To Protect and Defend
Throughout the history of this great Nation, we have always protected our Democracy and our American way of life. The Presidential oath of office includes the promise to protect and defend our Constitution. We protect our freedom of speech. We protect our right to bear arms. We protect our borders. We protect our environment. We protect our ports and airports, we protect our citizens, we protect our freedom, we protect our homes, we protect our families, it seems like we protect everything of value in our lives.
The only thing we don’t protect is our economy. The irony is, if we don’t protect our economy, that allows us to live the American Dream, then we will have nothing left to protect. The minute that any policy maker suggests buying American, or supporting domestic manufacturers, the rest of the world rises up with one voice and begins to threaten a trade war. Well you know what I say…Bring It On!
You want a War, we will give you one. Not a war of bombs or bullets, but a war of dollars and dimes fought by true patriots who purchase American products.
Since World War II we have increasingly turned our economy from skilled engineers and craftsmen to free marketers. They have enriched the rest of the developed world, but at the expense of the United States. The United States has balanced trade just once, in most of our lifetimes. Trillions of dollars have gone overseas. While our cities fall apart and our families make do with less, the rest of the world enjoys the pride of new cities and new wealth.
While the influx of American dollars fuels national solidarity across the planet, the bankruptcy of our nation sets us against each other, once rich against poor, black against white, city versus farm, old vs young and state against state.
Free trade simply doesn't work. It has betrayed our communities, destroyed our industrial base, sapped our inventiveness, created record unemployment and sent our nation into an economic tailspin.
So, to the rest of the world I say this: you can help us fix the engine and enjoy the ride. Create your own middle class, stop playing currency games, negotiate in good faith, or you can unhook your dead weight box car, let it slide back down the tracks and go back to living in mud huts and straw shacks. Either way, the American nation will prevail, the American economy will recover, and this time, we will have the wisdom and the will to protect it for future generations.
Brian Fredline
President of UAW Local 602
Editor's Note
I edited Brian's letter to enhance his focus on his message of protecting America.