It isn't even necessarily an issue of them being foreign, in part because the loss of domestic industry and devaluing of American labor was to some extent inevitable with a globalized economy, it's that they were shipped off to a horribly repressive, genocidal dictatorship and geopolitical enemy and provides almost no benefit. US industry being shipped off to China serves genuinely zero fucking purpose. The only actual benefit is the cheaper labor, which you can get elsewhere without the same extenuating circumstances or hidden costs. Like we mentioned before, India works just as well, and it actually uplifts a rival to China while allowing closer US ties to India during a time where they were growing more socialist friendly. Personally, I think that while India isn't a bad choice for an alternative to China, I actually think Latin American is the better route. More so in real life than in-quest necessarily, though it applies in both cases. Latin America has looser labor regulations and cheap labor, has bribable governments though not usually hopelessly corrupt, it's cheaper not only because of the labor but because of less logistical concerns which also means that if any issues pop up that they're easier to resolve, moving necessary workers back and forth is easier if you don't need to do it overseas, and much more. The most important part though is the industrialization. It aids in the industrialization of these countries, which helps them economically. With greater economic prospects, that means a growing middle class, which is necessary for a functioning democracy due to complicated reasons. With greater economic power and better governments, that means less reason for them to leave their countries, which means less mass migration to the US and Canada. Literally everyone wins in this scenario, and because the US would have strong business interests in the area, it would also give an excuse to combat the cartels more directly and aggressively at the source. I know I got a bit too political with this post, so I'm going to leave it at that and try to not continue the conversation on this, just so that it doesn't derail or anything, but fucking hell. It never ceases to amaze me the depths of corruption and evil political and economic elites will sink to, and yet be so fucking incompetent at it. Anyway, like I said, I'm gonna try and refrain from including anymore of my own personal political views in an effort to avoid derailing the thread in a back and forth, unrelated political discussion.
