h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"Free Trade"! The oxymoron that describes lunacy in the extreme. It has been developed by the empirical states to imaciate the non-empirical slave states. Grow your own onions to feed your populace, and watch in horror as the "Empires FREELY subsidise" their own onion growers. Then the Empire can sell its onions at 2c a pound when it has taken the slave state grower 10c a pound just to grow them! Then, under this new freedom the poor slave state onion grower buries his crop and goes broke. Then, the Empire OWNS the onion market! NOW, the empire freely sells its onions to the slave state for $5.00 per pound! FOREVER! Long live "FREE TRADE"! "LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!" "LONG LIVE FREE TRADE!"

Excuse me if I'm wrong, but do I detect a smattering of bitterness here?

Bitterness? Maybe. But more likely the honest view of a previously devout capitalist who opened his eyes!

That being said, and not to pry....(yea, sure...then why ask,right?) Just exactly what form of economics/government would you prefer? There aren't many choices, you know, and none of them are perfect.

Nope, there aren't many choices. And as with all regimes, the weaknesses are always human greed and power. So democratic/capitalism may as well be the current 'in' form or rule. Does it make any difference to the proletariat/consumer/worker/slave? The Oligarchy will rule under any system.

My cynicism however, is directed at the phrase "Free Trade". It is yet another political phrase to make the masses feel at ease. Along with 'Free Speech', "Free Press", "Visa Free Travel", "Free Ports".

Maybe I should get a new dictionary so I can understand the new definitions of the word FREE.

In politics, free only means what the politicos want it to mean. Words are amazing things. Those who are in power invariably wish to define them to suit their needs. I once spent several hours in a business meeting where the main topic was "Agreed Upon Definitions". Didn't know such common words could be so complicated! It helped me understand Bill Clintons' take on testimony, though!

FREE is a trigger word that has an auto response in the human brain. Any mention of the word free, calms, satisfies, soothes or at least offers no direct challenge. Politicians have creatively relied on this word for eons. Just in the last day, it has been used again. This time to justify the imposition of a 40% tarrif on the import of lamb meat into the US. This increase in tarrif protection is of course in the interest of FREE TRADE. Will this measure FREE the lamb producers of Australia and New Zealand? I think it will. It will FREE them from the need to grow their product. Just like the onion growers!

Ahhh Empirical freedom! It is a wonderous thing. So wonderous in fact, the Kurds of Iraq, the Serbians of Bosnia, the Gypsies of Kosovo, the Hutus of Rawanda, to name a few, must wonder what the hell this imposed freedom is?

Was not "FREE TRADE" the basis of the British, Spanish, French, Ottoman and Roman Empires?

The problem comes with the fact that individual citizens don't run the government.(no, I don't care what their leaders say, they DONT). Trade, through history, has been a form of warfare...considered, by politicos, to be more civilised due to the lack of bloodshed. Sorry to say, the "soldiers" don't see it as bloodless. Their livelyhoods crushed and their dreams destroyed, most could care less for the "better good" of the nation.

While we choose our leaders(at least most modern nations do) we can't choose their decisions. We are stuck with their agenda until they can be removed. Problem is, only those in power can replace them, so you get more of the same....just worded differently.

Catch 22 is, the "prolitariate" can't be trusted to govern themselves. Someone will always gain supreme power, and it all starts over again, or they will fall under the control of a nieghboring nation who do not respect the common mans' authority.

All in all, were stuck with what we have...for now. Civilization is growing and changing constantly. We may never see it, but some future enlightened citizenry will see these errors and correct them.

We can only hope!

Hope is eternal, but just as eternal is human greed.

I agree that we choose our leaders, but not their decisions, but sometimes have to wonder about the first part. Do we choose our leaders? Or are we given the feeling of choice, by being 'offered' a choice. I sometimes, (only in my more cynical moods) wonder if the candidates we are voting for are maybe all representitives of the same team. The team? The oligarchy!

If this was the case, it would lessen the 'real' differences between forms of government. The major difference would be in the fact that the populace 'believe' that they had chosen a political leader by democratic vote. Is it not true that most political candidates are chosen for pre-selection by their political parties by very undemocratic means in most democratic countries. Is this much different to totalitarian rule.

Maybe it is as simple as this. Democracy allows us the choice between metaphoric 'apples, oranges and lemons'. But what if they are all supplied by the same greengrocer?

I would love to say you are wrong, but I can't. In the U.S. it's especially true. We only have two viable political partys, and in the words of a distant cousin of mine(at the time was governor of this state)"There's not a dimes' worth of difference between them"

It's hard not to be cynical when the evidence is so obvious. But we must try. We cannot give up. The future of our civilization is at stake. If we "roll over" and accept the world as it is given to us, then we damn future generations to our own fate.

I, for one, am not so willing to give up on human integrity quickly. The greedy are the minority, and someday will be controled.

It must be done. How and when is a question for another generation, I'm afraid.

George Orwell captured our obsevations and concerns in 'Animal Farm' and to a lesser extent in '1984'. He saw our history and our future I am afraid. Our hope in the future is for maybe a simple hope. That war becomes an unfashionable political tool. This maybe our best hope. Or am I answering my own question here? Is 'Free Trade' the replacement for war?
An interesting fact. After 100 years of wars in Europe, it has managed to restructure itself to almost the same borders as in 1900. What at achievement at the cost of 100 million lives!

Ya know, I had a great response written, and just as I went to post, I lost the h2g2 American connection. I will attemt to summarize it!

I agree. In todays world, warfare is synonomous with trade. The sad part is, todays "soldiers" don't even know they are enlisted.

I believe the ones in power think this is more civilized than physical warfare. The trouble is, loss of fiscal stability and self worth are sometimes worse than death.

Makes one wonder, what will take it's place? Will we return to the physical form? To me, oddly enough, it seems more humane. At least the soldiers know they are in a war, and wars' graphic nature makes it something we attempt to avoid.

Yes! Todays soldiers have been renamed 'consumers'. At least when they were 'soldiers' they were male, between 18 and 40, and knew what they were fighting, who they were fighting and why they were fighting. Consumers however are men, women and children. Born to be a consumer from the womb.

I glanced at your home page, and found that you live where I just completed my most recent research trip for the Guide! I was in Alabama no less than three weeks ago. Missed our chance to compare notes and solve the problems of geopolitics over the sanity of reasonable amounts of alcohol and salted peanuts! Oh well, the universe is so big sometimes. Between Sydney and Alabama lies a great blue portion of it!

Now THAT would have been a blast!!! I absolutely love discussing the earthshattering, as well as the mundane, with folks from elsewhere. Differenent cultures make for such a variety of outlooks on the same subjects.

May I ask, what part of the "Great State" of 'Bamy were you in? (And how many times did you hear "You ain't from around here, are you?"?

I was in Birmingham for three weeks. I have been there a couple of times before. I must admit to feeling like I fitted rather well into the local culture. Being a rather bad blues guitarist in my spare time gave me the 'cover' I needed. The most frequent expression I heard there, (the only one that sounded like fingernails on a blackboard) was "do you wants fries on the side?" But apart from this one piece of local idiom, I had no trouble. I do particularly like thise little "Waffle House" restaraunts!

Well, I lie. The one problem was driving on the other side of the road. Now that is a feat of concentration and daredevil ability. As I didn't kill anyone, and survived myself, I left with a fair scoreline of 0-0.

For your reference, my entry in my 'Guide' in relation to Alabama reads: "Great folks, big smiles, lots of fun. Great place to get drunk and play pool!"

Yes, a blues guitarist definitly has the advantage around here! It's a shame I only learned old rock and country! You must spend a good deal of your time around here on Southside. It's the "culture center" of B'ham. (city fathers would rather not admit that)

AAHH! The "Awfle Use"......I mean Waffle House! I played in local bands for quite a few years, back when I was younger. They were my salvation. Climb off a stage at 1:00 AM, so many sheets in the wind you'd lost count, and ooze into the Waffle House. Nobody noticed, 'cause they were drunk, too. Eggs were out of the question, but the Double Quarter Plate would get you back on your feet. The best guage of your sobriety was when you could understand what the waitress was yelling at the cook!(if you could understand it, you were still too drunk to drive)

Speaking of driving.....what's wrong with your driving on the wrong side of the road? Around here, it could only help! The only three things you need to drive in B'ham are plenty of time, plenty of fuel, and good brakes!!!!! Which side of the road your on doesn't seem to make much difference!

I'm glad you have a positive impression with the area. We try to please! B'ham, and Alabama in general, get a lot of bad press. Much of it, I must admit, is well deserved. We are getting better, though. If we could ever get the "Good 'Ol Boys" out of the state government, it would help tremendously! It's never happened in our history, so I don't expect it in my lifetime..........If I could move to Key West(a grand dream of mine)I wouldn't care!

My introduction to B'ham, was in Feb 98. I seemed to have created an impression too quickly for my liking. I was staying in a hotel near Five points South, and as luck would have it, I shared my first mornings breakfast with local guy who found the food in my hotel much better than the local 'soup kitchen'! (Long explanation needed there, but will wait til another day.) Anyway, to cut it short, our conversation revolved around ex wives, seeing as we both had recent ones! He asked me why I was in B'ham, to which I responded tounge in cheek, that I had shot my ex, and was on the run!!! By mid morning, when I ventured out to see the sights, I was quite amazed to be recognised by all the 'life forms' that were congeregating around the fountain!! There were choruses of, "Hey, there's that Aussie guy with a beard. He's the one that shot his wife!" It took some days to clarify the situation and reduce my 'antihero' status, but by then I had made many new friends, and had spent many hours playing guitar with a few hobos and buskers. From then on, I felt at home anytime I go there!

yeah..

Doing anything exciting on November 30?

Yep, Bobsled......That's "Southside"! They do live in a different world down there!!!!LOL

NM