I'm not sure if I support protectionism or not. When one of our industries goes out of business it is gone for ever. Protectionism would stop that happening. Against that the industries we do have are free to expand across the world and other countries industries can move here and provide jobs.
Overall, I think, I'm against globalisation and in favour of small local solutions and democracy
i support trade, but trade agreements have been about much, much more than just trade, at least since NAFTA
The text of the current proposed agreements are probably (deliberately) too long and opaque even for journalists to actually read, especially given how beleaguered the industry has become. This is probably why we see so many articles pathologizing imaginary Belgians (in the case of CETA), and so few that actually attempt to explain their objections.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/14/wallonia-ceta-ttip-eu-trade-belgium
From the President of Wallonia: "So are the people of Wallonia now dreaming of a closed world, where boundaries and borders can be rebuilt? Are they the European counterparts of those US citizens who voted for Donald Trump, hoping that the billionaire, who opposes TTIP and other trade deals would counter the effects of international trade on their jobs and salaries?
I don’t think the parallels are helpful in understanding the mood in Wallonia. The revolt in this post-industrial region was sparked first and foremost by the attitude of the EU institutions. Trade is an area in which the EU, not the member governments, has exclusive legal powers, but this new generation of international trade treaties goes far beyond trade. They affect, at least potentially, very sensitive national and regional competences (labour, health and environmental laws, public services and social protection, local agriculture …). The European commission should have understood that treaties with such wide-ranging effects would not leave public opinion in the nations and regions indifferent."
Opposing CETA (or TTP, TTIP et al) is NOT synonymous with opposing international trade, or globalization, though you'd never know it from the sneering rhapsodies you see on mainstream sites. It's only a binary if you're too lazy to see it any other way.
these are not trade agreements, per se - they are binding legislation on health care, the environment, education, labour rights, essentially the whole menu of public policy, written behind closed doors, in some cases directly by corporate representatives and lobbyists, then hastily imposed on legislatures on an all or nothing basis.
if nothing else, i'm happy Trump + Brexit will mean the Davos/Thomas Friedman crowd will have to cool it...
or maybe Trump will just change the name from TTIP to TRUMPTIP (it's gonna be awesome!!!) and pass the rest of the text intact
