[wordup] why can't people follow the money?

[Adam Shand]

mostly uninformed rant begins ... if anyone knows more about this then i
do please shame me with a public schooling.

this pisses me off.  i was listening to kboo (the local community radio
station) on the drive to work this morning and they were playing some
talks from a conference on the ftaa/wto that went on earlier this month in
portland.  the woman i heard talking was a pear farmer in hood river
(about an hour inland from portland).

the hood river area is primarily an agriculture area, in recent years it
has been decimated by "free trade" agreements, and other farmers usa wide
are having similar problems.  why?  because ...

 * farmers in the usa have to follow guidelines with regards to:
   - minimum wage
   - employee benefits (housing, workers comp etc)
   - use of pesticides
   - other stuff i'm forgetting.

 * farmers in the usa aren't subsidized like they are in the european
   union, thus making it harder for usa farmers to compete.

 * tariffs exist for usa farmers to export produce yet foreign countries
   can import their produce into the usa for much less.

 * there is no country of origin law.  this means that cattle can be
   shipped from mexico (where it could have been obtained from anywhere)
   to the usa where it is slaughtered and sold as "usa beef".  this means
   that it's hard for consumers to "buy local" and support local farmers.

 * corporations buy based on quantity not quality.  if safeway can buy
   apples from china for half the price they are going to.

 * the fda has no real laws governing the quality of imported produce,
   only locally produced goods.  further they don't have the man power to
   actually inspect a significant proportion of produce coming into the
   country.

now all of these things i thought were fairly legitimate claims about why
world wide, uninhibited "free trade" was a bad thing.  but to my shock and
amazement this wasn't the speakers reaction at all.  she took all of these
fairly well thought out reasons about why her business was failing and
decided that appropriate responses were:

 * stop the european union from subsidizing farmers because it's a barrier
   to american farmers ability to compete.  they have a complaint with the
   wto filed and are waiting for the decision.

all i can say is WHAT?  just because some european countries have decided
that supporting local farmers to protect rural areas and keep food
supplies local even when it doesn't make the most financial sense ... that
doesn't mean it's a bad thing!  why should some disgruntled american
farmer have the right to stop a european farmer from getting subsidies
because it means that they can sell their produce slightly cheaper?

 * in the name of "consumer protection" lobby to get laws passed to
   restrict the import of "unsafe" foreign produce.

while i support this in theory (i don't want to buy apples with 500% more
pesticides on them ...  or whatever) i think this is self serving (from
the farmers point of view) rather then truly aimed to protect the
customer.

anyway this is getting long.  bottom line people.  FOLLOW THE MONEY.  if
you run a business and your getting screwed follow the money, i guarantee
it's still going somewhere.  when you find your money that's probably
where the problem is.  in this cause all of the free trade agreements are
designed to do anything but make the rich richer.

the irony that the usa is turning into place that doesn't produce anything
and being forced into the role of consumer has not escaped me either.  in
fact i thinks there's quite a large potential for some poetic justice in
the works.

adam.