Sold Out: How Both Parties Betrayed American Workers Through Outsourcing

“While you were busy arguing red state vs. blue state, your government was laying down a yellow brick road straight to Wall Street — and they’ve all gotten fat off the global trade system.”

For decades, we’ve been told globalization was a good thing. That “free trade” would lift all boats, empower developing nations, and open new doors for American prosperity. But somewhere between the headlines and the handshakes, a different story unfolded — one where working-class Americans were sacrificed on the altar of profit.

Outsourcing didn’t just happen. It wasn’t some organic evolution of the economy. It was a deliberate, calculated betrayal — engineered by both Democrats and Republicans, pushed by lobbyists, and signed into law by the very people we elected to protect us.

They sold us slogans. They distracted us with culture wars. And while the media kept us glued to the “us vs. them” theatrics, our leaders were quietly cutting deals, approving trade agreements, and helping corporations ship jobs to countries with slave wages, no environmental laws, and no intention of playing fair.

“Since China joined the WTO in 2001, the U.S. has lost over 3.7 million jobs to China — 75% of them in manufacturing.”
— Economic Policy Institute, 2021