I'm dumbfounded by the nasty comments I receive about free trade. I have no idea why this issue angers people as it does. My position is simple; please try to understand it before firing off an angry letter or comment. Free trade has bad effects as well as good effects. (Who could deny that?) In my opinion, the bad effects outweigh the good effects. This isn't a factual claim; it's an evaluation. If you have different values, fine. I'm not trying to change your mind about anything.
Remember: I'm a conservative, not a libertarian. I care about such things as family, culture, tradition, self-sufficiency, ecological health, and community. Libertarians may not value these things, but I do. Free trade has devastated communities in this country.
Addendum: Here is a good place to begin if you literally have no idea how anyone could be a protectionist. Some of the proponents of free trade, I hate to say, are as dogmatic as global warmists. Here's a rule of thumb: If, on a particular issue, there seems to be only one side, you haven't given it enough thought.
Addendum 2: Here is the case for free trade. Note that the author, an economist, never so much as mentions family, culture, tradition, self-sufficiency, ecological health, or community. These things simply don't register on the economist's radar screen. They register on mine.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 