It stands to question whether isolationism is a good way to protect jobs. I mean, clearly for primarily locally sold products this can be a plus, but companies that are exporting may suffer from such trade wars. Overall, I'd expect a trade war to be a net loss for the US.
Isolationism gives workers more leverage, something that Democrats used to care about. When you have an open, worldwide economy, it allows businesses to use their capital -- the capital they're sponging off their workers, according to socialist rhetoric -- and spend it on cheaper labor elsewhere. Or do you believe businesses should profit immensely from the hard work of a local town and then up-and-leave whenever they feel like it, gutting the town entirely? Local work creates local communities and local
unions.
Remember those? Unions? They're really hard to build and enforce when a corporation's workforce is split across numerous branches across numerous countries.
The reality is that all of our markets are "rigged" in the sense that we pick and choose what regulations to uphold and which things to restrict. There's nothing wrong -- nor anti-capitalist -- about this fact. So we need to stop letting corporate-bought politicians (who have infested both political parties) get into office and pick these rules for us.
I don't want to pay Amazon's employees welfare because they work for the richest guy on the planet. That's
his responsibility. I don't want to pay Wal-Mart's employees welfare because they work for the biggest retail chain on the planet. That's
Wal-Mart's responsibility. I don't want to pay "seasonal" workers (hotel staff or retail staff, for instance) who are let go from their jobs "when things get a bit slow" when the company profited immensely from their work during the "busy months". Many corporations will leverage their HR team to
give you the unemployment paperwork so that you're all ready to go when they lay you off for the winter. In work that is truly seasonal (farming) I can see the need, but "business slowing down a bit during some months of the year" is not "seasonal".
