General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"Free Trade" Was Never Really About Trade
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/06/20-10We need to think differently about trade.
First, let me say that I am 100% in favor of trade. Trade is when we do what we do best, they do what they do best, and we trade. Trade, done right, will raise living standards.
If trade is good, then free trade must be better, right? So consider this old joke about "free trade."
It's not free.
It's not trade.
Twenty years after NAFTA we can add that it doesn't work. It's bad for millions of workers, families and communities around the world.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
Skidmore
(37,364 posts)of worker compensation in industrialized nations which corporation see as a cost and not an investment. The first step toward that was to break the unions which stood in the way on issues related to compensation and workplace safety and demanded a say in trade as well.
leftyohiolib
(5,917 posts)djean111
(14,255 posts)for TPP. "Let's see if we can make this even worse!!!!".
And remember - campaign pledges are not to be taken seriously unless you are a racist hater or want a pony.
Secrecy - heh, I see that Congressional obstruction CAN be gotten around, fast tracking, secret meetings, etc. Just depends on what is wanted.
Really, the secrecy and talking of fast tracking and the exclusion of Congress from the negotiations makes the talk of not being able to accomplish things because of Congress sorta bullshit.
leftyohiolib
(5,917 posts)Last edited Fri Jun 21, 2013, 12:10 PM - Edit history (1)
campaigns.
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)djean111
(14,255 posts)leftyohiolib
(5,917 posts)We People
(619 posts)(i.e., race to the top).
Same idea as with revisiting nafta
djean111
(14,255 posts)pointless. Basically, I feel "free trade" is just another name for achieving lawlessness and subverting government.
It seems to me that, under TPP, China (for example) could sue the United States for refusing to import tainted toothpaste or pet food, because doing so affects profits.
Will foreign countries doing business in the United States feel like matching the Social Security contribution? Will a foreign-owned company feel that not being able to just dump pollutants into the ground, water, or air something that eats into profits and sue to ignore the regulations or force U.S. taxpayers to pay for that? It is quite a can of slimy worms that is being opened up here.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)We have something like a $60 Billion ag surplus, mostly with Mexico and China.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)the American public that snake oil, and my mind hasn't changed at all.
mckara
(1,708 posts)A protectionist United States no longer had competing markets because of the destruction of World War II in Europe and Asia. From that humble beginning, it has transformed into a nightmare!
ctsnowman
(1,903 posts)I never once believed that somehow people earning $1200 a year were going to buy American made goods. It was always BS.
polly7
(20,582 posts)mick063
(2,424 posts)There would not be government subsides and I'm talking about the entire world, not just the United States.
This is where politics enter. The most powerful political forces gain the most subsidies.
For me, any discussion about free trade must begin with the complete elimination of corporate welfare (including bank bailouts) at taxpayer expense. Perhaps then, I would entertain the thought........ if free trade was truly "pure".
Current "free trade" agreements are all about lowering wages, avoiding pollution laws, and avoiding worker safety laws. Pure and simple.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)That's what it's about. I'd include the obligatory "you are a racist" here, but we all know that isn't what it's about, and that isn't what the argument against TPP is about, either.
djean111
(14,255 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)And that means exploitive businesses and industires, as we can easily see.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)Nothing else matters unless we arrest this trend of labor arbitrage and rent-seeking by the plutocrats.
There's no way in hell any politician is going to win me over if he/she isn't on the right side of this: Regardless of their opinions on other issues.