I hesitate to post this because it carries us farther off-topic, but I'm weak-willed and can't resist. Sorry. Tony Blizzard [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] writes: >The biggest flaw in Pete Farmer's thinking is that we need other >nations' trade in the same way they need ours. This isn't faulty thinking, it's an axiom. Trade, by definition, is an *exchange* between two or more parties. It takes place *if and only if* both parties consent. If both parties consent, then they're saying that they each need each other equally. I didn't notice anyone holding a gun to my head when I bought my shirt, which was made in Bangladesh. I bought it because I needed it. The proof that I needed it is that I was willing to fork over greenbacks for it. One can quibble with this, of course, and say that the "playing field isn't fair" and that I really didn't "need" to buy a Bangladesh-made shirt. OK, I'll grant that. As one of the wealthiest nations on earth, we're in a bit of a different position than Bangladesh. If we all "look for the union label" when buying clothing, we all pay a bit more, but what the heck -- we're rich and can afford it. The effects are a bit more severe on the laid-off Bangladesh worker living in a rusty corregated steel shack with no indoor plumbing, unable to feed his or her children, but at least we can feel proud for "buying American," right? >All we really need is >our own market, the one than all the rest of the world covets and has >been getting access to free of charge. All we need is our own market? Really? Tell that to the workers in Seattle at Boeing or Microsoft, or to the folks at Cisco, or to people in LA in the film industry. Over the past 20 years, US exports have grown 1.5 times faster than the economy as a whole. You could look it up. >If the products in American stores were made in America, as >they were when we were the ideal of the world and its strongest >economy, the rest of the nations would follow any regulations >we set up and be damned glad for any chunk of the U.S. market >they could access. If the goods in services in America were all made in America, where would the people in Europe, Japan, or China get the dollars to buy anything from us? On a different note, I personally don't think it's *right* for us to unilaterally impose our conditions on other countries. I think that it's only fair that this be something that is negotiated, rather than imposed. Pete ___________________________________________________ Peter J. Farmer -- Director, Optical Communications Strategies Unlimited http://www.strategies-u.com Mountain View, CA +1 650 941-3438 (voice) +1 650 941 5120 (fax)
