"Free Trade" Was Never Really About Trade

[xchrom]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/06/20-10


We 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]

1. How much of that trade deficit is oil, purchased from Mexico and Canada?...nt

Sid

[Skidmore]

2. You are spot on. It was about bursting the "bubble "

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]

3. yep i thought one of potus' campaign pledges was to revisit nafta -

[djean111]

5. Yeah, well, TPP is NAFTA on steroids, so maybe NAFTA just provided a starting point

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]

7. "campaign pledges are not to be taken seriously" i take them seriously. it's not ok to lie to me in

Last edited Fri Jun 21, 2013, 12:10 PM - Edit history (1)

campaigns.

[L0oniX]

9. This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[djean111]

16. Evidently I needed the sarcasm tag........

[leftyohiolib]

19. my apologies to you - sorry didnt realize it was sacasm

[We People]

22. In '08 also pledging to rid us of no child left behind, instead replacing it with worse policy

(i.e., race to the top).
Same idea as with revisiting nafta

[djean111]

4. Yep. "Free trade" is about paying workers less and about making any sort of regulation

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]

6. On the other hand, American agriculture absolutely loves NAFTA

We have something like a $60 Billion ag surplus, mostly with Mexico and China.

[marmar]

8. K&R

[closeupready]

10. Correct. I knew it then, when the Clinton administration tried selling

the American public that snake oil, and my mind hasn't changed at all.

[mckara]

11. Free Trade was a Policy Developed at Bretton Woods in 1947

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]

12. K & R

I never once believed that somehow people earning $1200 a year were going to buy American made goods. It was always BS.

[polly7]

13. I've said that right from the start. K&R. nt.

[mick063]

14. If there was true free trade.

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]

15. It's about Oligarchy

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]

17. If/when Obama fast tracks it and signs it, trust me - to be against it will be deemed racist.

[bemildred]

18. "Free Trade" == "No regulation", is what it means.

And that means exploitive businesses and industires, as we can easily see.

[reformist2]

20. I'm not for free trade, if it hurts Americans. Charity begins at home.

[Populist_Prole]

21. Was, is, THE most important issue facing us

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.

[HiPointDem]

23. kr