Strange Bedfellows

The neocon-theocon cabal in power in Washington DC has brought together progressives and libertarians on several fronts. The Iraq war and the "Patriot Act" are two examples. Republican Congressman Ron Paul gives us another example today, The World Trade Organization. He denounces the WTO in Get Out of the WTO.

The World Trade Organization by its own admission is not just about trade. According to the WTO website, liberalizing trade actually takes a back seat to its more activist ambitions, such as “development” – a euphemism for wealth-transfers from rich nations to poor nations.
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In reality, the WTO is the third leg of the globalists’ plan for a one-world, centrally-managed economic system. The intention behind the creation of the WTO was to have a third institution to handle the trade side of international economic cooperation, joining two institutions created by Bretton Woods, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. For the United States to give up any bit of its sovereignty to these unelected and unaccountable organizations is economic suicide. International organizations can never “manage” trade better than it naturally occurs in a true free market of goods and services. At best, WTO acts as a meddling middleman, taking a cut for unnecessary services provided. At worst, it forces the United States to change its domestic laws in ways that seriously harm our economy and our sovereignty.

"You don’t need a treaty to have free trade."

Economist Murray Rothbard said it best: You don’t need a treaty to have free trade. Governments and quasi-government bodies like the WTO can only politicize and interfere with the natural flow of goods and services across borders. When we cede even a fraction of our sovereignty to an organization like the WTO, we can hardly hope to become more prosperous or more free.

While the reasons may not be the same both libertarians and progressives recognize that those currently in power are dangerous and wrong. It may be necessary to join forces so we can debate our differences again in the future.