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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Grainne who wrote (64630)	12/2/1999 12:47:00 AM
From: Kid Rock	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

Some highlights of why the WTO should go: 1) they forced European countries to accept beef pumped full of hormones so what. as long as consumers buy what they want, the consumer should be given a choice of product. I'll take beef from anywhere as long as it is succulent and juicy!! 2) they forbade nations from putting trade sanctions on countries with brutal military regimes do you have all the right answers? deciding between aiding dictators and letting children starve is never going to have the right answer 3) they forbade African countries from developing their own versions of AIDS drugs at prices they could afford (this would save millions of lives) if they restricted gov money from going to African Labs over American labs - so what. Go visit an American pharma company and an African pharma company and tell me where you would put your money 4) they ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency couldn't enforce a law requiring gasoline refineries to make cleaner gas need more detail 5) they ruled against the U.S. Endangered Species Act's requirements that fishermen catch shrimp my methods that don't kill endangered sea turtles i guarantee the fishermen do not agree with you 6) they ruled to help giant Chiquita Banana Corp., which exploits farm labor and uses environmentally degrading farming techniques, dominate the European banana market at the expense of small-scale farmers in the Caribbean i buy the best banana at the lowest price. glad i have that choice!

To: Grainne who wrote (64630)	12/2/1999 12:49:00 AM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 108807

Bravo. The scope of groups represented in Seattle is astonishing. I haven't seen Americans of such diverse viewpoints gathering together in unity and solidarity since WW II or maybe the Korean War. Amazing. And terrifying to the international corporate establishment.

To: Grainne who wrote (64630)	12/2/1999 2:15:00 AM
From: Michael M	Respond to of 108807

1. Did anyone force consumers to buy this beef? 2. Does anyone force consumers to buy products from these countries? 3. Really? What were the names of these promising drugs and where can I find peer review publication of their efficacy? 4. Please cite the law and the EPA ruling and the specific action that abrogated the sovereignty of the U.S. 5. Do U.S. fishermen harvest shrimp in a way that disregard the killing of sea turtles? Not in my state. 6. Is Chiquita forcing laborers to work for them? Perhaps they could get other jobs. I think most of the groups you refer to have in common that their mission is to be annoyed.

To: Grainne who wrote (64630)	12/2/1999 10:06:00 AM
From: nihil	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 108807

World Trade is a complex and serious problem, but WTO is one of the best things that could happen to the world. The only hope of the children of the poor of the third world is foreign investment on a huge scale by the most advanced countries in the world. The typical third world country is too unproductive to feed itself and export enough goods abroad. As a result, it is too disordered and unfocused to improve itself. It is xenophobic and full of people believing counterproductive or just plane silly rules, religions, and cultures. Yet we know that fossil countries have awoken and built their economies, built medical schools, trained engineers, learned to export goods always with substantial foreign help. Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, ROK, Thailand are examples. It hasen't been easy, and the first generations suffer horribly. But seeing how these tigers have learned, become civilized and more humane is a strong recommendation for freer trade. Freer trade has also been injurious to those in developed countries who can't foresee the future and retool themselves to fit in. The fact is that the cheapest steel in the world is made by U.S. minimills (e.g. Nucor) while U.S. Steel and Bethlehem have shrunk and can't compete without substantial foreign investment. They are throttled by obsolete machinery and vastly overpaid unionized workers. No one should ever criticise free trade from a social welfare point of view until reading the literature on the Hecksher-Ohlin-Samuelson Factor Price Equalization Theorem. An enlightened WTO could require environmental and human rights protections as a precondition to membership. But most third world countries wouldn't play on those terms. Nor is this the fault exclusively of First World Multinationals. Besides, no one is forced to ignore environment and human rights. WTO rulings are strictly speaking advisory. Sanctions can be ignored. If compensation is ordered until the breach is stopped, a country can simply pay the ordered compensation. In particular, the U.S. (which hs s won most of its disputes) can simply go its way. Should we pull out of WTO the game would be up. I hope Buchanon shows his courage by entering the No-Protest Zone and gets imprisoned for his beliefs. Jess showed the way.