Here's my own little "conspiracy theory" that I've made up just for fun, based on my experiences in the manufacturing sphere. The first part is true. The last few paragraphs are the conspiracy theory.
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The term "left wing" traditionally meant "in favor of the common man/working class", while the term "right wing" meant "in favor of authority (i.e ruling class/business owners)".
Anyone who cries that the USA is slanted towards "leftism" hasn't looked around them. America is basically run by Big Business, especially Big Oil. The post-war infrastructure - particularly in the suburbs - is designed to make Americans dependent on cars. This requires higher wages and a higher standard of living for the average American. Suburban lots often aren't big enough for anyone to grow their own food and live a little bit more independently, and you can't just walk down to the corner store as was possible in your grandparents' or great-grandparents' time.
The modern American economy has been built on consumerism. In order to provide affordable goods to the consumer, a manufacturing-based economy requires a source of dirt-cheap labor. In the 19th century that dirt-cheap labor was slavery. In the northern states, it was low wages and poor working conditions. But in the earlier part of the 20th century, Democrats started to enact various worker protection laws, including minimum wage and banning child labor. Such protections meant that American workers would be paid higher wages than their counterparts in less developed countries.
In a more “leftist” society, labor unions would have more power and ensure workers were being paid and treated fairly, and more focus would be placed on making sure average citizens had their needs met.
Americans also associate “right” and “left” with presidential figureheads, although that’s largely been an illusion in more recent years. Both Republican and Democratic candidates are funded by - and work for - corporate interests. The lip service Democrats pay to various civil rights issues are more than likely crumbs tossed to get votes. Jimmy Carter might have been the last president who was even remotely considered more left-of-center.
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There's been a lot of talk recently about various entities having "ties with China". Those who see this as a secret conspiracy might want to check to see where a lot of their consumer goods came from...
Source: Panjiva
Despite China calling itself a "Communist" country, a more accurate term might be "single-party capitalism", as there does happen to be a strong private sector while business and manufacturing seems to take precedence over peoples' rights. Many factories still pay workers the equivalent of a few hundred dollars a month while the factory owners live in luxury.
China actually presents a lot of opportunities for the enterprising business person/capitalist, and so has been a mecca for corporations ever since Bill Clinton signed NAFTA and George W. Bush normalized trade relations with that country back in 2001. (Yes, you read that correctly. It was actually a bipartisan effort that enabled China's rise). China’s stellar economic success in the global arena no doubt has been the envy of many corporate CEOs.
The manufacturing exodus began in earnest in the 1990s when the Feds strengthened the U.S. dollar while the value of the Chinese Yuan was lowered. In order to maximize profits while minimizing margins, corporations will seek out the lowest bidders; and as long as the dollar remains strong against other currencies, those bidders might be found overseas. This made China a very attractive option for manufacturing and production.
During the Bush era, placing restrictions on corporate business practices was seen as "liberal/leftism" because it interfered with free trade. True "leftists" such as Bernie Sanders and Michael Moore opposed exporting jobs out of the country. While America's jobs were leaving out the door, the GOP instead focused America's "winning" on bombing Iraq, while our economy tanked.
Meanwhile, big-box retail such as Walmart, Home Depot and Target were transforming the American landscape with more cheaply made products, which American consumers readily flocked to buy. They put many smaller competitors out of business, and continue to dominate the American landscape. America’s economy began evolving from a manufacturing center to a corporate/retail/service/warehouse/transportation hub.
Meanwhile, Chinese nationals -- also playing the game of free market capitalism -- found themselves wealthy enough to buy up real estate and businesses in the USA, and opportunistically steal U.S. intellectual property. I've been seeing a kind of osmosis thing playing out in which there is greater disparity between rich and poor in both countries, while China is growing a middle class and may soon become an economic competitor to the USA.
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Now Here Comes the Conspiracy Part:
It's not that corporations WANT to send jobs overseas, mind you. In fact, it's kind of a hassle, because it involves extra time, shipping and transportation fees. The better situation would obviously be to bring manufacturing back to the United States.
But in order to bring all those manufacturing jobs back to America, the Fed would have to weaken the dollar. …I mean, really weaken the dollar so it would once again be cost-effective to produce lower-cost goods. …Plus, perhaps, remove certain regulations and protections that made American labor more expensive than foreign labor. …Basically turning back the clock to the late 19th century.
The official platform of some state Republican parties (such as Texas) is to eliminate minimum wage and many worker protections, which were authored by Democrats in the earlier part of the 20th century. Without minimum wage and worker protections, corporate manufacturers would be able to bring low-wage manufacturing back to the USA. Further measures such as banning abortion may result in population increases which would help fill the need for cheap labor and make us more competitive with nations that have greater numbers in the work force.
Subsequently, the USA could once again host sweat shops as it did in the 1800's, and not have to rely on overseas countries to provide goods that are currently not cost-effective to produce in the USA. We would also be an exporter of goods to other countries instead of the other way around, which would eliminate the trade deficit. In the future, American sweatshop workers might be producing goods to be purchased by Chinese consumers.
So corporate-backed pro-business mouthpieces like FOX News continue to demonize "leftists" and "liberals" (even though there are very few real leftists and liberals left in Congress, thanks to right-wing propaganda). …Because leftists tend to point out class disparities, and the wealthy oligarchs don’t want a French Revolution-like mistake to happen again.
Their incessant propaganda continues to get pro-business Republicans elected, who pay lip service to "freedoms" -- when in fact such "freedoms" mainly extend to Big Business while not benefiting the average American worker. Eventually, voters may be so deceived by this ruse that they end up voting against their own interests (such as repealing minimum wage and worker protections). When those protections are repealed, cheap manufacturing will be returning to the USA - but most will be very low-paying jobs -- if those jobs haven't been replaced by automation yet.
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