The Dead Presidents are back on the warpath in Central and South America through a measure of economic imperialism called dolarization. The people of Bolivia, Panama and other countries in Latin America are being pressured by the United States Government and their own governments to make the American dollar part of their currency, a measure that would have been unthinkable 20 years ago, but is now promoted as an essential step towards economic "development" in the post FTAA climate, when South American leaders are falling over themselves to either cut themselves off from their Marxist roots or get de facto pardons for human rights abuses by jumping on the free trade bandwagon.

Dollarization has been harmful to the vast majority of people in the countries where it has been introduced. Industrial workers and farmers who were able to save money saw the value of their savings plummet as their country's currency was devalued by the U.S. dollar. The only people who benefit from the change are members of the ruling class with ties to the government or multi-national corporations. Drug dealers might come out ahead too because most of their trade is with the United States.

In Europe, there have been major demonstrations against the introduction of a single currency for the whole continent. But in Europe, the new economy has been framed through the bureaucracy and acts of legislature. The American model for free trade is much more covert. There is very little public debate about dollarization because few people know about it.

What this country needs is more nationally declared Buy Nothing Days. Canadian activist groups have been promoting Buy Nothing Days ever since AdBuster magazine introduced the idea in the late 1990s. With the holiday season approaching, Buy Nothing Days would be a good remedy for the folly of patriotic consumerism that's getting a lot of play these days.