Pat Buchanan on NAFTA

* I never thought I’d find myself on the same side as Pat Buchanan (Column Right, Nov. 2), but here I am, agreeing about NAFTA. Hispanics in particular have fallen into the “economics uber alles “ trap. By espousing sharing the bottom of the barrel as the only solution, they have abdicated all power to the corporations.

Bluntly, if our government would stop supporting every union-busting dictatorship in Central and South America, we wouldn’t have to worry about low wages. Our “anti-communism” has only created cheap labor, not world democracy. Now we are being hoisted on our own petard.

We, as a nation, have the moment to reflect on the profit “over all” mentality that has co-opted our government (and our ethics), and brought us the dynamics of worldwide economic depression.

For one breathtaking moment, let us remember that societies’ needs for happiness, stability, education and cooperation are fundamental to creating the “corpus” in which businesses have grown, and that the inescapable conclusion to NAFTA is the destruction of the markets which have allowed them to thrive.

FRANK NIERTIT

South Gate

* By disparaging economics per se, Pat Buchanan admits in effect that it’s against him, that his protectionist policy makes no economic sense. But, like all special interest pleaders, he identifies the special interests of his favorites with those of the nation as a whole. Protectionism will make his favorites happy, ergo it will make the whole country happy, so the fact that it will make the country as a whole poorer is irrelevant, and the science that tells us this irrelevant. He calls this “the moral imagination.” Try narrow-mindedness.

D. G. LESVIC

Pacoima

* Perhaps I am missing something.

If NAFTA is passed, making it easier (and cheaper) for U.S. companies to operate in Mexico, then pass the health care plan, making it more expensive to employ workers in the U.S. Why wouldn’t U.S. companies move production out of the country? Is that a giant sucking sound I hear?

ANN M. DOTY

Venice