CommentsALPERN AT LARGE--There are a few things that some of President Trump's most ardent opponents will concede that they agree with that Orange Man in the White House--not the least of which is that China is a problem.
China is a big, BIG problem, and not one going away any time soon. And perhaps WE are to blame for that problem. Not the Chinese themselves, of course, but the series of Chinese monopolies that have empowered a few of us throughout the world ("if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!) and threatened the very livelihood of the rest of us...you know, our neighbors.
Our families. Our children. Their children.
Some of those reading this now will instinctively bemoan, "Hey, that's where I get my m-o-n-e-y from! Chinese trade, Chinese business, the increasingly global economy!"
And the rest of us know that--as with NAFTA--the concept of free and international trade is one thing, but a biased and unfair/double-standard economical relationship between the United States and its neighbors (in either the Western or the Eastern Hemisphere) is something else.
Some of the mega-libertarian folks want free and unrestricted trade, and with tariffs being the most dangerous thing ever for consumers--including American consumers.
Others among us are finding the big and tough decisions to be not so much IF to tariff, but when and how to tariff, or confront our competitors (in particular, our hostile competitors) in a manner that's fair and forces US to step up our game and compete.
And our electoral cycle will be similarly affected--both Republicans like former presidential contender Mitt Romney, and Democrats like current presidential contender Michael Bloomberg, have no shortage of opponents simply because their ties to China and their outsourcing of American jobs (and middle-class wealth).
But the monopolies created by China--and the West, to exist in China--are frightening and are anything BUT supportive of "best practices" of competition on a global basis:
1) The Huawei telecom giant that threatens our technology sectors has raised cries and alarms of foul play from American, Canadian, and European economists and tech companies...and even the military. Spyware and unfair play are major concerns to us all (and is free speech on the Internet a Chinese way of life that threatens to become OUR way of life?)
2) The 90% or more of manufacturing and chemical dependence on China for our medicines may be one of the reasons our drug supply is so tenuous and so increasingly unaffordable. No one nation, not even the United States, should be so critical for the health of the planet's human denizens.
This isn't some kooky conspiracy theory--the federal government is quite aware of this, and is very concerned, and well outside the political world.).
3) And while the origins and spread of the Coronavirus in China is of great concern, where are the overwhelming bulk of the world's facemasks made? You guessed it...China. One need not be a doctor to conclude that facemask shortages are BAD. VERY BAD!
So, it's easy to blame the Republicans, blame the Democrats, blame Big Pharma, or anyone else for this "China Syndrome". But both Presidents G.W. Bush and B.O. Obama oversaw a huge shift of wealth from the United States and its allies to China...and they didn't do it in a vacuum, or without support from many Republican and Democratic wealthy supporters.
There is no war to be had with China...but if we don't start pushing for a "Made in the U.S.A" we don't just risk our financial future.
We risk the health and survival of the world in ways we can't even conceive.
There's no reason to panic...but there is plenty of reason to act, and to rethink who our friends are, and who our friends aren't.
And if YOU who are reading this make a lot of m-o-n-e-y selling to, and selling out to, the Chinese elites (not the people but the elites who treat their own people like trash), then YOU have the greatest reason of all to rethink a lifestyle that is engendering YOUR wealth but is consigning you, your children, and your neighbors, to a scary and tenuous future, indeed.
(CityWatch Columnist, Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father to two cherished children and a wonderful wife. He was (termed out) also a Westside Village Zone Director and Board member of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Outreach Committee, and currently is Co-Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee and Vice-Chair of its Planning Committee. He was co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee and chaired the nonprofit Transit Coalition and can be reached at [email protected]. He also co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)
-cw