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Old 2008-01-10, 23:41   Link #109
ToxicNarcotic
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: USA
Age: 35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Slice of Life View Post
The WTO is first of all a commitee where the people we voted into office negotiate about the rules of trade. And the United States have probably the biggest influence on making these rules, or maybe second to the European Union. If you think that your representatives are controlled by "rich corporate feudal lords", well leaving the WTO won't change that.
And continued support of an organization that has been a major contributor in our buying incredibly more than we sell that has put us into a financial predicament resembling that of Asia, Russia, and Brazil prior to their financial collapses in '97 and '98 benefits us how?
In my opinion the WTO is inherently flawed, and is beyond repair. As I've said before, there are alternatives to the WTO,

Quote:
Originally Posted by Slice of Life View Post
And when you stop talking and leave the room, you have basically two choices. You adapt the rules the rest of the world decided upon without asking you. Or you try to make your own.
The US is an integral part of the WTO as you mentioned. Being that this is the age of a 'global economy' and our economies are interdependent upon one another and the US being a key player in that economy, the WTO would not be able to sustain itself without the US.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Slice of Life View Post
Which means you have to offer them better terms than the standard. Which means it will cost you.
The current standards strip countries of their national sovereignity, disregard environmental laws, and disregard both human and workers' rights. Most nations are forced into adhering to terms through economic force rather than because it's beneficial to them. If hypothetically speaking (getting to this point is a whole different matter completely), the US pulled away from the WTO and a fairer global trade model was put into place that was actually democratic and didn't trample developing nations, the terms would naturally be more enticing to many countries as opposed to the more authoritarian WTO.
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