"Free" trade? (Letters to the Editor).Kudos to Mr. William F. Jasper for his "free trade" article ("Your Job May Be Next," March 10th issue), and his response to a letter to the editor in the May 5th issue. The letter writer drags out the same old worn-out mantra we heard when Congress was cramming NAFTA NAFTA in full North American Free Trade Agreement Trade pact signed by Canada, the U.S., and Mexico in 1992, which took effect in 1994. Inspired by the success of the European Community in reducing trade barriers among its members, NAFTA created the world's and GATT See General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. GATT See General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). down our throats. The only problem with the "free trade" argument is that we have now had 10 years to evaluate NAFTA and nine years for GATT. Karl Marx understood "free trade" better than the "free traders" of today when he said back in 1848: "When you place a free man in competition with a slave you enslave en·slave tr.v. en·slaved, en·slav·ing, en·slaves To make into or as if into a slave. en·slave  ment n. the free man." Sadly, today's "free traders" don't understand what Marx knew and understood very clearly -- or do they? Let's look at what "free trade" under the NAFTA/GATT flag has accomplished: It has eroded our tax base by shifting value-added manufacturing ability to foreign countries, namely Communist China; the tax base that once financed our local governments and schools now finances the Peoples' Liberation Army (PLA (Programmable Logic Array) A type of programmable logic chip (PLD) that contained arrays of programmable AND and OR gates. PLAs are no longer used. See PLD. (language, music) Pla - A high-level music programming language, written in SAIL. ) of Communist China; it is essentially foreign aid under a new name; it has lowered the standard of living in America today for those who can least afford it, creating more working poor Americans. If you are one of those Americans wondering when and if your NAFTA/GATT ship will ever come in, as the proponents said it would, rest assured that the ship you can barely see on the horizon has the letters COSCO COSCO China Ocean Shipping Company COSCO Colorado Scientific Company (Denver) blocked on its hull. DENNIS JAMES Dennis James (August 24, 1917 - June 3, 1997) was an actor, wrestling announcer, sports show host, game show host, newsreel announcer and the first person ever to do a "live" TV commercial (for Wedgewood China) as well as the first videotaped commercial. Marcellus, Michigan |
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