I've seen this before. From eco-nazis to luddites to apocalyptic prophets of doom, to utopians, this same theme appears again and again throughout our history. (That's not to say I think people are perfect or that you can assume their natural goodness. Far from it. It's for things like this that you have to watch your back when dealing with human nature.) Essentially the "sheeple" must be herded to greener pastures, otherwise they'll just stand there, doing whatever pleases them, and we can't have that, can we? It's also taken for granted that they will be herded by "evil" manipulators if they aren't herded by the "enlightened", "good" manipulators, that they have no volition or agency of their own, that their autonomous goals and desires aren't sufficient direction for their lives or are irrelevant to the Real Important Things. I am of course speaking of the movement towards the “North American Union”.

You might recall that we had quite a squabble over the passage of NAFTA, and that there is still a quite large part of the population that objects to it. Now it appears that our enlightened government is herding us into NAFTA on steroids.

The North American Free Trade Agreement is modeled after the European Common Market. NAFTA was signed by the then leaders of the three countries, President Bill Clinton of the US, President Carlos Salinas de Gortari of Mexico, and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney of Canada, on December 17, 1992 and went into effect on January 1, 1994. Unlike the Common Market or the EU, NAFTA does not create any supranational governmental bodies, nor does it confine national legislation by regulations set by such bodies (that’s for later I’m afraid). NAFTA is a treaty under international law, but in United States law it is classed as a congressional-executive agreement rather than a treaty, and it’s still binding. It’s intended to eliminate barriers to trade, and facilitate the cross-border movement of goods and services between the three countries. It’s supposed to promote conditions of fair competition in the free trade areas and increase investment opportunities in the region. It provides for protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, creates procedures for the implementation and application of the agreement for its administration and the resolution of disputes. Finally it establishes a framework for further cooperation to expand and enhance the benefits of the agreement. All to the good… in theory. But we also noticed Ross Perot’s “giant sucking sound” as American jobs promptly started moving to Mexico, which President Clinton solemnly promised us wouldn’t happen.

Now we have the “Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America” (SPP) which was launched in March of 2005 as a trilateral effort to increase security and enhance prosperity among the United States, Canada and Mexico through greater cooperation and information sharing. This initiative is based on the idea that our security and economic prosperity are mutually reinforcing. The SPP claims that our three nations are bound by a shared belief in freedom, economic opportunity, and strong democratic institutions (tell that to the Mexican government). The SPP provides the framework to ensure that North America is the safest and best place to live and do business. It includes ambitious security and prosperity programs to keep our borders closed to terrorism yet open to trade. The SPP builds upon, but is separate from, our long-standing trade and economic relationships. It claims to promote other aspects of our cooperative relations, such as the protection of our environment, our food supply, and our public health.

Looking forward, President Bush, Prime Minister Harper and President Fox have identified emergency management; influenza pandemics (including bird flu); and energy security; along with safe and secure gateways (border security and facilitation) as key priorities for the SPP. The leaders also announced the creation of North American Competitiveness Council to fully incorporate the private sector into the SPP process. Humm… “Private Sector”? As in big business / big money? (Picture raised eyebrows over that one.)

Unfortunately, it seems that the government has again failed to assess the will of the American people before it committed us to laying the groundwork for the formation of a “North American Union”, which goes far beyond the model of the European Union. The “NAU” effectively combines the governments, populations, and territories of all three North American countries into one as yet unnamed “Super State”. (One of these mornings we’re going to wake up and find that the United States of America no longer exists, with the consent of congress.) Economically this will probably be a good thing for the corporate world, handing them free access to the resources of Canada and Mexico, along with the Mexican labor market. But I want to know two things up front. What’s going to happen to the wages of US and Canadian working stiffs, and just what sort of government they intend for us. Rest assured that our wages will fall, and the wages of the Mexican workers will rise, slightly. Then, will we become a part of the British Commonwealth with a ceremonial Governor General appointed from London, will we have something vaguely resembling our Constitutional Republic, or perhaps our laws will be issued from a Corporate Board Room patterned after the Patronage system that has cursed Mexico since their days as a Spanish colony? You can bet that our Constitution and Bill of Rights will become little more than interesting historical papers.

Welcome to the progressive “New World Order”.