By: John Kinsman, president, Family Farm Defenders<\/p>\n
Published on Monday, March 12, 2012 by www.commondreams.org<\/a><\/p>\n Reposted by the CapTimes on March 17, 2012\u00a0 www.madison.com<\/p>\n There are always winners and losers in free trade.\u00a0 The winners are the 1% – the wealthy at the top \u2013 the losers are the 99% – that means the rest of us.<\/p>\n The latest free trade deal which is now being rushed by Pres. Obama through Congress is known as the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).\u00a0 Thirty years the first free trade deals were enacted under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and these were followed by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the Australia U.S. Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA), and many more.\u00a0 During this time, the global economic crisis accelerated at an alarming rate with only the 1% reaping the profits.\u00a0\u00a0 This ongoing crisis will not end until these destructive free trade agreements are repealed and fair trade becomes the norm.<\/p>\n Most recently, the Korea U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) was signed, over the objections of many labor, farm, and consumer groups in both countries.\u00a0 According to the Feb. 8. 2012 edition of the Korea Times, the leader of the Democratic United Party (DUP) vowed to nullify this deal with the U.S. once in power, and it is predicted the DUP will win this year\u2019s general election.\u00a0 In an open letter to Pres. Obama, Vice Pres. Biden, and House Speaker Boehner, the DUP called upon the U.S. \u201cto reconsider the KORUS FTA in order to truly strengthen the long term relationship between our countries.\u00a0 If our cordial and earnest request is overlooked by your administration, we will have to take all measures possible to freeze the implementation of the KORUS FTA.\u201d<\/p>\n Why would anyone expect anything but another race to the bottom in terms of farm prices, worker wages, environmental standards and human rights with passage of the TPP?\u00a0 We need only look at what happened in the years following NAFTA:\u00a0 over two million Mexican farmers driven off their land by subsidized U.S. corn dumping.\u00a0 Risking their lives, they migrated across the border in search of work \u2013 families torn apart as fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters disappear.\u00a0 Some died in the desert, others were murdered by traffickers (coyotes) and rightwing vigilantes.\u00a0 So devalued as human beings, their lives were not even worth counting.\u00a0 Similarly, in the U.S. and Canada thousands of family farmers and small business owner s have seen their livelihoods sacrificed on the altar of greater corporate profit.<\/p>\n Those in the 1% who are now pushing the TPP hope to take advantage of the huge supply of cheap labor and natural resources to be found in the Pacific Rim.\u00a0 The recent expose of the Chinese sweatshops behind Apple\u2019s iPhones, where workers regularly commit suicide by jumping off factory rooftops, is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the horrific conditions that are spawned by these free trade deals.<\/p>\n Who else will lose under the TPP?\u00a0\u00a0 U.S. dairy farmers fear they will go bankrupt as cheap foreign powder imports like milk protein concentrate (MPC) flood the domestic market.\u00a0 U.S. consumers will likely face more contaminated products \u2013 whether it is pet food laced with melamine or children\u2019s toys coated with lead paint.\u00a0 U.S. pharmaceutical giants are poised to undermine access to generic drugs by imposing their expensive patents on Australia and New Zealand where people currently enjoy better and more affordable healthcare than is found here.\u00a0 Japanese farmers and consumers will be forced to accept genetically engineered crops and hormone tainted meat exported by U.S. agribusiness that they do not even want.\u00a0 So much for freedom under free trade.<\/p>\n As Congress considers the TPP, we need to express our opposition \u2013 not only to convince our elected officials that this will just lead to more economic chaos on top of the current crisis, but to also let our friends across the Pacific know that they are not alone in opposing free trade deals that are only designed to profit the 1%.\u00a0\u00a0 Those of us in the 99% will end up losers if we do not repeal KORUS and stop the TPP.\u00a0 We could ALL be winners if we worked together in constructive cooperation for a new global economic system based upon fair trade instead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By: John Kinsman, president, Family Farm Defenders Published on Monday, March 12, 2012 by www.commondreams.org Reposted by the CapTimes on March 17, 2012\u00a0 www.madison.com There are always winners and losers in free trade.\u00a0 The winners are the 1% – the … Continue reading