Transcript of Video by Ellis McClure - SCOTT'S WEBSITE!



Transcript of Video by Ellis McClureHi, I‘m Ellis McClure. You probably remember me from my best-selling books, A Farewell to Work and All Quiet on the Trading Floor.I’m here to talk with you today about trade between our neighboring islands and what it will do to all of us. I’m speaking on behalf of the employed workers of your islands. They’ve asked me to give you the real facts behind all this talk about opening up trade between the islands.The most important thing you need to know about trade is that it’s not about “opportunity cost” or any of those other buzzwords you might hear people using. It’s really all about jobs. Just remember this: if we make trade agreements with other nations, our own employed workers will become unemployed workers. That’s a fact, and it’s that simple.If we start trading, our people—our fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers, our kids—will lose their jobs. Should one island’s chemists, clothing designers, and farmers become unemployed so the other island’s workers can produce what they produced? NO! You can’t let it happen.You’ll hear economists argue that in the long run there won’t be unemployment, even if we do trade. Well, as another economist once said, in the long run we’re all dead. Right now, in the short run, we’ll lose our jobs. These ivory-tower economists will tell you that workers in, say, communication technology will simply change occupations as employment opportunities grow in other industries when trade takes effect.That’s just not true. It just doesn’t work that way. A communications technician is not a scientist, a construction worker, or a college professor. People aren’t machines. They can’t just be rebuilt quickly for a new purpose. Think about what you would do if you suddenly had to switch jobs. And can we really enjoy the more plentiful goods that are promised by trade advocates, if we know our fellow citizens are out of work and suffering? No!You know what will happen if we begin trade? Whoosh! Our jobs will disappear. That’s what trade will do for us: lost jobs, lost income, lost opportunities. We can’t let that happen. A country should do what’s best for its people—its working people.Working people are not alone in their fight against trade. You’ll hear many environmentalists and politicians speak out against it too. Here’s a flyer that’s being distributed by environmentalists that clearly lays out the facts about how trade will harm our natural resources and pollute the air we breathe, and our land, and our water. We cannot allow the pro-traders to destroy our environment and our jobs.So, I’m here to ask you to look at the facts and judge for yourselves. Let’s protect our precious environment and our jobs by restricting trade—with tariffs, quotas, and voluntary restraint agreements. If you, the people, won’t do it, who will?Thank you. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download