Global Economic Justice Movement, Essay Example

The NAFTA treaty is part of the on going “corporate-led globalization (Barry, n.d.).” While on the surface treaties such as NAFTA are about loosening trade restrictions in order to create ‘free trade’ across international borders, the reality is more complex. NAFTA has wreaked havoc on the environment, since the loosening of property rights in order to be more friendly for business have meant eroding national environmental protections (Barry, n.d.). NAFTA has also decreased wages, labor standards, and collective bargaining power. U.S. workers have lost hundreds of thousands of jobs because of NAFTA and wages and labor standards have decreased. While NAFTA has been a good agreement for U.S. corporations, it has not been especially beneficial for the U.S. worker.

NAFTA has had a profound effect on immigration of people from Latin America, in particular Mexico, to the U.S. One reason for this is because in 1992, the president of Mexico, Salinas, changed the constitution of Mexico, privatizing lands that were once held communally by the community, called ejido lands. Under NAFTA, these privately held lands were no longer eligible for government subsidies. This policy forced many farmers off their land, unable to make a living off of it. Many of these farmers have immigrated to America, looking for work (McCarty, 2008). While it is obvious that some sort of immigration reform needs to take place, without a change in policy it is inevitable that hungry workers will continue to come in droves to America, hoping for a better life for themselves and their families.

The drug war in Mexico was funded in 2007 by the Bush administration, who gave Mexican President Calderon $1.5 billion in funds to fight the narcotics trade (Tarabay, 2010). The violence that is now being witnessed, especially at the northern border of Mexico, is directly due to the Drug War that was initiated collectively by the administrations of Calderon and Bush. While the war is technically on foreign soil, it is affecting American’s who live along the border. It should be government policy to protect the rights of American’s and American land and end the violence that is raging there. However, it is evident that it will take more than money to bring peace to Mexico. A change in policy will also need to be enacted, in both America and Mexico.

References

Barry, John (n.d.) NAFTA, FTAA, and the Global Economic Justice Movement. Retrieved October 4, 2010 from http://www.uiowa.edu/ifdebook/issues/globalization/perspectives/barry.shtml

Office of the United States Trade Representative (n.d.) North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Retrieved October 4, 2010 from http://www.ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/north-american-free-trade-agreement-nafta

McCarty, Dawn (2008) Immigration Retrieved on October 4, 2010 from http://www.cjd.org/paper/NAFTA.html

Tarabay, Jamie (March 16, 2010) Pressure Rises For More U.S. Aid in Mexico Drug War Retrieved October 4, 2010 from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124731385