America’s declaration of total dependence: Barack Obama, TPP & the perils of global hyper-capitalism

[unhappycamper]

http://www.salon.com/2015/07/03/americas_declaration_of_total_dependence_barack_obama_tpp_the_perils_of_global_hyper_capitalism/



Take a look tomorrow at an American flag. "Made in China," it probably reads -- a fitting, and chilling, metaphor

America’s declaration of total dependence: Barack Obama, TPP & the perils of global hyper-capitalism
Matthew Pulver
Friday, Jul 3, 2015 12:00 PM EST

There’s a good chance (like a 94 percent chance) that the flags present at your Fourth of July festivities will be Chinese-made. The ubiquity of American flags made in that authoritarian state is such that Congress actually had to pass a law last year banning the military from purchasing foreign-made (read: Chinese-made) flags. These flags are so cheap, however, that similar bills mandating the federal government purchase only non-Chinese-made flags routinely fail. We’ve got a budget to meet and all.

That flag, then, that so proudly attempts to recall our independence this weekend is, in fact, a symbol of, at best, our interdependence and, more likely, a dependency which determines how we live. The United States is a democracy that with each passing day submits to the demands of global capitalism. If you work, where you work, what you do, how much you make, and what you spend it on are, with each passing day, determined by global capitalism more than America, which it hurriedly subsumes.

Use your Fourth of July celebration as a way to test this. How independent is the United States in 2015? You might even make a drinking game out of it, as long as you’re not drinking anything from Anheuser-Busch, which is now owned by a Belgian-Brazilian conglomerate.

First of all, try attending or hosting Independence Day festivities without being dependent on Chinese-made goods. No flags, obviously. No fireworks, either. But it would also mean that virtually no electronics, including your phone, can be used, so no patriotic tunes and no pictures. Oh, and you likely won’t be able to grill anything either. Consider yourself a patriot beyond measure if you can do it without relying on Central American, Caribbean and Southeast Asian goods too. Because you’ll probably be next to naked. (Check your tags.)

[appal_jack]

1. K&R, nt.