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Forum Post: Do you want Free International Trade?

Posted 7 years ago on Sept. 3, 2016, 12:08 a.m. EST by gonzo1 (66)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

I think that the international trade is necessary to a certain extent. Importing rare earths and out-of-season fruits and vegetables and other things your country might be missing is beneficial.

But importing goods produced by the slaves in Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, Thailand, etc is not only immoral, but it is also hurting our economy. I live in Spain and a lot of the industry is gone because the jobs moved to the poor countries. The developing countries just need to do land reforms and to reduce corruption in order to create enough jobs - I don't believe that the European workers should go unemployed in order to create jobs in Bangladesh or into another poor country.

I recently noticed that the USA is in fact the most protectionist country in the world (although that protectionism includes protection against internal competition too, not only import restrictions).

I agree with the Free Fair International Trade and I do not agree with the Free International Trade with the slave owners.

I think the West should stop importing goods produced by exploited people anywhere, or at least to reduce it to the minimum. That would bring a lot of jobs back in our countries. If you agree, then how about signing petitions to stop the unfair free trade?

As a side notice, I would like to ask the web admins to add a Login option on the front page. I had to waste some 15 minutes in order to find how to login (by clicking the "Comments" link)

7 Comments

7 Comments


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[-] 1 points by ImNotMe (1488) 7 years ago

''Why New Silk Roads Terrify Washington'', by Pepe Escobar:

multum in parvo ...

[-] 1 points by ImNotMe (1488) 7 years ago

''The idea behind free trade was to protect the poor against the rich. Yet neoliberalism and the monopolies it has encouraged have led to the opposite being achieved!"

fiat lux ...

[-] 1 points by elf3 (4203) 7 years ago

In a world where we can no longer claim ignorance...images of slavery a click away I can't fathom why...google conditions for girls who work in chinese toy factories...or you tube the film santas workshop...and you will see slavery is over...if you want it

[-] 1 points by grapes (5232) 7 years ago

People's and their children's lungs should no longer be used as air filters for neoliberal profiteers. Only countries similar in economic, environmental, labor, and demographic constitutions should enter into more laissez-faire trade pacts.

The U.S. has tried breaking into the markets of Japan and China for many decades. The balance of trade shows that these efforts are failures. The U.S. must simply prune away all countries which play foul. If tariffs can do it, so be it. The U.S. economy is dependent neither on Japan nor China. These countries don't speak English, rig their laws, have arcane customs/traditions/superstitions, and are either very insular and hierarchical or nationalistic and parochial immature cultures. The U.S. should just cut them off until they grow up.

The U.S. Navy can still play rubber duckies with Hongkong, Singapore, and Taiwan. Hongkong is probably the most strategic for pinning down China's military forces on the base on Hainan Island.

[-] 1 points by grapes (5232) 7 years ago

There was never such a thing as free trade. All trades require some protocols, agreements, trust, enforcement mechanisms, etc. The evil neoliberals use the term "free trade" for luring people to support the moneyed interests to the detriment of the workers worldwide.

I see economy in ecological terms. I hate invasive species when the natives were overwhelmed. If we use poisons on invasive species, we should use the same on multinational invasive species.

China uses state investment laws, state subsidies, currency manipulations, cyberattacks, thefts of intellectual properties, etc. to lie for, cheat for, steal, and rob jobs from the U.S. They undersell other competitors here virtually cutting off the whole category. I couldn't even buy the more expensive but far more long-enduring parts made by the others because the retailers only carry "Made in China" craps that I had to replace repeatedly. It's very annoying. That's why I support a 45% tariff on all China's products immediately to treat the toxic algal bloom.

Then there were the freaking helplines staffed with foreigners who spate Eengulisch dis weeel. After resorting to spelling words, it finally dawned on me that it's better to search on the internet than waiting twenty minutes for the stupid humiliation (such as "press '1' for English" - when did the U.S. start not having English as the default language?). I had several rechargeable phone handsets' batteries killed by these long elevator-moosick blasting in my ears sessions ("We value your business - please stay on the line, a representative will be with you shortly." - If you value my business, respond like you do, not as a damned cyborg!).

Then there are the H1B visas which allowed importation of Chinese and Indians to take over jobs in the techier sectors. Some companies use them for circulating overseas cheap workers to boost profits. The H1Bs' younger children were sometimes living in poor conditions here in the U.S. because the corporate masters paid their parents less knowing that they had nowhere else to go. This is slavery in our midst. I thought that we had already fought over this in our American Civil War in 1860-1865 in the bloodiest (per population) war in our history. This pisses me off.

It feels like political profiteering corporatism's vampire bit me again.

[-] 1 points by gonzo1 (66) 7 years ago

Great replies grapes, thanks for those! I think it's a good idea to sign petitions on sites like Avaaz.org in order to implement protectionist laws and to bring back the jobs in our countries. I am planning to visit some workers unions and political parties in the next weeks, to ask them if they would like to participate with such a petition. Do you have any idea how can we gather more people (from OWS and elsewhere) to support this?

[-] 1 points by grapes (5232) 7 years ago

Here's a very important reason why rampant globalization is for idiots: http://occupywallst.org/forum/pan-antibiotic-bacteria-arriving-in-us-with-global/

I DON'T want the bad germs going worldwide knowing how many of my next-of-kin and siblings had died (and also nearly died) of contagious diseases(likely from stupid wars' conditions and/or their evil intentions). World wars became possible through globalization. As a part of the Faustian pact, globalization exacted a terrible toll.

Although I, being the joy of yet another and the last family reunion and very youngest one of all, had never experienced the scourges myself(yes, I lived in squalid conditions with cholera close by but my Mom had already learnt quite a bit about hygienic practices due to the terrible history of contagious disease deaths in our family and next-of-kin; the government also decided to help clamp down hard on unsanitary conditions and practices so I probably lucked out), I did know that my Mom grieved for her lost children(and my would-have-been siblings).

Mom sometimes talked to me of the 90%+ death rate of my Dad's elder siblings. When my paternal grandparents were so overwhelmed by war and disease, they had to send my Dad, the youngest child, far away as the baby to be wet-nursed(my steelily loving Grandma's decision[she more than once made the ones dearest to her leave her behind so they might live; she was absolutely a heroine well matched to blunting the sharp blows of those awful times of wars, blockades, diseases, revolutions, and man-made hoarding famines] saved the eventual primogeniture lineage for our clan's remnant of grace[the last shall be first; for God took away as His own, all other blessed children of the firstborn]) so that they could attend to (and then bury almost all of) their children there. It was traumatic.