look out side your world
I think I've come to a realization. Every time I think "Oh hey, Heinlein had a point" about something that shows up in one of my text books, there is a problem.
Not with Heinlein, though gods knows I don't agree with him on as much as people seem to think I do, no. The problem is with whatever new horror I'm reading in my book.
Yeah, I'm pissed again. This time at something I found in my anthropology text book. Appropriately, its in the chapter on politics.
Apparently, the World Trade Organization is a good thing. At least, that's what everyone (but my text book) keep on saying. Free Trade is a good thing, right? Well...no. 'Fair' Trade doesn't work all that well either. (Trust me, I got an A+ on that report.) But the World Trade Organization exists to stop obstacles to fair trade, no matter what. European Union doesn't want to buy force-feed hormonal beef? To bad! Its illegal for them to keep it off the shelves in their. own. countries. To quote: "The U.S. challenged this ban, and the WTO ruled against the EU, saying that a country cannot ban the import of a food as a precautionary health reason." The EU wasn't even saying " it's unethical and we don't like it". No. "We're not sure how healthy it is, so we're going to not buy it." But that's illegal.
'Course this doesn't just apply to 'bad guys' like the EU. The Clean Air Act had to be amended because it was to harsh on the oil companies. Thanks, WTO. Guatemala dropped charges when the WTO got involved in their complaint - even though they were protesting the fact that commercials were broad casting the fact that baby formula is better than mothers milk (which is a down right lie to people who can't afford either.)
Capitalism is great. Capitalism is wonderful.
A world where giant corporations get to run around the world stomping on governments attempts to escape their clutches is not wonderful. Guess what? There are other things that are a hindrance to fair trade. Things more important than the environment and whether third world countries have the right to truthful advertising.
You know what else is a hindrance to the glorious march of monopoly capitalism? Labor Unions. Child welfare laws. Minimum Wage. All those things that you as a citizen of our country. Things that mean that your rights as a human being aren't trampled on every time some faceless cooperation owner want to make another three pennies on a product.
How many of us want to go back to the industrial revolution? Do you want to see your children working in sweatshops? How 'bout working four only four bucks an hour and be expected to live off of it? Guess what? We do that to billions of other people.
But the WTO doesn't protect their rights. It only protects the 'rights' of companies and countries who are big enough to get people put on the WTO. None of its decisions can be appealed. Their meetings are held in secret.
But beyond that, the WTO does nothing more than work in the economic sphere. To make a country like ours, there have to be things like rights of citizens. I'd like to think labor unions and the protection of the environment are necessary as well. But, no matter how much change we give the WTO, it will never be able to regulate that. Yet those regulations must go hand in hand with the sweeping economic changes that 'westernization' and 'globalization' thrust upon other countries.
I, for one, am not willing to sacrifice the lives, resources, and culture of countries who are different than us. Perhaps the WTO should either open its eyes or stop playing God. Does Free Trade even make any thing better? Or Different?
Not with Heinlein, though gods knows I don't agree with him on as much as people seem to think I do, no. The problem is with whatever new horror I'm reading in my book.
Yeah, I'm pissed again. This time at something I found in my anthropology text book. Appropriately, its in the chapter on politics.
Apparently, the World Trade Organization is a good thing. At least, that's what everyone (but my text book) keep on saying. Free Trade is a good thing, right? Well...no. 'Fair' Trade doesn't work all that well either. (Trust me, I got an A+ on that report.) But the World Trade Organization exists to stop obstacles to fair trade, no matter what. European Union doesn't want to buy force-feed hormonal beef? To bad! Its illegal for them to keep it off the shelves in their. own. countries. To quote: "The U.S. challenged this ban, and the WTO ruled against the EU, saying that a country cannot ban the import of a food as a precautionary health reason." The EU wasn't even saying " it's unethical and we don't like it". No. "We're not sure how healthy it is, so we're going to not buy it." But that's illegal.
'Course this doesn't just apply to 'bad guys' like the EU. The Clean Air Act had to be amended because it was to harsh on the oil companies. Thanks, WTO. Guatemala dropped charges when the WTO got involved in their complaint - even though they were protesting the fact that commercials were broad casting the fact that baby formula is better than mothers milk (which is a down right lie to people who can't afford either.)
Capitalism is great. Capitalism is wonderful.
A world where giant corporations get to run around the world stomping on governments attempts to escape their clutches is not wonderful. Guess what? There are other things that are a hindrance to fair trade. Things more important than the environment and whether third world countries have the right to truthful advertising.
You know what else is a hindrance to the glorious march of monopoly capitalism? Labor Unions. Child welfare laws. Minimum Wage. All those things that you as a citizen of our country. Things that mean that your rights as a human being aren't trampled on every time some faceless cooperation owner want to make another three pennies on a product.
How many of us want to go back to the industrial revolution? Do you want to see your children working in sweatshops? How 'bout working four only four bucks an hour and be expected to live off of it? Guess what? We do that to billions of other people.
But the WTO doesn't protect their rights. It only protects the 'rights' of companies and countries who are big enough to get people put on the WTO. None of its decisions can be appealed. Their meetings are held in secret.
But beyond that, the WTO does nothing more than work in the economic sphere. To make a country like ours, there have to be things like rights of citizens. I'd like to think labor unions and the protection of the environment are necessary as well. But, no matter how much change we give the WTO, it will never be able to regulate that. Yet those regulations must go hand in hand with the sweeping economic changes that 'westernization' and 'globalization' thrust upon other countries.
I, for one, am not willing to sacrifice the lives, resources, and culture of countries who are different than us. Perhaps the WTO should either open its eyes or stop playing God. Does Free Trade even make any thing better? Or Different?