X-Envelope-From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-Envelope-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Hi All: There seems to be considerable interest in the above subject. I don't usually like to post fw'ds, but Prof John McMurtry of Guelph U. is opposed to the corporate gobalization and makes some telling arguments. Anyone interested, let me know privately, If there are more than 5 requests, I'll post it. It's called "The FTAA and the WTO: The Global Meta-Program for Global Corporate Rule" It's a lot more than opinion and makes 15 points. Regards Ed G X-Authentication-Warning: scribe.uwaterloo.ca: majordomo set sender to owner- Ed Weick doubted: > > > Really ironic as the FTAA is all about the abolition of democracy. > > (Corporations can sue countries if the latter dare to put enviro/social > > regulations in their way.) > > NAFTA has been in effect since 1994, and I for one don't feel that the > democracy I live in now is very different from the democracy I lived in > prior to NAFTA. It's about the same, good in many respects, bad in some > others, awful in the case of some. I would suspect the impact of the FTAA > will be similar. The NAFTA was only the beginning, and other Canadians don't feel like you (but then, they don't have the Mounties' spokesman among their buddies), and the FTAA will be worse. I'm sorry Ed, but your statement is just na�ve. > > > Providing more jobs at home could also stem the brain-drain which > > > Jamaica and other Caribbean countries are experiencing. > > > > On the contrary, the FTAA would make the poor countries' economy pretty > > flat. > > I really don't follow the logic here. [...] These places can't be more flat > than they are now. Ask some Mexican farmers or Canadian activists and you'll see that this is plain wrong. Btw, your comparison to Ireland is flawed, because Ireland received (and still receives) big subsidies from the EU: Ireland is by far the largest net recipient of EU subsidies per capita [except the tiny Luxembourg], $770/capita in 1997. You don't expect that in FTAA, the U$ will subsidize the Caribbean countries like that (or at all), do you ? On the contrary, the big corporations will suck them empty. > > Just wait until the EU-extension to Eastern Europe (and later possibly > > to North Africa). With this, the EU will have the "cheapo backyard" just > > like the U$ has in South America -- even closer... > > I don't think so. The EU is a pretty exclusive club. The kinds of things a > country has to do to become part of it are pretty rigorous. I'm not fully > current on the situation, but I believe that Poland and Hungary have had to > jump through some tough hoops to be considered for membership. The "exclusive club" is more PR-hype than reality. (For instance, the EU plays the Big Greenie, but the EU's capital Brussels doesn't even have a sewage plant -- their crap and chemicals get pumped directly into the sea! I'm sure Poland and Hungary etc. can align with this just fine. ;-} Austria, Sweden and Finland had to kiss goodbye various environmental regulations when they joined the EU in 1995 -- for EU free trade!) Already now, the EU has different "speeds" -- e.g. not all EU countries join(ed) the Schengen space (without border checks) or the Euro currency. Contrary to the EU PR, this is not just a temporary transition-situation, but will stay or even get worse with further EU expansions. Regarding the EU expansion to the Eastern colonies: Greed will prevail. Of course it will be desastrous for both the poor, farmers and taxpayers (i.e. for the majority), bad for social cohesion/justice/stability and good for organized crime and other neoliberals, but the apparatchiks in Brussels and their corporate masters could care less about the former majority. The keywords are "fait accompli" and "salami tactics". As the prime minister of Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Juncker once described it with unusual frankness (in 1999): "We decide something, then wait a while what happens. If there's no big turmoil or rioting, because most people don't understand what was decided anyway, then we continue -- step by step, until there's no return." Btw, I think Keith's forecast of a quick and painless demise of the EU is way too optimistic. A long and painful Yugoslavian-style breakup (probably *after* the enlargement to the East) seems much more likely. :-( --- REH asked: > (Or is this just the old tendency that we used to notice in college about > the British proclivity for denying the existance of any point of view other > than their own. KH replied: > Tut, tut . . . I think all nationalities think like that. Yeah right, it is pure coincidence that English is now world language ! Chris
