Reply #66: Well, fine.

[Lasher]

I was just finishing up a profound reply when the electricity went off. Fine. I'll start over.

As I was saying, I agree that corporations benefit most from 'free' trade. I'm just saying that sometimes, some individuals do benefit also.

South Korea is better off than it was in 1970 when I was there. It was then that I learned what I had never before seen real poverty. Not very objective, I know, but their GDP gains since that time indicate an improvement in the job market. The average worker there has benefitted from international trade. Heck, they even have labor unions now. That's good. But I worry that those jobs will now be shipped out to other nations, on account of corporate fear of having to someday actually pay a decent living wage.

But consider China and India. If you're one of the workers there who now has a good-paying job (by their standards), you gotta love 'free' trade.

All I'm saying is, some average workers do actually benefit. Some don't benefit, and some such as a portion of those in already industrialized nations, are disadvantaged. And there's a lot of Mexicans who are now disillusioned by the 'musical chairs' game of outsourcing.

This is a strange conversation. I can't believe I'm defending 'free' trade.