A little while ago I heard a bunch of noise coming from the street. I looked outside and saw a group of protesters walking and blocking all of the northbound lanes on the major road. Ah, it's the FTA protesters! Traffic's been snarled for an hour, there's an ambulance below desperately trying to find a way through the mess, and I'm sure countless Saturday afternoons have been spoiled. So who are these people?
I zoomed in on my photos and noticed that there seems to be more than one group here. One is the Democratic Labor Party, who is actively protesting the latest round of Korea-U.S. FTA negotiations. The Korean Federation of Private Service Workers' Unions, who also opposes the FTA, is present as well.
So much protesting, and over what? Basically, lower taxes on American goods. Things already cost too damn much here, lower prices will be good for the majority of Koreans. I've spent a lot of time this week lecturing on comparative advantage, on how it makes mutual economic sense for Korea to make LCD panels and for America to raise beef. On how reducing taxes on food from America won't negatively effect most producers since most of what is imported isn't even produced here (walnuts, oranges, raisins, etc). Sometimes they listen.
Many of the anti-FTA people that I've talked to don't have a strong argument against it. They listen to the propaganda against the FTA, then go out and protest. Perhaps I should have titled this entry "sheep", but blocking the traffic of your fellow countrymen on their Saturday afternoon is outright douchebaggery.
Points well made. But I still can't understand why my so called American made Dodge truck has "manufactured" and "assembled" in Mexico written all over it. And why so called Japanese Toyotas are manufactured or assembled in South Carolina. Global economy in this new century is confusing for this old fart.
Did some of the picket signs say, "Where's the beef?" haha.