http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...20.html?sub=AR

Shouldn't be surprising. Subsidies and protectionism are okay for the big guys and we're all to forget the way nations were built on it in the past.
But weak nations are supposed to build on nothing in a "level playing field".
Meanwhile our protectionist subsidies continue and undermine the whole thing.
Expect more of this.

__________________
"Man lives in the sunlit world of that which he believes to be reality. But unseen by most is an underworld, a place that is just as real... but not as brightly lit... A DARK SIDE!"
-opening from Tales From the Darkside

We are all for free trade. Unless the corn lobby tells us not to be.....

__________________
I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

It's not without sense that we have such subsidies (I have mixed feelings). From a national security perspective, we should be prepared to produce our own food if necessary (and fuel if corn can indeed meet that need soon), much like we subsidize steel.
What I find appalling is that we do not allow countries that actually do have severe problems that may lead to starvation to practice protectionism over their food crops. Think of the people who died in India under British colonization because they had to produce dye instead of rice. How is this any different? The coercion isn't military... it seems more like... blackmail in a way.
The third world should stand up for that right.

__________________
"Man lives in the sunlit world of that which he believes to be reality. But unseen by most is an underworld, a place that is just as real... but not as brightly lit... A DARK SIDE!"
-opening from Tales From the Darkside

and



[/quote]

__________________
LET ME SEE YOUR WAR FACE!!!

i don't know enough about the WTO to have a valid opinion about what its mission is and how its actions help or hurt the average world citizen.
turningpoint castigated it as an unelected bureaucracy which promotes the interests of multinational corporations to the detriment of the underclass.
Wikipedia explains the WTO purpose as " ... aims to lower barriers to trade around the world, with a focus on making a more fair system of trade for developing countries. Talks have been hung over a divide between the rich, developed countries, and the major developing countries ...". That activity was termed 'an international food fight' in one article. So, do any of you have insights about the actual purposes, practices and accomplishments of the WTO which might help to see whether this break down is an unfortunate event or a circumstance which should be cheered by the masses?

The trouble is that the WTO is a rather souless international body, attempting to set a standard for everyone. The biggest troubles stem from the debate on whether "free trade" really does equal a level playing field.
While in the states, we tend to look at the trouble being our shipping of jobs overseas, the real problems with "free trade" are like the ones the Indians bring up in the article.
"Free trade", though it has the potential to boostr some nations economically also tends to work to the advantage of countries that are richer.
We benegfitted from our past protectionist periods and continue to use some today.
Other nations are expected to start from nothing on a "free trade" system and lose aid if they make exceptions.
Ironically countries like the "Asian tigers" and China, who uses a modified version of their model are what work best in this environment. In order for such systems to work, the country must be very controlling... hardly democratic by Western standards. And it seems they don't do too well in the long run.

"Free trade" sounds fair in rhetoric, but it's really not. The WTO means well, but it is often ignorant of how people do in the countries it affects. It leaves that to other international bodies.

__________________
"Man lives in the sunlit world of that which he believes to be reality. But unseen by most is an underworld, a place that is just as real... but not as brightly lit... A DARK SIDE!"
-opening from Tales From the Darkside