Exactly. But you really can't blame the protectionists. They think it is the way to guarantee security of income, of lifestyle. It's like when someone gets nervous before a concert performance. You can tell them that they need to relax, that if they do, they'll perform better and won't feel as nervous. But they still tighten up because it is the survival instinct. Every proof in the world is meaningless at that point. The bottom line is that it is part of the technique of the centrally managed economy, which is socialism, which always fails or at least reduces people to a lowest common denominator.
Agreed....and I believe there is a language barrier here of sorts as well.
"Free Trade" or what passes for free trade today is monitored by NGO's like the WTO. Trade Agreements are enforced, interpreted accordingly...and quite often, they are interpreted in a manner that does not favor the US. For those who view "free trade" as trade sanctioned and supervised in this manner...it is easy for me to understand how one would become jaded.
Truly free trade proceeds from the rational self interest of the trading partners...and leaves both partners better off...and it does not require the supervision of an NGO nanny. No one should fear truly free trade, because both sides of the equation will be in a better position after the trade. I think there is a lot of room to discuss our participation in orgs like the WTO....and they are the real danger to our way of life.
"The bottom line is that it is part of the technique of the centrally managed economy, which is socialism, which always fails or at least reduces people to a lowest common denominator."
There you go again, ignoring history. By your logic about 170 years of US history is solid socialism, considering it involved solid and irrefutable policies of protectionism. And considering the Buchanan-like protectionist policies espoused by most of the Founding Fathers, this country must've been founded by socialists as well.