When you look at someone, you should be able to pick up on some character traits. There was a time when the world looked at the United States and saw innovation, resourcefulness, creativity, independence, and determination. America was a nation of go-getters and trend setters.
Sadly, much of that has been lost as America's national identity is being erased as more and more companies seek to take jobs outside of the US or sell their companies to foreigners. These companies do this all in the name of staying afloat or to compete with rivals. These people are okay with other countries coming into America and stripping her bare. America no longer represents what we were in the past.
What is uniquely American anymore? What kind of America will we leave our children and grandchildren? Is there an American company that will not cave in to the pitfalls of outsourcing or giving away their cherished company to foreign investors?
Anheuser-Busch is one such company that stood its ground, but eventually, caved. They caved following the bullying from InBev, a Belgian company (after they threatened to rid Anheuser-Busch of its board because of their lack of response to InBev's proposed bid) and after a substantial amount of money was offered--$52 billion. I still ask, where is the pride?
A few Americans heard of the potential buyout, and protested. If only Americans would be so agitated as to speak out in protest of other jobs disappearing overseas. Too many American companies are being lost.
To give one an idea of how dire the situation is, below is a list of American companies and infrastructure that have been handed over to foreigners:
-Nestle Toll House (cookie idea started in the US, but is now Swiss owned)
-Church's Chicken (owned by an Arabic company)
-French's Mustard (yes Americans started this brand. It's now British owned)
-Dial soap (German owned)
-The Plaza Hotel in NYC (now Israeli owned)
-7-11 (Japanese owned)
-The Flatiron Building in Manhattan, NY (now Italian owned)
-Chicago Midway Airport (deal in the works to lease the airport for 50 years. There are five noted parties interested that are foreign...French, Spanish, Canadian, German, and Australian)
-Pennsylvania Turnpike (looking into possibly leasing the turnpike for 75 years...)
-Indiana Toll Road (leased to Cintra of Spain and Macquarie of Australia for 75 years)
-Chicago Skyway (under a 99 year lease, again with Cintra and Macquarie)
-Planned Trans-Texas Corridor (Spain's Cintra is working on this project)
-Our Ports (just 2 years ago, Dubai Ports World sought to have control of several ports across America which resulted in a firestorm of controversy)
Sadly, the above list represents only a few examples of American identity, ingenuity, and creativity being handed over to foreigners.
To those companies who haven't sold out yet: What we do today definitely affects our children's future. Will our future tell us that we are still a proud country of Americans or will we have lost our country and everything we've worked hard for in the past?
What happened to the will of Americans to not give up or give in, even if it means one must go down fighting?
Why the rush to sell out to foreigners just to keep a company afloat or to increase a company's share value in the stock market?
Why give it all away while under pressure from foreigners or for the right amount of money?
Even money man Warren Buffet backed the sale of Anheuser-Busch and was to meet with the CEO to pressure the sale to InBev. The motivator in all of this of course, is greed.
We must have a conscience as to what America once represented and what we will likely see in a future America. It's not looking good. America's identity is slowly eroding.
Felicia Benamon is a conservative columnist who writes from a political perspective, but occasionally deviates to write about other concerns facing her country. She comes from a military background and is currently a freelance reporter residing in Tennessee.
