The Debate That Wasn't

[Briar]

The Debate That Wasn't
By Joshua Holland, AlterNet
Posted on August 1, 2005

One would hope that citizens of a wealthy, vibrant democracy could be
moved to openly debate issues of vital national importance. A case in
point is an issue as fundamental as shifting our economy from creating and selling manufactured goods to one that provides services in a global marketplace. Such a sea change would surely leave millions of skilled workers adrift; you'd think they would like to have a say.

But this is the United States, and that debate is, unfortunately,
buried beneath a ton of rhetoric -- mostly industry-funded nonsense
that made the "transition" as smooth as possible for corporate movers
and shakers.

For believers in unfettered "free" markets, it is simply a matter of
faith that the logic of the private sector will eventually lead to
greater prosperity for all, even if some are steam-rolled in the
process.

Job displacement and economic insecurity are simply the results of
increased productivity, technological advances and the availability of cheaper labor overseas -- all part of the Natural Order of Things and a consequence of economic progress that is to be embraced rather than questioned. The belief is immune to contradictory data, and its
adherents have little patience for dissent, and they have the budgets
to render it irrelevant anyway.

....

http://www.alternet.org/story/23581/

[bluestateboomer]

1. What's left out of the globalization debate

is that although capital can move anywhere it wants, labor(which is the wealth of the great majority of the world population) doesn't have mobility. Governments and corporations still want control. Free markets are structured only for those whose wealth is mostly unearned.

[Briar]

2. Calling it a "free" market is a particularly vicious joke

Only those with a great deal of money can buy into it. Only they can participate in any real way in its vaunted privilege of "choice". The rest of us are merely part of its mechanism, employed to generate profit for the few. It is not "free" for us.