Gay Marriage

[kandrathe]

Look outside of the United States and 'Western World' for once and you'll see that that is not the case. ... Typically libertarian, and typically wrong.

Sorry, in the context of the discussion I was not thinking beyond the US. I was probably under the mistaken notion that we were still talking about historical social injustice in the context of gay rights and marriage in the US. Your tone is a bit off-putting, don't you agree?

So what is my opinion of the "Western World's" role in the geopolitical manipulations of macroeconomic policies. Um. In a nutshell. You need freedom, before you can have the kind of equitable nirvana you seem to be alluding is possible (if it weren't for these damn exploiting capitalist pigs). We can call it free trade, even though the "free" part only refers to one side. The individuals who live in the conditions you describe need to take responsibility for their own problems. In some places in this world there could be no population if it were not for trade, they are too barren to support the locals. I think we touched on this once before, and I thought you too freely mingled the societal problems with the economic situations. How do we stop exploitation? Well, stop allowing yourself to be exploited. We have all known people who continuously allow other people to walk all over them. So, yeah, sometimes that means you have to be willing to fight or die for what you believe is right. It's hard to critique your solutions however, as you offer no opinion other than to denigrate mine.

However, if you want to vaunt the merits of libertarian ideology, you should realize that the West's present drive towards the individual rests on the back of Keynesianism's process of domestic structural construction.

Unfortunately, we only have one historical example to review in 20/20 hindsight, that of a "Keynesian demand-side" post world war construction boon culminating in "supply-side Reaganomics". I imagine that other economic policy possibilities may have also been successful.

Ah, Libertarianism: "It combines an appreciation for entrepreneurship, the market process, and lower taxes with strict respect for civil liberties and skepticism about the benefits of both the welfare state and foreign military adventurism. " What is appealing to me about libertarianism is that each individual takes responsibility for their own success, and expects that the State will not overly impede them and similiarly does not expect State sponsored handouts. At a macroeconomic level, I can see a role for the government in helping to promote trade and insure that it is equitable (e.g. no dumping -- and yes, I know we are as guilty as anyone at violating trade rules). Trade, in practice, is conducted between companies, and abused by some "mega-capitalists". There were times in the history of the US when unionizing was harrassed and laborers were killed. My father was a Teamster, and I used to work for a railroad so I have witnessed and been told many tales involving labor disputes some of which have been violent. My grandparents were farmers, and uneducated emigrants. In a way, I have a clear perspective on agrarian, industrial, and information economies and the modern role of individuals within them.

Sorry that I don't fit neatly into your one size fits all box, as I am guided by more than one ideology. I'm also a pragmatist as well as other "ists" and "isms" we need not delve into at this time. A society as wealthy as the US can afford to put in place some social safety nets to cushion those who fail, and help them get back into the game. I'm ok with that as long as those safety nets aren't hammocks.

If you can find a copy of a book by Stephen McBride entitled 'Paradigm Shift', the statistical analysis found therein is quite striking. Unfortunately, I doubt if you can.

Paradigm Shift -- Globalization and the Canadian State brought to you on the internet by hard working non-unionized software engineers, such as myself. Here is a review.

If I do find this book I will read it, but I'm a bit too skeptical to just be guided by one academic elitists opinion. Neo-liberal Globalism And It's Challengers : Sustainability In The Semi-periphery

Thus, the imposition of our present neoliberal models in foreign countries and free trade agreements such as NAFTA serve to lock third world countries, such as Mexico, into societal models that can be catastrophic for their own capacity-building potential. There's probably not much we can do about that.

Sure there is, just none palatable to the bleeding hearts who smash in the windows of Starbucks during their weekend protests against globalization. We either choose to remove trade barriers or we choose to remain trade isolated. Just a hunch on my part, but I would expect that NAFTA has had a dramatic effect on the price of automobiles in Canada.

Mexican exports to the US grew by an outstanding 234 percent, reaching $136.1 billion. Exports to Canada also grew substantially from $2.9 to $8.8 billion, an increase of almost 203 percent.  Baylor Business Review - NAFTA Turns Ten

Also check out CATO Institute's Economic Freedom of the World: 2004 Annual Report Mexico seems to be doing much better since NAFTA.