In a recent article by Jeff Seigel, he cited a number of responses to a news release outlining General Electric's decision to commit to a Joint Venture with Harbin Power Equipment to build wind generation turbines in China.
I was flabbergasted to read that there are still people on this planet who are living under the illusion of "our patriotic duty" being to horde all business activities within the boundaries of their homeland rather than abroad.
Even President Obama does not seem to wave the "Buy American" flag much anymore.
After all, what is there to buy that is all American, or even completely made in the United States? I will bet you that even your favourite American car or even Harley Davidson motorcycles are not completely made of parts made in the "Good Old US of A".
This type of patriotism died back in the 1980s when US manufacturers set up factories in Mexico, China, Indonesia and other smaller nations with cheap labor. That was the time people should have been voicing their opinions about nationalism.
I remember years ago speaking with an engineer at a pulp mill in a small town in northern Canada. He told me that the unionized staff was going on strike because they were going to have whatever pay raise they wanted and would stay off the job until they got it. Their rationale was that since they were the only pulp mill in town, they could ask for whatever they wanted!
I don't mean to seem insensitive to people's concerns or to disrespect their right to speak out, but I do want to say that everyone, including these people, need to understand that we now live in a world economy. We need to understand that the competition to the pulpmill in Mackenzie, BC is located in Norway.
Almost everything we purchase today is produced somewhere else. In order for your American or Canadian based company to prosper, we all need to support their ambitions and investments in other countries.
The people who provoked Jeff's writing of this article even went more insane when they chided GE for building the turbines in China. If they had read the article further, they would have realized that rather than chastising GE, they should be looking for ways to invest in the project. After all, the turbines were for Chinese use (so they can produce all those great toys you like to have).
The world is changing. It will continue to change. We may want to keep things the way they were and we may even feel fear over losing control of our lives, however, this tide is here and is almost at Tsunami proportions.
Trying to hold on to old concepts of protectionism is just going to leave you behind. With the challenges we are facing in the world economics, we just cannot afford to have one person hanging on to the old ways. After all, this will just leave broke and frustrated people in its wake.
China in particular, but also India, Brazil and several other countries that are becoming the rising stars of world economics need to be in your view. If you are an investor, they must be in your portfolio or you will continue to see your funds slipping away as we have seen for the last two years.
The world is our country. Be proud of where you live and do what you can to make it a better place to live but for your sake and for the sake of the world's economic future hold your hand to your heart and adapt the world as your home!
Monty Ritchings, the contributor of this article, is a free lance writer who provides IP support services to Lucky Strike Resources Ltd.
This article is inserted for reader interest only. It is the opinion of the writer and not necessarily the opinion of the owners of this website or Lucky Strike Resources Ltd. ( http://www.luckystrikeresources.com )
At no time are any statements that appear in this article intended to lead the reader to invest in any particular stock. Due diligence is always encouraged before making any investment.
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