Joanna
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Charles Peterson <charlesppeterson at yahoo.com>
> It is argued that we must be "free" to trade with
> anyone, and that "protectionism" is immoral. But
> should we be free to buy stolen goods from thieves?
>
> That is very much what we are doing when we buy goods
> from factories in countries where workers have no
> rights, where they are often beaten, raped and
> otherwise abused, where they are paid less than a
> subsistence wage while top managers get extremely
> rich, and where none of the bounty of their production
> comes back to their homes to make their lives better.
>
> We are also buying stolen goods when we buy from
> factories that use the air, water, and land as a toxic
> waste dump.
>
> We must set high labor and environmental standards,
> but they are meaningless if we allow other countries
> to undercut them. Current "free trade" treaties allow
> countries to sue if our laws impede the sale of their
> products, and get to have their cases decided in
> special secret courts. Thus, they promote a race to
> the bottom for labor and environmental standards. We
> must withdraw from these treaties, and promote the
> only moral alternative, which is that we will only buy
> goods made following the highest standards we can set
> for ourselves, including the basic standard that
> workers must have rights and must be paid a living
> wage.
>
> *****
>
> This letter, which I submitted to a local paper
> yesterday, was inspired by an Op-Ed in the NY Times on
> January 16th By Steven E. Landsburg entitled "What to
> Expect When You're Free Trading", which alleged that
> not only are we all better off from "Free Trade,"
> (about which I could write another essay, partly
> thanks to Doug, and also Robin Hahnel) but it's not
> even moral to worry about those "fellow citizens" who
> might get hurt. He gives a bunch of weird examples,
> including how would we feel after moving to a cheaper
> apartment, should we then compensate our old landlord.
> His examples don't seem to consider actual workers.
>
> <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05E7DF103BF935A25752C0A96E9C8B
> 63&scp=1&sq=what+expect+free>
>
> Charles Peterson
> San Antonio, TX
>
>
>
>
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