September 23

September 23- We cannot build our own future without helping others to build theirs.Bill Clinton, 42nd President, 1993-2001 From President Clinton's State of the Union Address, January 27, 2000. Although the quote pertains specifically to international trade agreements, the principal can be extended to us on an individual level, as well. At the end of his Presidency, the U.S. was at a high water mark in terms of the economy and peace. It was, however, the calm before the storm as a new administration was to come into office to face the 9/11 attacks and a slide into a severe economic downturn. "...I ask Congress to give businesses the same incentives to invest in America's new markets that they now have to invest in foreign markets (and)...we must reach beyond our own borders, to shape the revolution that is tearing down barriers and building new networks among nations and individuals, economies and cultures: globalization. It is the central reality of our time. Change this profound is both liberating and threatening. But there is no turning back...We must be at the center of every vital global network, as a good neighbor and partner. We cannot build our future without helping others to build theirs....open markets and rules-based trade are the best engines we know for raising living standards, reducing global poverty and environmental destruction, and assuring the free flow of ideas. There is only one direction for America on trade: We must go forward. And we must make developing economies our partners in prosperity..."