A very interesting feature article over at the Grapevine this month is about “Iceland-China, Is Free-trade as Good as Claimed?“.
There is a lot of interesting information in the article and gives some insight into Iceland’s situation and aspirations. Very well balanced reporting and asks the tough questions. I am very skeptical about a wide open agreement and whether it will benefit both sides equally. Putting politics aside my fears are about safety, health, and the health of this planet. When North America started to see the light a few decades ago about how bad we were treating the environment we wisely started setting a few ground rules about manufacturing and resources. It was a good start even if it got derailed eventually. If a factory such as an old style freon plant or refinery couldn’t retrofit to the new rules it would be demolished and replaced with new. Problem was we dismantled the plants and sold them to China where they have multiplied to this day. The atmosphere cares nothing about political boundaries or good intentions. We place shifted and time shifted the problems and they are now bitting us in the ass.
Our economy demands an ever increasing rate of consumption and to do that we helped create the juggernaut that is now Chinese manufacturing. Will free-trade correct the imbalance and environmental concerns? I have little faith in that promise. We care much less about quality and safety and only want cheap and cheaper. We give lip service to state politics and human rights. And turn a blind eye to rampant deceit and corruption. Just get me my crap faster and cheaper so I can throw it away and buy it again and again.
Tread lightly Iceland, you don’t need this as much as you think. How about this idea, don’t do it until your ships can make the trip via the North West Passage. Deal?
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