Our country wasted its financial, moral and human capital in Vietnam and Iraq putting an end to the American century. Businesses fearing the erosion of their competitive advantages are trying to entrap developing nations into providing them a secure retirement income. The bait is use of their intellectual and financial capital. The trap, the trade pact. How did our government get involved?

After our Navy secured navigation to foreign ports, businesses could choose to deal with legally constituted governments adhering to their hosts’ commercial codes or gain concessions from anyone in a position to grant them. When granting despots or oligarchs were challenged by revolutionaries threatening businessmen’s privileges they sought U.S. support to protect their rights. Government departments — state, commerce and war — support for the business community’s rights, always questionable, is increasingly suspect when employed on behalf of stateless multi-national corporations.

Hillary defuses union objections to TPP by proposing modification of TPP provisions perceived to be anti-labor, leaving the egregious corporate power-grabs designed by her corporate contributors unquestioned. Donald Trump is forthright! He openly declares his intention to eliminate regulations and regulatory agencies, allowing the businessmen to help themselves.

Simply put, socialists believe that the economy is a tool that society uses to improve itself by rejecting propertied classes’ claim to priority over the use of society’s productivity. Propertied people have made socialism a dirty word and used the power of the state to sabotage it whenever it appears. If we continue to support the two-party corporate system they will continue infantilizing and marginalizing the democratic electorate.

Jill Stein and the Greens have a different vision. Some legislators will cooperate, people such as Keith Ellison, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and the ousted Russ Feingold, etc. On such people and on us voters, the future of the representative democracy rests.

John E. Gibson

Owatonna