Reply #5: Support the American Worker!!!

[bvar22]

Withdraw from NAFTA.

Fair Trade NOT Free Trade!!!!

"FREE TRADE" has become a holy mantra used to END any discussion. I believe that this is a cleverly crafted "meme" that has been successfully marketed by the Corporatists using our CorpoMedia propaganda network. Even John Kerry used it to end a discussion in the Primary Debates when asked about outsourcing.

Many proponents argue that FREE TRADE is INEVITABLE. Globalization and the InterNet cannot be stopped!
This is completely BOGUS. Globalization is NOT some NEW THING that is a product of the InterNet. Globalization started when the first primitive man/woman gathered up the stone tools he/she had crafted, journeyed to the next cave, and traded them for some food. Globalization has been happening for thousands of Years and has NOTHING to do with the InterNet. The InterNet makes it possible to access information; it does NOT make it any easier or inevitable to trade goods and services. It does not even make it easier to transfer capital. Wire Transfers have been around for longer than 1/2 century.


The stated GOAL of the FREE TRADERS is to "Remove the Barriers to Trade!" What they fail to mention is that those "Barriers to Trade" were in EVERY case put there for a reason, and that reason is ALWAYS to protect something worthwhile. What the FREE TRADERS really want to do is remove ANY obstacle limiting the ability of their Corporation to increase PROFITS for the owners by any means possible.

The FREE TRADERS are always quick to brand someone a "PROTECTIONIST" if they dare to question the sacred IDOL of Free Trade. Some things are WORTH protecting. PROTECTIONISM is NOT necessarily a bad thing especially when protecting one's family, protecting the ability to earn a decent living for LARGE segments of a nations Workers, protecting the Environment, protecting the cultural assets of a civilization, or protecting a nations natural resources from predatory Corporations!!!

In those respects, I AM A PROUD PROTECTIONIST, and it is time to debunk the myths, broken promises, and outright LIES being marketed by the "FREE TRADE for EVERYONE" salesmen!




For healthy Corporations to exist within our communities, they NEED regulation and public accountability. Since corporations are paper creations that have no soul, they must be forced to do certain things.

*Corporations must be forced to be environmentally responsible.

*Corporations must be forced to pay fair, living wages.

*Corporations must be forced to provide Health and Retirement benefits to their workers and the families of their workers.

*Corporations must be forced to allow LABOR collectives.

*Corporations must be forced to provide a Safe and Healthy Working Environment.

*Corporations must be forced to pay fair compensation to those it harms.

*Corporations must be forced to observe fair hiring and labor practices.

*Corporations (especially those that use the natural resources of a nation) must be forced to dedicate a percentage of their profits to Humanitarian and Community benefits (Healthcare, Education, and infrastructure).

*Corporations must be forced to observe FAIR TRADE and PRICING practices.


The reason that Corporations must be forced to do the above things is that NO Corporation will do them on their own. And that is OK and as it should be AS LONG AS there is an effective regulating agency that ensures FAIR competition and a LEVEL playing field. Without that regulation, it is a race to the bottom. The most cold-blooded sociopath WINS. There is plenty of evidence available about the effects of unrestrained Corporatism:

US History 1870-1929 (Some regulation was applied by T Roosevelt in the early 1900s)

The deregulated Savings and Loan Market of the 1980’s

The deregulated Energy Market in the Western US in 2001

The Mexican NAFTA disaster
http://www.aflcio.org/issuespolitics/globaleconomy/ns04192001.cfm

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/05/04/28_cafta.html

http://bernie.house.gov/documents/opeds/20040127181128.asp

http://www.heureka.clara.net/gaia/nafta.htm

I AM A PROUD PROTECTIONIST, and it is time to debunk the myths, broken promises, and outright LIES being marketed by the "FREE TRADE for EVERYONE" salesmen!