[23] in peace2
Re: WTO movement and peace
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (The Macomber Family)
Mon Jan 17 08:43:37 2000
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Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 06:41:14 -0700
From: The Macomber Family <artmacom@micron.net>
Reply-To: artmacom@micron.net
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To: Karen Sachs <karens@MIT.EDU>
Cc: jennifer lewey <jlewey@brandeis.edu>, peace2@MIT.EDU
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Karen, it is clear that you have no knowledge of economics, but instead of holding
that against you, I would like to give you some simple reading. One book you would
enjoy is the "Road to Serfdom", by F.A. Hayek and another, I can't remember the
author now, is called "The Incredible Bread Machine."
Both of these books echo the basics of economics, not from the government's view or
some rich, white boy - as you so fondly call us - no matter how "Black or Hispanic
or Asian" my true experience may be, but they outline the actual goings-on of folks
who are trying to better their own lives. So, they are ground-level texts, easy to
read and fun too, regardless of someone's alleged race (as seen from the
outside...).
It is interesting to me that the people of the less-developed countries
(economically speaking, that is...) appear to want to advance economically but
don't have the financial wherewithal to jump right in at the level of the average
American, i.e., with all the worker protections, OSHA saftey regs, and minimum
wages etc that we can afford today. From my limited perspective, it would appear
that the protestors in Seattle wanted to stop third world development unless they
could force development to happen according to some quite unrealistic and costly
methods. I think the bottom line of the protests is that the protestors are
saying, "You can't have it unless you do it our way," which is incredibly
imperialistic to me. Talk about cultural hegemony!
Now, I understand that the traditional Left in America believe that "there is
enough money and resources to go around", but there is no simple way to accomplish
this allocation unless you do it at the point of a gun, like Mao, who killed
millions to get the economic structure just the way he wanted it - and China is
still trying to figure out how to remove itself from his visions with some
sembalance of "face." Besides, it should be clear by now, unless you missed the
past one hundred years, that the peaceful exercise of private property rights is
the best way to guarantee rising economic standards of living (and health too!) and
when private property is blocked, then living standards go down. I could cite
Russia as a start, with their losing ideas of collectivism, or go directly to Cuba,
which is still a relative backwater even after decades of subsidies from Russia, or
China, North Korea, or many others who frown on private property and liberty for
their citizens. Also, for environmental degradation, try Eastern Europe, China,
sub-Saharan Africa, or others areas where capitalism has been shunned for more
"enlightened" philosophies wherein the government alleges to know the best way to
manage natural resources - even tho' they have nothing to lose when they trash the
place!!
You know, the third world WANTS capitalism, because they see it works. Now, as a
codicil, I must say that I am not supporting WTO here, in fact, they are merely a
governmental club, just as unionists are, in that they are protectionists of their
interests - and want to make that into law, instead of allowing free people to
trade freely, they want trade agreements, which end up dictating how, when, where,
at what price to trade. In this I agree with you, that they are a club against the
little guy.
-Art
BTW, Sinclair and Zin are both very radical Leftists with a 1930's vision of
economic equality, Sinclair having been there and Zin being more a creature of the
Sixties, ideologically, that is. If you want to find out economies really work, at
the human level, better to read the two books I recommended above, they are more
free, but not completely free, of the ideological language and more to the point of
what real people do when they get up in the morning to handle their choices.
--------------------------------
Karen Sachs wrote:
> hi jennifer-
>
> i have no knowledge of economics, but it is clear to me that the problem with
> the wto is NOT that it attmepts globalization. it does not. it attempts to
> structure world trade in such a way that would best serve huge corporations,
> and "best serve" for them translates into no concern for worker's or
> childern's rights, no concern for the environment.
>
> this is why their agreements had to be made behind closed doors.
>
> i see it as american rich boys saying hey, why shouldn't we hook up not only
> with each other, but with all the other rich boys in the world- then we'll
> make even more millions.
>
> thw wto agreements have a "profit first" philosophy (obviously, since it's
> structured by people serving these huge corporations), and so they crush human
> and environmental rights.
>
> a different wto that adresses world trade while also addressing humanitary
> issues could be a trully wonderful and unifying thing, a true attempt at
> globalization.
>
> out of seattle comes a slightly different (though related) issue- one of
> centrallization of power and the regard for citizen's rights in america. at
> the meeting last night, the man sitting stage left (whose name i missed),
> refering to the "disappearance" of one of the speakers, said something to the
> effect of: in another country, this man's disappearance would have been for
> good.
>
> how strongly we hold to the notion of our country being inherently different
> from the others! after witnessing unprovoked officers of the law brutillizing
> unprotected people, officers who will never be brought to justice, people who
> may suffer permanent damage... can we still believe that in our country human
> rights are somehow protected?
>
> if people are arrested and beaten in the jails, and all that interests the
> government is the pr, how far away are we from "disappearances"?
>
> wake up and smell the stench of the government. as long as the masses don't
> know, they do what they choose.
>
> and where's the media in all of this? busy watching a few people break
> windows.
>
> i recently read Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle", describing the horrors of
> industrial giants' complete disregard for anything but profit, and the
> horrible resulting squalor of the workers' lives. one hundred years later, we
> feel that real progress has been made. meanwhile the industrial giants are
> there, working hard for a great leap backwards.
>
> on this optimistic note, i highly recommend to you howard zin's "a people's
> history of the US" and "you can't stay neutral on a moving train", also by zin.
>
> as long as people care and are willing to sacrifice, i believe things can
> change in the right direction.
>
> hats off to the three who came and spoke to us last night, and to all the
> thousands who were with them.
>
> karen
