For TPP to get my vote, it must benefit America's middle class

Hear the words of Dan Lipinski, a servant of the people, who spoke thus: “For TPP to get my vote, it must benefit America’s middle class, raise wages, and safeguard the consumer and environmental protections that we rely upon.” In this declaration, he binds his decision not to party or power, but to the welfare of the ordinary citizen, the backbone of the republic. He reminds us that treaties and trade are not mere words on parchment, but forces that shape the lives of workers, families, and the land itself.

The origin of this saying lies in the debate over the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a vast trade agreement negotiated among nations of the Pacific Rim. Its promise was great—expanding commerce, strengthening alliances, and opening markets. Yet its peril was also great—risking the erosion of labor rights, undermining environmental laws, and favoring corporations over communities. Lipinski, mindful of these dangers, declared that no agreement was worthy unless it uplifted the middle class, ensured fair wages, and preserved the protections that shield both people and earth.

History echoes this wisdom. In the days of the Industrial Revolution, nations rushed toward wealth through trade and machinery. But the workers, those who bent their backs in mills and mines, were left in misery, their wages meager, their children laboring, their lungs blackened with soot. Wealth grew, but justice withered. Only when leaders demanded laws to protect the worker, limit child labor, and preserve clean air and water did industry become not only powerful, but humane. Lipinski’s words stand in this same tradition, warning that prosperity without protection is hollow, and trade without justice is betrayal.

His mention of the middle class is no idle phrase. For throughout history, the strength of nations has rested not only upon their rulers, nor only upon their merchants, but upon the broad foundation of ordinary men and women who labor honestly, earn fair wages, and build stable families. The decline of the middle class has often heralded the decline of civilizations, as seen in Rome, where widening inequality led to unrest, corruption, and eventual collapse. To protect the middle class, then, is not a matter of charity—it is a matter of survival for the nation.

And what of the environmental protections he names? These are no less vital. Trade agreements that ignore the earth may enrich the present but destroy the future. Rivers once poisoned by careless industries, forests once cut to stumps, and skies once blackened by smoke remind us of the cost of unchecked ambition. To demand that trade safeguard the land is to proclaim that true prosperity cannot come at the price of the planet. Lipinski here joins his voice to the chorus of those who know that economy and ecology must walk hand in hand.

The lesson for us is plain: whenever new policies, treaties, or laws are proposed, we must weigh them not by promises alone, but by their fruits. Do they uplift the worker, or do they enrich only the few? Do they strengthen the community, or weaken it? Do they protect the earth, or exploit it? These are the questions that lead to justice. To forget them is to fall into the same errors that have plagued humanity again and again.

And what shall we do in our own lives? Let us stand with those who labor. Support leaders who put people before profit, and demand transparency in every policy. Let us buy from businesses that respect workers and guard the environment. Let us speak, even in small circles, of the truth that wealth without justice is ruin, but wealth with fairness is blessing.

So remember the teaching of Dan Lipinski: treaties and trade must serve the people, not rule over them. For only when the middle class thrives, when wages rise, and when protections are honored, will prosperity be lasting. Hold fast to this, O listener, and pass it down, that future generations may live not under the shadow of exploitation, but in the light of justice and abundance.