globalization

[Teufelsdröcke]

A social contract is different than a bill of exchange. The pro-global
capitalists here are ignoring this. Trade and financing are not going
away and indeed nobody here is saying that they should. But benefits
from such a dynamic economic system come only when predation and
speculation are tempered by government's commitment to the popular
welfare. The USA would not have had to "heroically" bail out so many
banks and investment funds if its government had done a proper job of
regulation. The idea that the market is self-regulating and that only
good flows from its activities is foolish. The regulatory boards and
arbitration courts created by treaties such as NAFTA, GATT, and FTAA are
equivalent to replacing OSHA and the EPA with the National Association
of Manufacturers. However many jobs and technologies they create,
however much their installations may vitalize communities here and
globally, their fundamental ("bottom-line") interest is quarterly
profit. It wasn't some share-the-wealth instinct of corporations that
got us the 8-hour work day, vacations (a mere 2 weeks in the USA), sick
time, and pensions. It wasn't some natural concern for its "family" of
workers that made them invest in worker health and safety. It's not
their vaunted "belonging to the community" that made them reduce toxic
waste. Only committed activism and protest changed things so much that
some people now think corporations are really groovy. And only strong
government regulation keeps (kept) the changes in force. Treaties such
as NAFTA, GATT, and FTAA are created to protect industry and bankers
from such distractions of democracy and government.

--
Diogenes T.