rest of the Christian world at the time, thernundisputed master of his own destiny,rneven the wealthiest American of 180rnyears later is, like the United States of today,rnbut one vector in myriad other strategicrnquantities of which tomorrow is composed.rnIt made no difference to Byron’srnfuture that the richest countries of his dayrnwere three times richer than the poorest,rnincluding the part of the world nowrncalled Pakistan. Today, it ought to makernone hell of a difference to a Briton thatrnthe world’s poorest countries are 77 timesrnpoorer than the richest, and that Pakistanrnhas successfully tested medium-rangernnuclear weapons.rnI don’t know. I’m going to have somerngiblets with lenhls for supper, smoke arnTuscan cigar, and see if that makes thernperspective any more rosy.rnAndrei Navrozov is Chronicles’rnEuropean correspondent.rnLetter From Arizonarnby Tod NewmanrnOn the BorderrnIn the southeast corner of Arizona, surroundedrnby the beautifully wild, milehighrnSonoran Desert, lies the town ofrnDouglas. I am writing from a booth inrnthe coffee shop of the Gadsden Hotel, anrnornate hotel rebuilt in the 1920’s with arngilded roof supported by smooth marblernpillars. Thornton Wilder stayed here forrna year while working on The Eighth Day;rntoday, a gentle but headless ghost stalksrnthe basement.rnAcross the Mexican border in AguarnPrieta, factories built into the hills nornmore than ten miles distant spout theirrndisdain for American sensibilities in thernform of smoke that casually drifts acrossrnthe border into Douglas when the wind isrnright. The factory effluent rains down onrnDouglas as thickly as the bullets didrnwhen Pancho Villa’s revolution came tornAgua Prieta.rnSeeing this smoke crawling into ourrnnational airspace makes me wonder justrnhow wise it is to open up trade with arncoimtry which does not impose the kindrnof environmental regulations on its industriesrnthat an American factory mustrnobey. Driving north from the border uprnSixth Avenue, one finds parts of Douglasrnfllling with newer shops that have movedrninto older buildings. These stores proudlyrnadvertise “el precia mejor” and arernpacked with relatively wealthy Mexicansrnwearing Nike and Adidas jogging outfitsrnand carrying their bundled purchases.rnThis is the pleasant side of free tradernacross the border. A short trip down USrn92 to the west, however, quickly revealsrnthe converse view: the well-worn footpathsrnheading north through the aridrndesert brush. This less pleasant view ofrnfree trade, in this case trade in labor, isrneven more noticeable in the washes followingrna rain, when thousands of footprintsrnmysteriously appear overnight.rnThe eyes on the other side of the borderrnfence shine in the headlights of the BorderrnPatrol vehicle, patiendy waiting for itrnto pass so numerous shadowy figures canrnsprint across the dust)’ control road intornthe Sonoran Desert in the hope of reachingrnAlbuquerque or Denver—and jobs.rnFrequently mixed in with the honest laborersrnlooking for work are violent drugrnsmugglers and other criminals. Ranchersrnand landowners around Douglas are beginningrnto respond violently to this nightlyrninvasion, which leaves behind cutrnfences, wandering livestock, and threatened,rnfearful families. NAFTA, we wererntold, would end this second, less desirablernform of free trade by creating morernMexican jobs. No one who visits AguarnPrieta, Nogales, or Juarez will doubt thatrnjobs have been created over the last fewrnyears. So why does this undesired laborrntrade still occur?rnWhy do men—1,000 per night, byrnsome estimates—confinue to cross thisrndangerous border? The laborers attractedrnto the jobs created in Mexico’s borderrncities are overwhelmingly young femalesrnwho will work for less than one U.S. dollarrnper hour. The girls who flow intornthese Mexican factories, or maquiladoras,rnusually come from poorer rural areas inrnthe interior of Mexico and are happy tornband together in cardboard huts withoutrnelectricit)- or running water for the illusoryrnfreedom and poor wages that thernmaquiladoras provide. Girls as young asrn12 or 13 lie about their ages to gain employmentrnin the factories. This, ofrncourse, drives down labor costs which, inrnthe absence of a tariff, results in a cheaperrnproduct than even Asia can providernand a demand for more low-paying jobs.rnSide effects that should not surprise thosernfamiliar with the American welfare experimentrnare a rise in single motherhood,rnincreased violence against women, andrnthe collapse of the culture of the workingrnMexican poor. This is not a good laborrnmarket for a man supporting a familv.rnThe prospect of making three or morerntimes as much money in U.S. cities mayrnwell seem worth the hazards associatedrnwith the border crossing.rnIs it wise to implement free trade withrnMexico without insisting on economicrncontrols similar to those under whichrnAmerican industry operates? Withoutrnenforcing at least some minimal controls,rnwe are likely doing irreparable harm notrnonly to our environment and workers,rnbut also to the Mexican environment,rnculture, and family. The “bullets” thatrnnow rain down on Douglas might seemrnblanks to outsiders, but they could provernfar more harmful than the lead that camernfrom Villa’s revolution.rnTod Newman writes from Tucson, Arizona.rnLetter From Virginiarnby Marshall FishwickrnThe Old DominionrnMeets SplogernWhat poses the greatest threat today tornthe Old Dominion —mother of Presidents,rna state secure and renowned forrnprecious memories and aspirations? Nornperson or foreign power, but a vast impersonalrnforce already despoiling citiesrnand states around the globe, a force that Irncall “sploge”: unregulated, uncheckedrngrowth, fiieled by the three G’s—Greed,rnGlitz, and Glut. It despoiled great citiesrnlike Cairo, Bombay, Rio de Janeiro, andrnMexico City, then crept into the UnitedrnStates: Los Angeles, the New York-NewrnHaven corridor, central New Jersey.rnHaving infected Washington, will itrnmove south into Virginia? How will therntrafiRc, pollufion, confusion, and congestionrnchange our way of life?rnI set out to seek answers, starting withrnthe fast-spreading sploge already linkingrnBlacksburg and Christiansburg on Routern460. (Three-digit highways seem tornbreed sploge. Have you ridden on Vir-rn38/CHRONICLESrnrnrn