Too many victims in global village

Re Timely pause in trade talks, Editorial Aug. 5 The premise behind free trade agreements such as the TransPacific Partnership is that global competition in the absence of high tariffs would allow countries to excel in areas where they have an edge. So China’s abundance of cheap labour would turn it into a global manufacturing powerhouse and Canada’s resources and intellectual capital would transition us into a high-tech economy with high-paying jobs.

While free trade has undeniably created more wealth for those with capital, it has also caused the downward spiral for many without the skills to meet the demand of 21st century knowledgebased jobs that pay more than minimum wage. Sure, higher education is the answer, some would say. But the rising cost and declining value of a post-secondary education has simply put more young people in debt for the elusive goal of independence enjoyed by their parents at the same age.

Free trade has encouraged employers to send many middle-class manufacturing jobs to the bidder with lowest wages, with no loyalty to community or country. For having acquiesced to the theory of global trade and benefits of trickle-down economics peddled by successive governments, ill-informed voters have traded away their middle-class existence for temporary, part-time or contract work, masqueraded as self-employment, to salvage their self-esteem.

We have, by our own apathy, colluded with politicians and corporations in our own economic demise. We have been deluded into thinking that cheap plus more in a hyper-consumption society equal a better quality of life.

Yes, we are all blessed with cheap sneakers, throwaway trinkets and a big-screen TV in every room of our highly mortgaged semi-detached house. But given the evidence of the last 20 years, isn’t the best trade for us to pay a little more and own a bit less in exchange for better jobs and living wages at home? Bob Wong, Richmond Hill