[LowCountryJoe]

When I asked you to describe the differences between "fair Trade" and free trade, while I didn't expect something detailed like this, I did expect a reply with a lot more substance and understanding on the issue. Instead, all I really got was some class warfare rhetoric and a lousy - yet inexpensive - t-shirt from Asia.

[unseen]

Yeah your right I should have been like you and posted a long winded essay with so many holes in it that I could spend all night picking it apart. Also it's so nice of you to frame the debate in your terms. In your frame of reference Fair trade is akin to socialism while free trade is God's gift to freedom. This goes back to my previous posts where I state that free traders have blinders on when it comes to free trade. With each post you prove my point. When you as a free trader can not even enter into debate on the damages to national security that free trade if taken to its logical conclusions presents.

If you noticed in my post I did not use theoretical definitions of "free trade" vs "fair trade" but a real world example. The free trade model I used will put around 600,000 American workers out of work. Those 600,000 workers will be a drain on the state which will require increases in taxes to pay for their unemployment, food stamps, healthcare, reeducation etc. While at the same time those same jobs will be outsourced to China where China will have increased their jobs to meet demand. Thereby increasing its tax base and making China wealthier and economically more powerful in the world.

Since you did not debate my point I conclude that you are trying to win the debate by changing the debate (which is what most free traders do when confronted with hard cold facts)