Originally Posted by DaveRS23
I agree with your points.

But I'll ask this question; Should the United States with a robust (but declining) middle class and myriad environmental protections, etc, allow countries that pay next to nothing for wages and care nothing for environmental consequences import to our country and compete with our businesses? Talk about your unfair advantage!

So many people complain about what is happening to the earth, why not extend our values to rest of the world, by saying that any importers must abide by our standards in order to sell to us? Would that help the environment? Standards of living elsewhere? Protect some American jobs? Seems to me it would.



As long as there is the unrealistic concept of quarterly profits there will be no compliance. We will seek out the next group to exploit.
Beside salad bars, theaters, rock concerts, spectator sports this may bring about a sudden and drastic change to the economic playing field.
I wholly expect to pay a lot more for "things" in the short term as corporations attempt to maintain quarterly profits. This will ultimately end as we try to stabilize the economy and companies begin to fail. The huge amount of unemployed will rejoin the workforce to work in plants with few protections. Others will adapt to work for or create micro business within communities.
Some posts above touched on us pissing off China. I rather doubt any of the pandemic was initiated intentionally.
It's high time we perhaps develop the moniker MAFA - Make America Function Again.
It will be different for many, yet the great middle class, I don't see much change, for the elitists it's a whole new ball game. corporate profits -PooF!