"North American Union? Awesome Idea!"

January 9, 2009 7:50 PM

Are there any organizations directly supporting something analogous to a North American Union that people can join at a grassroots level? If not, what's the most integrationist?

While looking at some conservative websites for a research project, I stumbled across many ominous warnings about a continental union spearheaded by various think tanks. I saw that some individuals had written about integration under their auspices, and one fringe group in Alberta (I think) advocated joining the US, but is there anyone active in the US working on integration as a cause, in a popular sense?

posted by StrikeTheViol to law & government (6 comments total)

In the US? Not so much. NAFTA was viewed as a step in this direction. But, I don't think that there're many USians who are actively working toward unification. I mean, there're plenty of rednecks who say we should annex Canada, but I don't think that's what you mean. The whole concept is sort of anathema to most American constituencies I can imagine.

Thing is, NAFTA is a capitalistic endeavor. It hasn't done anything like uniting us; it's just made it cheaper for a plant to be relocated to Mexico.

People like the Communist Party, however, are into a universal government... that might count.
posted by Netzapper at 7:58 PM on January 9

Most of what I have read about this issue recently is in reference to the Security and Prosperity Partnership, but it certainly isn't a popular movement in any sense.
posted by ssg at 8:23 PM on January 9

Not quite North American-wide, but there's Cascadia.
posted by bellbellbell at 11:09 PM on January 9

In the US? Not so much. NAFTA was viewed as a step in this direction. But, I don't think that there're many USians who are actively working toward unification.

In Canada, we usually call these people "continentalists"

I don't think we'll see much movement on NAFTA beyond lowering duties. First, there is no real incentive for most South American nations to sign on to a NAFTA agreement. Executed properly, NAFTA would have provided Mexico a shit-tonne of development grants and we would have enough labour mobility that when a factory moved a worker could follow his/her job. The way NAFTA was implemented practically guaranteed job losses and illegal immigration. Canada has always been a resource economy but NAFTA removed a lot of our flexibility, part of the reason you see things like the Athabasca Tar Sand development is that Canada doesn't really have a a lot of choice. For NAFTA to work, Canada and the US needed to implement a Marshall-plan for Mexico.

Aside from that, The Canadian left fought free-trade with the US tooth-and-nail, and being cozy with the US administrations is not good politics -- Ronald Reagan's cozy relationship with Brian Mulroney was a political liability late in his career and Canadian politicians try to avoid giving the appearance of a very warm US relationship. Obviously guys like Hugo Chavez, the Castros and a few others take that to a higher level. Nobody in the non-US Americas wants to look like some sniveling US-protectorate no matter what the reality is.

The US has also displayed some tendency to ignore rulings that didn't go its way in NAFTA, and dumps money on farmers. Pacific Rim and European trade don't carry the same worries or political liabilities and Canada has some formal, existing ties to the EU which look like they can be expanded. While the mere idea of a NAFTA highway attracts all kinds of tin-foil hattery.

So while I am not saying there aren't grassroots groups trying to forward the cause of greater integration in the Western Hemisphere - I am not aware of any, and I am pretty sure this is a non-starter.
posted by Deep Dish at 11:31 PM on January 9

I mean, there're plenty of rednecks who say we should annex Canada…

Doubtful. I have never heard any American, in any medium, express this sentiment. Where are the outlets, "redneck" or otherwise, that advocate this?
posted by dinger at 4:55 AM on January 10

Doubtful. I have never heard any American, in any medium, express this sentiment

MONTREAL -- Should Canada become the 51st American state? Four out of 10 Americans answered "sure" in a recent poll conducted by Leger Marketing of Montreal.

While 38 per cent of respondents said they would be "in favour of Canada being annexed to the United States," 49 per cent disagreed. Another 13 per cent said they did not know or refused to answer.> --ctv.ca

posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 3:37 PM on January 12