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13
Orthodox Anarchist on CAFTA and B’nai B’rith
July 13, 2005 |
This bugs me. This really and truly bugs me. I read this guy’s blog every day and usually I respect his political and religious views. And I admire his activism and his passion for judaism. But he writes a condemnation of B’nai B’rith’s support for CAFTA and it bugs me.
What is CAFTA? Well you can follow that link and find out what the proponents of CAFTA say it is or you can follow this link and see how its opponents describe it.
I defy you to tell me after following those links whether or not you can say with reasonable certainty that CAFTA is a good thing or a bad thing. I issue a challenge to anyone who claims that without a PhD in economics you can be reasonably certain that the effects of CAFTA and other trade agreements like NAFTA, will be disastrous to the economy and to the people of the world. At the very least you need to do a heck of a lot of reading to even get a basic foundation for an appreciation of how monumental the task is of understanding the long-range effects of free trade.
So why am I annoyed? I’m annoyed because there seem to be so many people who are smarter than me. There are so many people who feel comfortable screaming that CAFTA is the best thing to happen to the US economy since the US entered WWII. There are probably an even number of people, possibly even more, who are comfortable being decisively and vociferously opposed to free trade policies in general and CAFTA in particular. I must be a moron. Because I am reading a lot of sources about free trade. I’m trying to get a broad picture. Trying to assimilate the data and learn from people who spend their lives devoted to studying economics and social policy. Trying desperately to synthesize wildly disparate opinions and my own feelings to come up with a position that is logical as well as morally justifiable. And I can’t do it. I can’t tell you yet that I am totally opposed to free trade. And I definitely can’t tell you that I think it is a great idea. The point is, I am very uncomfortable telling you anything about free trade other than that I am trying to understand it. Yet here are all these people, the Orthodox Anarchist included, who are perfectly comfortable, not only voicing his own opinion on the matter, but telling other people that their opinions are wrong.
OA, the sites about CAFTA to which you direct B’nai B’rith are written by people with an open political agenda. They are activists, like yourself, who are not necessarily as fluent with economic theory as they are with political rhetoric. I don’t suggest that you are not entitled to form an opinion for yourself on insufficient data. That is your right. And it is beyond my ability at this point to even consider what sufficient data would be. However, I will say that it is incredible to me that you feel comfortable asserting your opinion in this matter even to the extent that you chastise those that disagree with you.
Maybe I am right and I am a moron. But perhaps it takes some measure of intelligence to know that I am and not pass myself off as a genius to others.
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Josh…
Why don’t you read about the World Bank & The IMFs policies in Argentina and Jamaica and get back to me. Check out the films “Life & Debt” and “The Yes Men.”
Free Trade means only one thing: Corporations run wild. That could be good for the economy because it stimulates growth. But it stimulates growth most often in the private, offshore accounts of CEOs than it does in the pockets of those who are being exploited for their labor.
As far as I’m concerned, that’s all I need to know to be convinced that these policies are unjust and unfair (let alone the fact that such policies are enacted and adopted by CEOs and political leaders in secret boardroom meetings held in remote locations to prevent the public’s participation). And if you tell me I need to be an economic whiz to understand what is just, I can only respond that fucking dollar signs blind you to what is ultimately more valuable in this world.
But clearly, I’m just cocksure and arrogant in my ignorance.
Sigh.
Wow, Dan, I think you’re the first person who actually read my blog. I guess I should mention you more often, maybe I’ll get some hits.
The truth is, I respect your passion, Dan, I really do, but do you think that it might be unreasonable to believe that the information that is presented to us by people with an agenda, such as the makers of the documentaries you mentioned, might not be the most accurate or unbiased sources of information available? I’m not saying what they show isn’t real, I’m saying there might be a bigger picture.
Furthermore, though you don’t know me, I will tell you that I am not a fan of big corportations at all (though, sadly, I do tend to end up working for them.) I am thoroughly fed up with the concentration of wealth in the US and around the world and I am very fearful of the future and what it will bring. However, though free trade may impoverish the small farmer, the local craftsman, or the small business owner in Jamaica, it also creates global competition which allows both you and I to buy a laptop that costs less than $100k. How much does your DJ equipment cost, Dan? Do you think you could afford it if the manufacturers were not able to assemble it in China or Korea for cheap labor? Does that make it morally justifiable that those same corporations are paying those Chinese and Korean workers pennies a day? I don’t think so, but the point is, you bought the equipment. I’m not suggesting that cheap technology justifies the economic enslavement of Third World countries, I’m saying the picture is not black and white.
CAFTA and other free trade agreements may or may not increase the potential for tighter concentration of wealth in the upper class, but they also allow US companies to export cheaper technology, cheaper medicine, and cheaper manufacturing equipment to countries who would otherwise not have access to it.
I guess what I’m trying to say, and what prompted me to comment, was that I am just surprised that it is so easy for you to pick sides on what seems to me to be such a complicated issue. And maybe it wasn’t clear in my post, but I am not necessarily disagreeing with you. What surprised me was that you are so sure that your opinion is the right one that you condemn others that don’t share it. Expressing your opinions is noble and your birthright as a thinking being. Debating, arguing, investigating, and challenging thoughts and ideas is your birthright as a Jew. But you were not debating. You were criticisizing. You were not challenging with facts and data, you were scolding those who disagree with you for doing so.
I am not blinded by “fucking dollar signs”. On the contrary, my eyes are wide open to the fact that the world is not black and white, though sometimes I wish it were. I do not believe you are “cocksure and arrogant in your ignorance.” Quite the opposite. I admire your intellect, which is why I read your blog. I respect your aspirations for Judaism and your passion for self-discovery and helping your community. But on this issue, though I intend to try to find those movies, I do not believe that watching sentimental or satirical documentaries gives one enough information to form an educated opinion.
i am an anarchist and an anti-capitalist. when you come to me with statements like this:
“How much does your DJ equipment cost, Dan? Do you think you could afford it if the manufacturers were not able to assemble it in China or Korea for cheap labor? Does that make it morally justifiable that those same corporations are paying those Chinese and Korean workers pennies a day? I don’t think so, but the point is, you bought the equipment. I’m not suggesting that cheap technology justifies the economic enslavement of Third World countries, I’m saying the picture is not black and white.
“CAFTA and other free trade agreements may or may not increase the potential for tighter concentration of wealth in the upper class, but they also allow US companies to export cheaper technology, cheaper medicine, and cheaper manufacturing equipment to countries who would otherwise not have access to it.”
…I am quite the opposite of impressed or ever partially moved. I personally will NOT knowingly buy any product made in countries where labor is exploited. I can not account for every chip inside every piece of electronic equipment, but I know that I’ll buy equipment made in Europe or Japan before I buy equipment made in China or Mexico. I also try to buy equipment used so that I can decrease the demand for further manufacturing.
In addition, prices are not set by manufacturing costs, prices are set by the value consumers place on products. That is why a pair of sneakers which cost $1 to make sell for $85.
A laptop shouldn’t cost what it costs, even if those manufacturing the equipment were paid reasonable salaries with health coverage. That is why corporations boast multi-million and multi-billion dollar profit margins. Because they’re selling us lead for the price of silver.
and as your point to waging my criticism towards bnai brith in a vaccuum absent of debate: we’ve been having the debate since seattle… and the experiences of the countries whose economies free tade policies have affected have proven who is right.
free trade is not interested in creating a healthy global economy. it is interested in making the rich richer at everyone’s expense but their own.