To the Editor:
Re “11 Pacific Nations and U.S. Endorse Giant Trade Pact” (front page, Oct. 6):
Though it is likely to be cast as a struggle between trade and jobs, or between Wall Street and labor, the debate about the Trans-Pacific Partnership should also be about uncertainty and catastrophic risk in an increasingly turbulent 21st century. Economists and most political scientists have assumed that it is good to remove barriers. But much as removing natural barriers can expose ecosystems to invasive species that decimate their diversity, globalization threatens local and regional economic diversity.
Is it wise to be selling resource-intensive American beef in Asia and importing exotic produce from around the world? If these drive much local and regional production out of business, what happens when global climate chaos degrades California or Iowa and world prices suddenly rise? The result could be food shortage or famine in poor countries, after the Trans-Pacific Partnership had ruined local farmers and emptied their countryside. Is a global market for goods, capital and information stable and innovative? May it not induce crashes and incite extremism?
Congress should reject the Trans-Pacific Partnership and rethink globalization.
DAVID KEPPEL
Bloomington, Ind.
Note from KBJ: Free trade has been a disaster for this country. It enriches the rich and impoverishes the poor. It destroys industries, communities, and families. It undermines American sovereignty. It prevents us from protecting and preserving what is distinctive about this nation and its culture. The Left loves free trade because it promotes cosmopolitanism and undermines American sovereignty. The Right loves free trade because it enriches multinational corporations. Open borders and free trade will be the death of this country. Think twice before you support these abominations.
