[Vision2020] When Will "FREE" TRADERS be held accountable?

[Tim Lohrmann]

Dale,
   A great example of the BIG LIE that is perpetrated
about the so-called FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS. 
   In short the FREE TRADERS have, quite successfully
transformed the debate from "what's in our own
national interests" into "you can't do anything about
it." 
   Of course we're in a global economy. We have been
for years. The question is what's wrong with
negotiating trade deals based on what's in our own
country's and our citizens' interest instead of giving
the decisionmaking authority over to global
bureaucrats?
  We're perfectly capable of negotiating bi-lateral
trade agreements with any country in the world why
cede that authority to some supernational body that is
even less responsive to democratic input from the
citizenry?
  We haven't moved on from the industrial period at
all. We've merely moved the industrial sectors to
countries that don't include the environmental and
labor costs of production into their products. 
   If you take an honest look at the incredible use of
filthy coal powered energy, child labor and prison
labor in many of the countries from which we import
manufactured goods, you'll see what I mean.
   We quit allowing kids to work in factories years
ago and we demand at least some protection from
polluting factories. But gee, it sure was efficient
wasn't it? So lets just let the corporations do it
anyway right? Only we'll hide the effects in countries
thousands of miles away so we won't feel bad about all
the incredibly cheap products not reflecting the true
costs of production that these countries turn out.
   Sure, we've priced ourselves out of the labor
market if we're forced to compete with the conditions
and terms present in many of these countries. People
here want a living wage, don't want kids working in
factories, don't believe in involuntary servitude, and
want some protection from dangerous pollutants.
That's what 'FREE TRADE' is all about. 
You don't want to compete with countries paying slave
wages and with no safety or environmental protections?
Tough, we're gonna do it anyway
    TL


> 
> Tim, it's time to wake-up and smell the coffee. We
> *are* in a global economy
> whether we like it or not. It's not that these
> councils have *created* a
> global economy. 
> 
> See Alvin Toffler's "The Third Wave" -- we've moved
> on from the old
> industrialized period into something new (whatever
> you want to call it). 
> 
> Unless you want to turn off the internet, you cannot
> keep outsourceable
> labor from shifting from expensive areas (e.g., the
> USA) to lesser expensive
> areas (e.g., India, Pakistan). In one respect, we've
> priced ourselves out of
> the general labor pool -- at least labor that can be
> outsourced via the web
> (e.g., tech jobs). 
> 
> Best,
> Dale Courtney
> Moscow, Idaho
> 
> 
>
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