why won't Isolationism work as US foriegn policy?

[bicyclemech1]

I'm not too politically savvy, so please tell me why my simpleton thoughts on the policy won't work.
I THINK WE SHOULD;

1: Eliminate our need of middle east oil (it's about 28% of our total consumption) thru alternative fuels or whatever does the job and get the hell out of the middle east for good. Forever.

2: Stop poking our nose in to business everywhere else. What good comes of foreign involvement/police actions.

3: Bring all our military home and seriously down size it. Focus on effective retaliation exclusively, and let the U.N. do the world policing BS. I think at one time we were fighting the good fight in Afghanastan mountains while looking for terrorist cells directly responsible for 9/11, but I'm not sure whats going on there now.

4: Stop giving money to everybody. Period. Start paying our U.N. dues and let them give money to whomever they deem deserving. We can give food and medicine too.

In conclusion, I don't believe we should close up our borders (In fact, anyone who wants to work and pay taxes and do their fair share is welcome with me.) but it seems we have been doing such a shitty job everywhere else in the world that we should quit trying and really focus on the serious domestic issues that are currently clobbering us.

Lets hear it. Preferably in short concise paragraphs from someone who has real answers.

 

[afm199]

1. Propose a plan that will come up with the energy equivalency of 10 million barrels of oil daily, to replace what we import. Propose a plan to transport it and the infrastructure needed to do so. While you are at it, explain why we should not import from the middle east but it is ok to import from Canada, South America, Central America, Mexico, etc. etc.
2. That's what Chamberlain said when Germany invaded Poland
3. Sounds good in theory
4.

 

[MotoGeek'n]

Like it or not nations of the world today are interdepdent with respect to commerce. Trite as this may sound- look at the labels of all that we purchase. It's a good bet the majority of this stuff is manufactured outside of this country. If this country's penchant for cheap consumer products and labor continues it is highly doubtful that we'd ever be able to go it alone.

 

[bicyclemech1]

If the US were at the forefront of alternative fuels,

Then we could have a product with world wide marketability that would help offset the trade deficit? It could produce a whole bunch of domestic jobs in the process. Infrastructure, transport, etc.

The world is a very different place from when Germany invaded Poland. Imperialism is pretty much dead. But some crazy country like North Korea will still probably give it a shot.

 

[bicyclemech1]

Like it or not nations of the world today are interdepdent with respect to commerce. Trite as this may sound- look at the labels of all that we purchase. It's a good bet the majority of this stuff is manufactured outside of this country. If this country's penchant for cheap consumer products and labor continues it is highly doubtful that we'd ever be able to go it alone.

I didn't even think about going it alone. Hard to even imagine it now, though we pretty much did just 50 or 60 years ago.

 

[wazzuFreddo]

This is all well and good but what happens when you need to go to Romania for a hydro turbine? Need an EHV transformer? Better get the Japanese, the Scottish, the Colombians, or the South Koreans on the phone.

It wasn't long ago that we built this type of stuff here.

 

[vman]

I agree with the OP on all but one point: We should not pay U.N. dues. In fact, we should withdraw from NATO and UN because those alliances have become a joke. But if we do manage to bring home all the troops and close all military bases outside the U.S. we should be able to start saving money right away.

Isolationism will not work because we are not alone in the world. I don't like recommending specific books to anybody, but The World Is Flat is a good read for the those of you who are interested in current business and geopolitical views. The Mystery of Capital is another worthy piece of treeware. And finally here is my answer to the OP's question.

If we do not isolate ourselves from the rest of the world and embrace international trade without barriers we are less likely to run into military conflicts. Once everybody is everybody's trade partner strong economic ties are highly likely to prevent future military conflicts. If done properly, world trade will bring prosperity to humankind. It is much harder to shoot somebody who buys your products and supplies your country with something that you cannot produce on your own.

For full disclosure: I am for countries without tariffs and transparent borders but I realize that this will never happen and we will need some government involvement here and there. If I know how much, I would not be posting on BARF on Sunday

 

[vman]

This is all well and good but what happens when you need to go to Romania for a hydro turbine? Need an EHV transformer? Better get the Japanese, the Scottish, the Colombians, or the South Koreans on the phone.

It wasn't long ago that we built this type of stuff here.

We still build a lot of wonderful stuff in the United States. While Boeing gets many parts from around the world, they're still assembled on the U.S. soil. Granted, there is a office in Russia that helps with designs and many materials come from Western Europe. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Back in the day there was a panic that all IT jobs were going to go to India and for some reason they are still here. Change is a mo-fo and we won't sail into the world of no trade barriers without victims but the price is cheap compared to what we, regular Joes (and we are in the eyes of the global economy), get back.

When I was growing up piss poor I knew that shit that my mom got at Old Navy was probably made somewhere in India or China. It sucked to by foreign made goods but I could not beat getting three shirts for $10 since my mom made only $20K/year. Now I have a luxury of getting custom made suits; Union made in the U.S.A. Folks who have less benefit from having the same access as I do to almost the same products (shirts are shirts right?) and that's the beauty of being able to buy products from countries with cheaper labor. Eventually things will settle down and the trade will stabilize. Last time I checked moving high level tech jobs to India was not as profitable since developers there cost almost just as much. So we are getting to the point where trade will start making more economic sense. Cheers to that.

 

[wazzuFreddo]

I am talking heavy industry, hard to find it in this country these days.

We were the best at it. We need to do more of it.

 

[Caddywumpus]

Thats not entirely true. The US does manufacture a lot of the machinery used to manufacture things in heavy industry. Alas, its a dying art here becuase A) its fucking expensive, and B) it can be done elsewhere, cheeper.

 

[bicyclemech1]

I'll read up.

Thanks for the recommendation of the books.

I suppose if I read the nation and world section more, and the timeout section less, I would have a better grasp of this stuff.

 

[Bronto]

2. Recent example is Clinton involves US in Kosovo. How all Europe sat by and did nothing, while wars and genocide occurred in a European Country.
In the US it was incomprehensible how Europe let it go on so long without doing anything. If it was left up to them, nothing would of stopped it.

With all this high pollutant talk about never forget, not to let it happen again. They were doing exactly that, letting it happen again.

It really showed how useless Europe was in helping anyone else besides themselves.
Because it's self evident, Europe isn't going to be any help. US appears to be only country that wants to help during conflicts.
Insult to injury is how Europe is angry with the US when they do something. Pfsst :|

 

[SuperSixFour]

2. That's what Chamberlain said when Germany invaded Poland

*quick, probably not needed history lesson* That's what Chamberlain said when Germany militarized the Rhineland, absorbed Austria & took over a major portion of Czechoslovakia (later the whole thing was sold out to various neighbors). When Germany finally did invade Poland was when Chamberlain finally grew a back bone and the UK declared war.

 

[2strokeYardSale]

Please forgive Ernie. He was suffering from the early stages of Alzheimers in 1939.

 

[Climber]

What really annoys me is how England who was supposed to be a partner entering the Iraq war has not carried their share of the load in Iraq for awhile now! :wtf

I don't give a crap if it is unpopular with the British people, their commitment should be proportional to the US's by GDP!

Same with the other supposed allies! If they were in on it at the start, they should still be in on it now. If they didn't believe in it then they shouldn't have been part of the alliance.

 

[auntiebling]

cuz if we stop paying people to be our friends we won't have any