Free Trade and Democracy

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RWStanding
Posts: 384
Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2016 12:23 pm

Free Trade and Democracy

Post by RWStanding »

Free Trade and Democracy
Free trade and democracy are indefinite terms that invite tendentious rhetoric. Rather as the EU Referendum, which was about whether to leave or not, but has now become a mere decision to allow negotiation pending a further referendum. It merely indicates how we should have the Supreme Court involved at the outset, defining the constitutional situation. And how the single question to leave or not was totally inadequate.
Trade cannot be divorced from the ethics of what is traded and its quality. If trade were entirely free of 'red tape' it would be consonant with Chaos, a world in which no stable society exists.
Regulation of goods could be partially divorced from trade, by leaving the importer and importing country to decide what is permissible, inspecting products at entry. But, effectively this would regulate the producer internationally. It would be a cumbersome system applicable only to an anarchistic body of nations.
Where a particular authoritarian country, say China, has managed to impose its economic weight on the world, a reverse situation would apply. Rather as with Britain in the 19C. Its economic and product standards would be exerted internationally.
The third choice for 'globalisation' that is really internationalism, is for products and standards to be agreed globally. But not so as allow industrial magnates and multinationals to take over production and trade - this would simply be another form of tyranny. The central purpose of Internationalism, must be a large degree of autarky, with every country able to produce its own goods in a socially and environmentally balanced way. This is not a recipe for ever increasing GDP, but ever better technology for mutual benefit.
As matter stand early in the 21C, we will be very fortunate if we survive in remotely good health until the 22C.
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