Thursday, June 01, 2006

If Free Borders Are Good Enough For Corporations, Then Why Not For People, Too?

JONATHAN ROWE - There is an egregious disconnect in the case for the global economy, corporate version. We are told that the world should be without borders, for corporations and stuff. Borders are clogs in the celestial mechanism of the market. They are protectionism, which is darkness to the market's light.

But when the discussion turns to people, somehow the argument flips. Then it's troops, fences, regulations up the kazoo. Corporations get magic visas; cars and video games get them too. But when an actual human being tries to cross the border - well, call out the National Guard.

To which one has to say, "Wait a minute." If the world should be borderless for artificial persons called corporations, then why not for real people? If Ford can go to Mexico to find cheaper labor, then why should not Mexican workers be able to come to the U.S. to find higher-paying jobs - or jobs period? The proponents of global corporatism think that real people should be content with second-class status. I don't think so.

http://onthecommons.org/node/904

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