Baltimore-born and raised with the most normal of childhoods. I graduated from a college in Western NY state, and began to understand, during my time there, that I don't like snow showers in April, or to feel my ears burn in January as soon as my hat comes off.
I lived in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, and want to go back ASAP. President Bush signed an agreement that will increase the level of cooperation among the three North American nations. In a report by Lou Dobbs, we are led to believe that this agreement is: 1. Leading to the end of US sovereignty, and 2. That a EU style union in North America would be a disastrous undertaking. Beyond all of the misleading statements and antiquated isolationist thinking I argue, there would be real benefit to increasing cooperation on our continent.
Lou Dobbs filed a report on his show concerning. 'The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America,' (SPP) and the result was a lot of misleading talk combined with what has become almost a patented xenophobia and anti-multicultural stance on his program and in his books and interviews. He introduced it as an agreement that '...[W]ill end the United States as we know it...'
The reality of this agreement is that it is a measure by which the three governments of North America will cooperate to an unprecedented degree, and will begin mutual projects for economic, defense, and political development. Critics of the agreement argue that it is the groundwork for a union in the style of the EU. Beyond a North American Union, there also seems to be a common fear that this will lead to a 'World Government' (cue ominous music).
I don't understand why there is such an uproar about a potential union in North America. The European Union received the same reaction in the US, and has since turned into one of the strongest economic systems in the world.It is the largest, and the disparity in incomes (which is very pronounced) is gradually being corrected (a good thing if you care about people, despite their colour and language...). A Union in North America would ostensibly accomplish the same types of things for the continent as a whole.
Most of the problem that I see is that this agreement has not been discussed in the public forum extensively (which begs the question, 'When and where should this have been brought to the public forum?'), which leads pundits and analysts to imagine what could be going on behind closed doors. It seems similar to horror movies where the imagination creates more frightening monsters and settings than the film can portray. The information is out there, and speculation and broad stroke statements about the agreement '...end[ing] the United States as we know it...' will not help anything.
What would be much more beneficial than sensationalist reporting in the studio backed by cut scenes of borders and the three North American flags flying together, would be honest reporting on the facts, without the misleading statements, and with interviews of those involved.Another absence that would be nice, is that of the ever-present pro-American, anti-Mexican bent that all reporting on US-Mexican relations seems to assume.
Europe has united, and has seen a great increase in power. Asia has talked of unification. An African Union has also been discussed.Why not here in the Americas? Sure, it sounds a lot like Brave New World, but we must have the courage and intellect to adapt to changing environments.If we allow nationalism, that old war monger, to drive our future, as it has driven our past, won't we end up right where we started, and not in a better place?
The fact is that the world is changing.We operate on an almost global economic system now, and as the world shrinks, that trend will only increase.It's time that we put aside the old isolationist thought process, and begin to adopt a modern outlook that will accommodate the inevitable changes that are coming down the (transcontinental) turnpike.