Response to Final Thoughts of the WTO

By Ted W. Stoddard

Hi son, just finished reading your paper on WTO and felt need to comment.

I appreciate your passion for this subject but must disagree on a number

of key assumptions put forth in your thesis. I also wish to express concern

that much of the phraseology used seemed designed to inflame passion and

knee jerk response rather than considered dialogue ( ie. radical fringes,

quasi-socialism, isolationalism, your killing yourself? ).

BIG LABOR

Unions are one of the only mechanisms available to workers to address

such issues as collective bargaining, work place safety, abusive work environments

etc etc….

Without the gains made by organized labor many in this country would

still be stuck in the poverty and brutality of the early industrial revolution.

Many people of good conscience are concerned that poorer nations are being

exploited for corporate profit. This is not only a legitimate economic

concern (lost jobs, wages, taxes, increased social costs etc.) but also

environmental, fair/unfair competition, and subsidy issues. There is also

of primary concern, the fact that anonymous decision makers ( read WTO

judges), behind closed and sealed doors, can and have abrogated the expressed

will of many of the peoples of the worlds democracies. They have overturned

state and national laws with impunity. Back to labor. WE now know that

over 35000 union workers took part in the assembly in Seattle. Their concerns

were legitimate, their assembly lawful and constitutionally protected.

The day after the worst riots, Many from the labor movement helped to clean

up the mess created by a couple of hundred anarchists .

Lets take a look at the example of Korean and US autos. Why is the

Korean auto 10k cheaper? Part of this is labor. Not just the Ford workers

at the plant, but every incident where labor is used to turn raw material

into finished product. At each point of this metamorphosis wages are earned

and payed. Herein lies the rub, that is how much, and who gets it. Certainly,

workers in third world countries do work for less than their counterparts

here and their standard of living often requires less. A rising tide does

not lift all boats. Many will be swamped and lost without adequate precaution.

Many countries do not have environmental safeguards to restrict hell bent

for profit corporations. It’s not ok to expose people to life threatening

environments simply because it is somewhere else and (as an added bonus)

they will do it for less. The world is a constantly shrinking place. The

toxic waste we can get away with dumping on the ground today in Korea or

Mexico may one day come back to cause grief to your own family.

One last thought before I go, about the frightened young lady who was

afraid for her life and was shouting" they’re killing us". How do you know

she was Asian and that her family had at one time immigrated here. What

the hell relevance does that have to do with anything. How can you attribute

what she would allow or deny ? Have you asked her what she thinks or feels?

You have a gift for communication. Whether the future finds that your

musings are profound or profane will depend in large part on the integrity

and balance that you bring. Stay away from the rhetoric and inflamed speech,

seek out and present all the facts. Let balance be your guide.

Love Ya

Dad