Copyright 2002 The Tribune Co. Publishes The Tampa Tribune Tampa Tribune (Florida)
July 22, 2002, Monday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NATION/WORLD, Pg. 9
LENGTH: 797 words
HEADLINE: The
Case Against Globalization
BYLINE: ERIC RUBIN;
Eric Rubin is the coordinator of the Florida Fair Trade Campaign and the
executive director of the Tampa Bay Action Group. E-mail: oneworldnow@att.net
BODY: To write, as this paper did July
7 (Editorial), that antiglobalization protesters angry about the power of
multinational corporations "don't seem to believe in democracy" is a grave
injustice to your readers. The ever-increasing movement worldwide against the
corporate-managed globalization model is one completely devoted to the ideals of
democracy.
You do not address why a growing number of
people are questioning the globalization model: Its effects are manifesting
themselves in the questionable safety of our food, a "race to the bottom" in
labor and environmental standards, and the privatization of public utilities.
Struggles in developing countries have never been
initially against nor about "globalization," but about saving local economies
and the environment from attacks by unaccountable bureaucracies such as the
World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization.
Large corporations are given the opportunity to
privatize what has been known as "the commons," such as water supply and energy
resources, without the consent - and frequently over the protest - of the local
community. These plans, no matter how well-intentioned, have proved to be highly
destructive to the people that they are intended to help.
Consider Who's Advising WTO
Look
at the front pages of newspapers across the country lately and see the results
of broad deregulation overseen by these bureaucracies. Enron, WorldCom, Tyco -
these are the kinds of multinational corporations dominating the WTO (now a
household word, thanks to the "populist rhetoric of street marchers" you speak
of). Enron, prior to its public catastrophe, was the lead adviser to the WTO on
"trade in services," including the global deregulation of energy provisions.
Trade agreements like NAFTA are destroying communities,
the environment and democracy throughout the world because of lax enforcement of
regulations in poor countries, which cannot afford the high costs of toxic waste
and other environmental containment. And it is happening at a rapid pace.
Why do informed citizens question accords such as the
North American Free Trade Agreement? For starters, it is the multinational
corporation that truly profits from this deal.
The
Economic Policy Institute states that more than 3 million Americans lost jobs to
NAFTA, and Labor Department figures concede this number to be at least 1
million. Jobs have moved south under NAFTA and abroad under the WTO to India,
China and Third World nations where labor conditions are unsafe, unhealthy and
unfair.
The United States is not immune to the erosion
of democracy spurred on by NAFTA and the WTO. Look up NAFTA's
notorious "Chapter 11" investor protection provision. This
allows foreign corporations greater rights than those afforded to domestic
corporations under the U.S. Constitution.
For example,
a Canadian manufacturer of the gasoline additive MTBE, Methanex Corp., sued the
United States for $970 million in "future lost profits" after the California
state legislature banned MTBE from gasoline because it was contaminating the
water supply. More than a dozen other states have followed California's lead and
banned MTBE.
To date, NAFTA Chapter
11 cases have allowed foreign businesses to claim $1.8 billion from U.S.
taxpayers, according to a Taxpayers for Common Sense study. These disputes are
decided in closed tribunals where neither the public, the press nor even elected
officials are permitted.
The NAFTA
Chapter 11 model is included in the proposed Free Trade Area of the
Americas, a 31-nation expansion of NAFTA in the current fast-track trade bill
before Congress. Taxpayers for Common Sense estimates that Chapter 11 cases
under international trade agreements could expose U.S. taxpayers to claims
totaling $32 billion each year - the equivalent of three-fourths of the annual
federal block grants to state and local governments.
Concern For Florida Citizens
In a
letter to both Florida senators, state Attorney General Bob Butterworth
expressed concerns shared by many other state attorneys general about the
legislation. Already implementation of NAFTA's Chapter 11
standards has "raised serious concerns over its potential impact on the power of
state and local governments to protect the welfare environment of their
citizens," he wrote.
No, antiglobalization protesters
are not ignoring fundamental realities. They are questioning the structure of
globalization. The "one-size fits all," unaccountable mentality of the WTO and
NAFTA goes against a fundamental principle of democracy, which is the consent of
the governed. The millions of people outside meetings in Geneva, Qatar, Sydney,
Seattle and elsewhere are proof that democracy will not retreat.
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