TPP was just a diversion from the real problem automation.

[duffyduff]

6. Automation has very little to do with the reason the US is in economic decline.

That is a neoliberal meme that has been used in recent years to continue to push for ruinous trade deals by claiming they aren't the cause of the destruction of living standards but rather computers are and "technology" cannot be fought, and it is just false.

I have been around a long time, and I KNOW the "automation" explanation is complete nonsense.

I strongly suggest people read the following books by Donald Barlett and James Steele, the first book published in 1992, right at the time Reaganomics--which is SOLELY responsible for the economic mess--took hold in this country:

America: What Went Wrong 1992

America: Who REALLY Pays the Taxes 1994

America: Who Stole the Dream 1996

The Betrayal of the American Dream 2013, which is a summary of the other three books.


These books are highly relevant today as history of what actually occurred in the 1980s and 1990s, as neoliberal economic policies started taking hold in the form of Reaganomics.

The true cause of our economic decline is D.C. policies which were deliberately designed to destroy living standards in this country. This is a fact, and we need to stop denying it.