So, I'm sure many of the Americans at GamingWorld have been following this election season with at least some level of interest. I know I have been, at least. For one, this election is my first as a registered voter, which isn't much to get excited over these days, but let's not get into that. Unfortunately, at this stage in the contest, it ultimately a toss-up between three candidates, John McCain, Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. Not much to choose from in my opinion. My major issue is that between these three candidates, the only way to get a person that has any potential to be a good president is to chop them up and tape them back together like some art-therapy jigsaw puzzle. John McCain supports free-trade, but he's a military man who would continue our outlandish military spending rather than re-invest in America. Sadly, none of the candidates seem to support any sort of infrastructural reform (Ron Paul's singlular good idea), and would rather parade themselves as being vehicles of change than to actually change anything.

So... I live in Ohio. It's a crappy place. Especially up north where its almost a rust-belt type zone... a post-industrial hell-hole crawling with the backwash of American society. Unfortunately, in the week leading up to the Ohio Primary, Clinton and Obama were here spouting off their bullshit at maximum capacity. They both seem to subscribe to the belief that that low wages in Mexico or China or India are fundamental reasons behind American factories closing down. Either that or they know thats what all the racist inbred hicks up in Youngstown want to believe, so it could be just a case of knowing one's audience... unfortunately, what gets said in Akron is also heard in Accra, Abuja, and Acapulco. What kind of  message are we sending to the rest of the world? Hey screw you guys, we have our own status quo to maintain. Whats that? Sorry, you don't have running water? Boo hoo, too bad.
 
What's most unfortunate is the predilection that most people seem to have that if it was said on the TV, then it has to be true. Put it on our TV its truuuueeee. Put it on our TV its true! The problem with this type of tripe is that none of it is true. No serious economist or expert in the field believes in this garbage. The numbers don't lie, trade between NAFTA countries since its inception in 1993 has boomed, and has certainly contributed to the fact that Mexico is the only stable democracy in Central America. Obviously this is a simplified view of the agreement, but no expert worth their salt is going to tell you that free-trade is a bad idea. Granted, real wages in Mexico have experienced a significant dip since the 1970s, with the most acute drops being between 1985 and 1995 or so, but if one were to look at Mexico's oil production in 1975 compared to in 1995, one might find some interesting things. I am not, however, the type to use one example to try to prove the rule. There are many issues in Mexico in addition to low wages that could do with fixing, thats all I'm saying. Reversing NAFTA is not going to solve any of these problems.

Luckily (or unluckily) for us, the Democrats would have to throw this election to lose it. Ergo, we don't really need to worry about McCain's atrocious foreign policy ideas as much as we do that both Clinton and Obama are protectionist pigs. I don't know if you have ever studied American history at length, but if you have, theres a chance you've heard of the tariff wars that we had with England and whoever else we wanted to piss off in the 19th century. Essentially, what happens is that one country makes things from another country more expensive to import by means of an import duty, tariff, or special tax. The other country then retaliates in a similar fashion, until no one from either country can buy or sell goods with anyone from the other country. I don't know about you, but restricting trade sounds like a thrilling venture in the world economy to me. Lets make it more difficult for small-time farmers in Central America and up and coming capitalists in Kenya to sell their products here in America. Then, we should pour tons of money into international aid that usually gets lost in overhead or ends up in the hands of unscrupulous types who tend to follow aid organizations around to make a quick buck or support some sort of guerrilla warfare involving children and diamonds... but I digress. Regardless, I'm sure that by restricting the flow of money in and out of our economy, we will return the dollar to its former glory and all will be just peachy.

Anyhow, that aside, I'm no expert. But you don't have to be a genius to figure out that free-trade organizations and globalization in general are here to stay. The fact that both Clinton and Obama want to fight against this and try to have the United States go it alone worries me. I'd also rather see an increased focus on things that are surefire ways to stimulate economic growth such as building roads and bridges and subsidizing secondary education, rather than on protecting American industrial interests. If something can be made cheaper somewhere else, I damn sure want to be able to buy the cheaper good rather than from a company that I know is true-blue Amurican. Don't get me wrong, I love being American, but holy hell batman, this place is going in a direction that makes me uncomfortable. Even if I haven't gotten all my facts completely straight, I'd just rather our leaders acted less like Nazis, placing the blame on Indians, Chinese, Mexicans for 'stealing American jobs', and worried more about what they can actually do instead of fear-mongering and bullshitting.

So for those of you planning on voting this fall, take a step back and try to think about what the candidates are actually saying instead of getting swept up by outlandish promises that are impossible to fulfill (haha free healthcare for everyone what a good one).