Originally Posted by Connor

The economic conditions in different countries aren't always the same, to state the obvious... so with Canada, it works pretty well because living conditions in Canada and the U.S. aren't too far apart. But when you consider countries without these living conditions ... like Mexico ... free trade allows large American corporations to effectively set up shop in these countries and leech off of the cheap labor there. This costs jobs in places where the labor force can't accept such low wages because of the cost of living. It seems to me that the end result from all this "free trade" is a reversal of all the standard of living increases that were hard won on the backs of early labor unions. Whether you feel labor unions went too far or not ... I don't think many people here want to go back to the labor conditions chronicled in, for example, The Grapes of Wrath.

Isn't it interesting that 50+ years ago a middle class family with a single income in America (and I'm assuming Canada too) could meet the basic necessities of life, and even grow a savings account and enjoy the occasional vacation. Now, you can accomplish the same with two incomes. That's not a horrible fate, especially given houses are better now and we have more comforts, but it's still a step back -- and it requires people in that position to depend on someone other than themselves. But unchecked free trade, I believe, threatens to put even that situation in jeopardy.

If I am competing with someone in another under-developed country for the same job, and that person shares a house with 8 other people in his family -- who can afford to accept the lowest wage, him or me? So my only response then is to downgrade my quality of life, unless I'm one of the fortunate who get to live an elite life of power afforded by the corporations who are pursuing all this shit.