Harry Pollard wrote:
>
> Eric,
>
> Unfortunately, you have it the wrong way round.
>
> "Fair trade" means that someone meddles with trade to provide benefits for
> someone at the expense of the traders.
>
> "Free trade" means that no-one meddles with the exchanges between people.
> They may exchange, cooperate, interact without interference.
[snip]
How about: Fair trade is when someone levels the
playing field between the GIANTS and the little people,
and free trade is "Every man for himself and the GIANTS
against all"?
How can a person who has a net worth less than about $1 billion
enter into any free trade with a Transnational corporation
(or even their hometown bank if there was one left...) without
somebody placing a visible hand on the person's side of
the scale of capitalization to equalize the two side
at least somewhat?
I am becoming inscreaingly convinced, Harry, that your
"economics" is a study of relations among small numbers
of persons all having roughly equal assets and other forms of
power. This is not the realm of economics but of
small group sociology (and anthropology).
Or can you tell me how there can be free competition between
me who earns in the 5 figures,
and my employer (who is capitalized in the low
to mid 8 figures)?
I really like John McCreery's dictum:
Life isn't fair. Democracy should be.
Democracy and unfettered capitalism are not compatible.
There are at least two kinds of level playing
fields: One where everybody, no matter how powerful
or weak, gets to apply what force they have without
any constraints other than Newton's laws (here
the small get mauled). Two, where the force of the
massive is externally restrained so that they
cannot crush the small. We can play to win,
or we can play to play together, in which latter case,
the strongest play with (what I believe they
call in golf:) a "handicap".
\brad mccormick
--
Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works.... (Matt 5:16)
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21)
<![%THINK;[SGML+APL]]> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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