[lit-ideas] WTO and War, was "The SCUD in a Box Scenario"

I read your polemic, Andreas, with interest.  

 

I've been aware of the WTO since it was formed in 1995 during the Clinton
Administration.  It attempts to promote trade.  It attempts to lower trade
barriers.  It attempts to settles trade disputes.  But the WTO hasn't a
military; so of course it can't enforce its decisions; which it has a lot of
trouble arriving at.  Just like the U.N. it depends upon the cooperation of
the member states.   The WTO can't make members comply; however, each time
I've read about a WTO agreement, I've agreed with it.  I'm not one who
thinks we need trade barriers to protect our economy.  

 

But note the subject of this train: the threat of a nuclear attack by Iran
and/or Al Queada; neither of which is in the WTO.  Can the WTO stop Iran
from giving a nuclear weapon to Al Quaeda?  Even if Iran were in the WTO,
and Iran has submitted an application, the WTO couldn't do anything about
their nuclear ambitions or their support of terrorist organizations.  

 

Your polemic, unfortunately, was short on evidence.  I did a Google search
on the WTO and looked for some support for your views, but couldn't find
any. I did find the following article which mentions 30 nations seeking
membership in the WTO:
http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news05_e/acc_iran_sao_may05_e.htm 

 

Here is an article critical of the WTO, calling it to account for matters it
wasn't intended to pursue, but notice its lack of control over or interest
in military issues: http://www.ratical.org/co-globalize/WTOandWar.html 

 

Here is a poll indicating what Americans think of the WTO.  A majority favor
the WTO.  Critics think the WTO should be more concerned about the impact of
its decisions on the nations and not just upon business.
http://americans-world.org/digest/global_issues/intertrade/wto.cfm 

 

Lawrence

 

-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Andreas Ramos
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2006 11:43 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: The SCUD in a Box Scenario

 

> I don't understand your comment.  Local politics?  Do you mean U.S.
politics?  Are you 

> saying U.S. Politics do not matter?  I'm assuming you have some evidence
for your 

> assertions, and I'd like to see the evidence.

 

Ever heard of the WTO?

 

When Bush pounded on his pulpit and said he would never let no stinking
European decide US 

policy, well, he was just talking to the little people. Because he knows
perfectly well that 

the USA signed the WTO, he supports the WTO, the GOP strongly supports the
WTO, and his 

donors are very strongly (that's Very Strongly) in favor of the WTO.

 

Check out the WTO. Read those tedious little clauses. Congress can pass all
the laws it 

likes, but if a Made-in-America All-American law gets in the way of a
company in Malaysia or 

(Goddess forbid!) France, that foreign company simply files with the WTO
court. Bingo, the 

American law is cancelled, deleted, made inoperative, gone, nullified.

 

The law-making power of the US Congress is under the WTO. The US gave up its
sovereignty to 

the WTO.

 

That, of course, will come as a surprise to many Americans. Especially after
all the 

assurances of Mr. Bush. But it's true. And it works. Bush tried to secure
votes in Ohio by 

passing a special tariff on steel (increase the tax on imported steel, thus
making US steel 

cheaper, thus securing jobs for Americans). But the WTO overrode his tariff.
Cancelled, 

deleted, etc, so forth, and so on.

 

All those NeoCon books never told you this, did they? All those books that
talk stirringly 

about the upcoming Clash of Nations; they don't quite mention this, do they?

 

Look, globalization is way bigger than any country, even the USA or even
China. It's the 

whole planet. Why, even the Chinese (that's the ChiComs, Eric) want to join
the WTO and 

cancel their own sovereignty. What use is a red flag? They know where the
butter is on the 

bread; get in the WTO and you're part of the global economy. Big Bucks. Any
rinky-dink 

dictator tries to block your products from making a fair and honest profit,
well, the WTO's 

judges will take care of that.

 

But there's much more to this than the WTO. Globalization as an economic
infrastructure 

means that economic interests are globalized, i.e., not local. An investor
in Bombay has his 

lousy $600 million in an investment fund in Berlin, which puts part of it
into a company in 

Silicon Valley, which partners with a company in Beijing to work on a
project in London. The 

team meets on a conference call every Monday at 9p California time / 10:30a
Bangalore time. 

Now, Lawrence, think about this: what is their group identity? Are they
citizens of their 

respective states and cities? The fellow from Malaysia who lives in Bombay?
Is he a 

Bombayian? The Chilean who lives in Berlin? Is she a jelly donut? Are they
"local citizens 

of their local cities"?

 

Or are they part of a group that is working together on a project, and they
all know each 

other by first names, and none of them are speaking their first language?

 

Oh, yes, those who are underemployed, unemployed, and so on, yes, they
indeed often see 

themselves as a citizen of Alabama or Detroit and so on, because their local
identity is 

defined by economics, and for them, their economics is local economics. They
work in a donut 

shop on 3rd Street, they hang out in a 7-11 on MLK Drive.

 

Global identities exist for precisely the same reason that local identities
exist: it's 

economics. If the economics is local, then they have local identities and
local politics. 

And if the economics are globalized, then... local politics don't exist
anymore. That's 

right: US politics don't matter anymore.

 

That's why, even tho' Bush is a dumb squirrel, it doesn't really matter.
Most of us continue 

to live our lives and work, because our economics isn't based on his games.
We get our polo 

shirts from China and our iPods from Malaysia and our checks from an
accounting house in 

Indonesia. The WTO protects us (all of us, Indians, Malaysians, Chinese,
Americans, etc.) 

from any particular local state's mismanagement.

 

Put down those thrillers about SCUDs-in-a-Box and consider the implications
on yourself of a 

globalized network society. Totallly changes the picture, doesn't it? No
more Leftist pinkos 

out to get you. All of those things you warn us about... they just kinda
don't matter 

anymore, do they, because they don't have an economic basis.

 

yrs,

andreas

www.andreas.com

 

------------------------------------------------------------------

To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,

digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html

Other related posts: