Diatribune

I poured this out initially as a letter to Speaker Pelosi, after reading a diary at Daily Kos:

http://www.dailykos....

Written by David Sirota, the DK  diary is about the possiblity that Pelosi is selling out  progressives on trade.

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Speaker Pelosi,

Consumer rights, union rights, worker rights, environmental concerns, protection for local economies and cultures:  all of these issues are every bit as important to humanity as removing restriction to trade.  We must remember that economic progress involves tension and compromise, if not harmonization, between various forces.  For some time now, the proponents of free capital have had the issue of trade as a playground for their agenda.  The result has been disastrous for globalization, has turned globalization  into an engine for the destructon of labor rights, the environment and local economies.

Globalization is inevitable.  But it doesn't have to destroy humanity.  Think back to the 19th century.  At first industrialization ran amuck, at a cost to humanity that we are STILL paying!!!  Slavery, for example, was exacerbated by the affect of industrialization on the cotton industry.  More than 100 years after the end of slavery, we continue to see its horrible afteraffects in our society.

Maybe we didn't know any better back then.

But we MUST manage  change with more wisdom this time and we can.  For that to happen, free trade must be fair trade.

Thankyou.
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