Democrats Reject Platform Proposal Opposing Trade Deal

[OrwellwasRight]

120. You're hilarious with your planned obsolence.

I have and use a blender form the 1970s. Made in America. I have and wear jackets that belonged to my grandmother in the 1940s. Made in America. My made in China computers and cell phones and coffee pots last 2 years if I am lucky. Made in China t-shirts last a few washes before the colors fade.

And there is more to the economy than low prices. If your wages are higher, you don't need discounts so badly. I hope you are proud of your $13 shoes, probably sewn by a child laborer, or a forced laborer, or, if made in Vietnam, a forced child laborer, because yes, the Department of Labor says that Vietnam engages in forced child labor. That's who the TPP puts us in bed with. Permanently.

No one has a right to exploit others just because they want cheap shoes.

This fairytale that somehow reinforcing the same race to the bottom trade rules will someday eventually result in high wages for all even though they set up incentives for countries to keep wages and taxes and regulations low and returns to capital high has no basis in fact. Wages do not rise by magic. They only rise when workers get the power and leverage to drive wages up. The TPP and similar agreements put the power out of workers' hands because there is always somebody somewhere else willing to work for less. Capital is global, but workers don't have global rights and the TPP expands the rights of capital (through ISDS and other tools) without expanding the rights of workers (except in the most superficial way).

But, sure, yay $13 shoes!