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The World According to Political Spam
Other nations are devising new methodologies and policies to deal with the radically changed global market

By Ailish M. Nic Phaidin
Brevard Technical Journal

Last month I mentioned Hong Kong's "Operation UNITE" to fight the SARS debacle. The Hong Kong government has just announced "Operation TEAM CLEAN" which is a governmental effort, headed up by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, to scrub the island clean. Chief Secretary for Administration, Donald Tsang, says of the new initiative, "We want to develop short-term and long-term measures that will have a durable and lasting effect in taking Hong Kong to the next plateau of cleanliness". He further states, "We understand it is a prerequisite for relaunching Hong Kong as an international financial center and a successful commercial center."

Operation TEAM CLEAN will apparently "develop a whole series of durable measures" to achieve its goals of repackaging and reselling Hong Kong to the world of business. Mr. Tsang and his team will look at the measures they take "from the point of view of tourists from Stuttgart, of investors coming from London, a banker coming from New York, a journalist coming from Apple Daily" to find consensus and common answers.

Other nations are devising new methodologies and policies to deal with the radically changed global market. The European Union is expressing grave concern over our Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act 2002 and the recent announcement by the U.S. Food & Drink Administration's of additional regulations relating to a wide range of food and drink products that are imported here. These nations, as well as nations all over the world, are looking anew at their market penetration capability. Our nation's vital strategic security interests are, generally speaking, taken quite lightly in other countries. It will take them some time to realize our seriousness.

Meanwhile we have an emerging difficulty at home, albeit somewhat under the radar screen, but a difficulty nonetheless. That under the radar screen difficulty is SPAM.

Here is the text of one such email as an indication of just how global we are: "Joe Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock (made in Japan) for 6 a.m. While his coffeepot (made in China) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor (made in Hong Kong). He put on a dress shirt (made in Sri Lanka), designer jeans (made in Singapore) and tennis shoes (made in Korea). After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (made in India) he sat down with his calculator (made in Mexico) to see how much he could spend today. After setting his watch (made in Taiwan) to the radio (made in India) he got in his car (made in Germany) and continued his search for a good paying AMERICAN JOB. At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day, Joe decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals (made in Brazil), poured himself a glass of wine (made in France) and turned on his TV (made in Indonesia), and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in … AMERICA…"

For the past several weeks I have been receiving a 'different' sort of spam. I have my own spontaneous response to all spam, I devised "Operation DELETE".

However, several such messages were received from people I know, so I opened them - the above message being amongst them.

The emails that have truly bothered me are the politicized messages of what I can only describe as "hate mail". These include various versions (and reasons) why we should hate the Germans, the French, the Belgians and anyone else we perceive as having done us wrong, and to cease immediately from doing business with them. There may very well be many good personal reasons for not doing business with several nations, and of course, being a profoundly staunch supporter of all our First Amendment rights, the view of the email sender is just as valid as mine. But, in the broad scheme of global trading, we simply cannot survive without most of the products we import. Are we prepared to pay $60 for a coffee pot made in Idaho when we can buy a $7 pot made in China? Some will, most won't.

Florida's coffers are probably too dependent on tourism dollars for sustainable growth in the short-to-medium term. If we, as individuals, make individual decisions to forward emails that have any likelihood of stifling our dealings with other nations, then as surely as Newton's Third Law of Physics, "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction" must just as surely play a part in the natural scheme of things. The email you send me (and dozens of other recipients) has the potential to travel the globe and back to you - often within days or weeks. The French Ambassador's recent statement is indicative of that.

If the failure of the U.S. tourist to travel abroad in the face of global risks and domestic contraction is having an adverse effect on the tourism industry in other nations, then Newton's law will, in all probability, bite us in the bum too. The downturn in this critically important sector is too well-documented for us to ignore. And, it shows scant sign of improvement in 2003. A resurgent 2004 should be our goal. If we continue to send the thousands of politically abusive messages, then we should, I believe, be equally prepared to accept the thousands of consequences for such actions.

State and national budgets are dependent on our tax dollars - frozen Iraqi assets just don't cut it. As we deflate our prices, and not just in the tourism sector, we surely inflate unemployment. Our economy has refused to register significant signs of recovery. We are each responsible for welcoming trade, and tourism, on a global scale. Equally, we are entitled to our individual opinions, and to express them. The EU Stability Pact is showing signs of great pressure. Do we need to be branded as the fall guy? Let us have our own Operation TEAM CLEAN. It's really the best way to do business.