Our
View: WTO falls to workers
The
institution that was brought into the spotlight
by the massive protests in Seattle in 1999,
the World Trade Organization has been dealt
a blow from workers and farmers around the
world.
The
talks had been labeled as an attempt to
help poorer countries by the U.S. coordinators.
If these talks were so geared towards helping
the developing nations of the world why
were these nations the ones that sought
to throw a monkey wrench in the gears of
the WTOs plan?
The
issues at hand seem to be more about U.S.
corporations gaining increased access to
fragile third-world markets than helping
anybody. And since when did the WTO care
about these countries anyway? All they want
is a new market to exploit so that the inherently
flawed system of capitalism can keep on
rolling.
Always
looking out for the greater good, i.e. their
own profit, the developed nations refused
to give the third world nations any concessions
until they knew they were getting theirs.
This impasse, though a failure for the United
States and Europe, represents a veritable
victory for often manipulated and even more
often disunited developing nations.
Perhaps
this will serve as a rallying cry for the
nations where sweatshops and dangerous manufacturing
jobs are the bulk of employment and governments
struggle against powerful multinationals.
The
countries of the world should take this
moment as a sign that power and money can
not overpower the people if they unite against
it.
Only
by exploiting a constant stream of new markets
and people can organizations like the WTO
continue to make their bottom line go up.
Standing up for their rights may be the
only way we can get companies to quit running
around trying to find the cheapest labor
and the lowest environmental standards and
take some responsibility for more than their
own paychecks.
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