Thursday, October 11, 2007

Near Sighted

The dictionary says that near sighted is a visual defect in which distant objects appear blurred. That’ll do for the point I want to make.

To say it simply and directly – how can people be so stupid?

Maybe there is something wrong with me, but I don’t get it. What, you ask, am I talking about? I’m talking about people acting in ways that are clearly not in their own self-interest. To be near sighted, if not blind.

Autoworkers go on strike. Hello? What world are you living in? The US auto industry is nearly dead and you go on strike. Very near sighted.

Free trade becomes a whipping boy as people fear it means the US will lose jobs. A recent poll showed that even Republicans have turned against free trade. That was one of the few things I thought I could agree with Republicans about and now it is gone. I’ll survive the loss.

But the good ole US of A can’t survive without trade. Trade has fueled our economy. If you’re worried that your job will be outsourced, develop a new skill. To think you can stem the tide of globalization is stupidly near sighted. Geez!

Our brilliant lawmakers and some local officials are pandering to the anti-immigrant zealots. Build a wall. Send them back. Fire them. Fine the employer. Cut off services. Not smart, not necessary, certainly near sighted. One town that came down hard on immigrants three years ago has reversed itself. Why? The town went in the toilet. Businesses closed. Work didn’t get done. The place was dying.

The antidote for near sightedness is not fear or hysteria or stupidity – it is a corrective lens called common sense.

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