The Disadvantage of NAFTA is How it Benefits Globalization. When Corporate Power Grows to Usurp Sovereign Authority, the Freedoms of People Are Exchanged for Profit.

The disadvantage of NAFTA has been the loss of jobs in America and horrible working conditions on the other side of the border. It was initially touted as a fantastic thing for workers of all three countries. The simple fact is it has been catastrophic.

Time has proven that the agreement has done little more than facilitate an integration of the continent's economies. Of course the rules for governing it are also in place. That, however is not the disadvantage of NAFTA. No, the disadvantage comes from the fact that the entire arrangement seems to be working like some demented pyramid scheme.

As all of the promises to the laborers and workers of each nation have evaporated, the rich keep getting richer. Of course the powerful keep getting more powerful also. Right there...that is the worst disadvantage of NAFTA.

THE DISADVANTAGE OF NAFTA

At its inception, there was a serious disadvantage of NAFTA because it left the sovereignty of the three nations at risk.

Any such risks, the politicians guaranteed, would be offset by the remarkable benefits built into this new arrangement. Trade was to be facilitated and more jobs available. Growth was an operative word; everyone was promised growth.

Fifteen years later, the only growth has been in the pockets of the industry leaders who immediately benefited from the lack of protections in place for the workers.

A LOOK AT THE REAL RESULTS

Since NAFTA's inception, the United States has watched jobs evaporate at alarming rates. This is due to the ability of employers to relocate their businesses or plants from the United States into Mexico.

This in turn caused a huge inflation of the maquiladora program of Mexico - under which Mexican workers assemble products for export into the United States. Within a very short period of time this program came to represent more than 30% of the Mexican labor force.

This labor force is subjected to ridiculously low wages, no protections of labor rights and unethical practices such as enforced pregnancy tests for all female job applicants and the need to work for more than twelve hours a day.

Another hit to Mexico occurred due to the 2002 Farm Bill, which subsidized American farmers and has allowed them to export foods into Mexico at prices that are lower than cost. This may benefit the Mexican consumers who are enjoying lower food prices.

But this comes at a hefty cost to the Mexican farmers who cannot compete. Today the Mexican government barely supports its own farmers and farming industry due to the cheaper imports from the United States.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

Though the Mexican farming industry has taken a heavy blow, it is still struggling to survive. To achieve this, the farmers are using more fertilizers and chemicals than ever before because they are expanding into marginal land.

This has resulted in hundreds of thousands of acres being deforested each year. Mexico's environmental policies prior to NAFTA were, at best, questionable. Clearly the arrangement has led to a further degradation of the country's natural resources.

So, what does all of this really mean? It means that governments like to protect big business whenever possible. It also means that not much has changed since the nineteenth century, when all government economic functions were tied directly to business interests and not those of the workers.

What should never be forgotten is that the workers represent the majority, and there are many ways in which they can act, speak and work against the destructive forces in their own mercenary governments.