Thinking About Cotton
Today I've got cotton on my mind. No, not from drinking too much last night. From reading about it in today's NY Times. There's been a long-running dispute which is not in the hands of the WTO which is interesting both in that the demons of internationally trade the United States has been grooming may be finally coming home to roost, and in the starkness of the conservative hypocrisy revealed by the whole matter.
Let's start with the hypocrisy. American conservatives and the military are staunchly opposed to the United States participating in international efforts such as the anti-landmine treaty, or the international criminal court. The general reason for this opposition is the claim of the primacy of American sovereignty, and the refusal to consider anything that would reduce that sacred gift. Which might be a far more compelling argument were these same conservative forces not completely willing to allow international tribunals the right to review and overrule the actions of both state and federal governments in the name of trade. So, let's get this straight, it's okay to reduce American sovereignty if there's money to be made, but not okay if the only good is to prevent a bunch of kids from getting maimed by landmines? So next time someone starts spouting some sanctimonious nonsense at you about preserving the integrity of American sovereignty, ask them how supportive they are of the WTO and the implied reduction of said sovereignty in the pursuit of greater profits.
Now, back to those demons of international trade I referred to. There seems to be a belief out there that there is inherent good in loosening of trade barriers. There is also lots of mumbo-jumbo about how what the United States is seeking is a removal of government distortion to allow the proper functioning of a free market in international trade. That appeal to the conservative utopian myth of the free market is a good hint that there is probably some serious indirection going on here. Sure enough, free trade American style seems to mean other countries removing their barriers to American exports. And America loosening its barriers for goods which American companies want to manufacture abroad. So, we gain the right to import cheap manufactured goods from China and Mexico, as long as those governments don't assist the development of local manufacturing. That way most of the imports can be assured of some connection to American companies. At the same time we get the right to dump our agricultural products in Mexico below cost thus destroying the lives of many subsistence-level farmers in Mexico. Easy to do, since our farmers don't need to make a profit, the government gives them large subsidies instead. And how many of those farmers are staunch Republicans who don't want to pay taxes? And then, to top it off, look closer at those agricultural subsidies. Most of that money is going to farmers who don't even need the money, while family farmers are still struggling, beset not just by market forces, but the abusive nature of the relationship they have with massive agribusiness concerns.
Finally, the government tends to finance the growers whose practices have the worst impact environmentally. One of the big problems with the development of the organic cotton industry is that the price differential between organic and pesticide-using cotton growing is greater than it should be thanks to the government using subsidies to inflate the price of the conventionally-grown product.
So, let's sum this up. The US government encourages environmentally destructive farming, the growth of agribusiness at the expense of family farming, the destruction of third-world agricultural economies, and the weakening of US sovereignty for profits. The US government discourages the development of industrial bases in the third world unless they are tied to American corporations, and the protection of American sovereignty when it allows us to behave with reckless disregard for civilian safety. No wonder everyone from all over the world wants to come and live here in America, we're making it impossible to live anywhere else.
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