What do whales, ozone, sweatshop workers and the prison industrial complex have in common? More than you might think.
Protestors at a recent free trade summit in Quebec drew fire for lacking a coherent message. The protestors, critics said, had only one thing in common: protesting. The critics point to protestors who don’t really know what they’re protesting or to the unorganized nature of supposedly organized protests.
Environmental, religious, political, anti-private prison and labor groups all participated in the protests for different goals but for the same reason. The ever quickening pace of globalization raises profound social questions that have not been adequately addressed through economic answers.
Without taking a stance on globalization, the Voice recognizes the problems inherent in it and strongly supports the protestors in places like Quebec, Seattle and Washington, D.C. for bringing attention to issues about free trade and globalization which are too often ignored.
The economic arguments in favor of free trade are strong. Competition encourages countries to modernize and increases economic output. In terms of economic indicators, free trade has been relatively successful in North America.
The social and political arguments against globalization, however, are also significant. It is no coincidence that free trade zones in developing countries are often the sites of sweatshops and abhorrent labor violations. In addition, some private prison companies make millions while their buildings look suspiciously like sweatshops employing indentured servants or slaves.
Cut-throat competition, especially without environmental regulations, may encourage the use of fossil fuels without adequate emissions standards. And free trade may encourage increasing income stratification.
No doubt, few world leaders want terrible things to happen to their people. They accept free trade with the hope that it will make lives better and countries stronger. At the same time, however, voices in opposition to the status quo are too often summarily relegated to the background.
Protestors are serving a valuable purpose by raising difficult questions. A coherent message might help them gain mainstream acceptance, but a lack of a unified mission does not negate the positive impact of these protests.
The negative consequences of free trade and globalization have not been properly addressed by a country that focuses so narrowly on economics, often to the detriment of people’s lives. Until world leaders and world organizations grasp just how many different areas a single action can affect, we say keep the protests coming.
