The Analyst Blog

Might Liberals Someday Wake Up to the Perils of Global Governance?

For decades now, conservative activists and libertarian-types (and some liberals) have been the primary voices of caution against the dangers to national sovereignty posed by global governance. Time and time again people like Thomas Sowell, Tom DeWeese, Cheryl Chumley, (all fine folks at Capitalism Magazine), and Alex Jones - to name just a few - have warned us about the often subversive encroachment of the New World Order.

Yes, much of the howling about world governance is laced with paranoia and shrill rhetoric. (In that case, its a wonder such warnings haven't been more commonplace in America's newspapers and on the 24-hour news channels.) Nevertheless, it can only be said that wanton negligence, purposeful tunnel-vision, and selective opportunism have allowed things to get as far as they have.

Might liberals be coming around now, or might they in the future?

Hilariously (IMO), it is Wal-Mart that ignited their fires recently.

Union leaders, politicians and anti-globalization activists have used the courts and zoning laws to keep big-box stores like Wal-Mart out of their neighborhoods.

This week, those retailers will head to Hong Kong to try to persuade negotiators to fashion a trade pact that would make it more difficult for governments to restrict foreign-owned stores, banks and telecommunications companies.

These retailers say they are not making a back-door attempt to undo various countries' laws.....But critics, who include state Sen. Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont) and Los Angeles City Councilman Eric Garcetti, call the move a stealth attack on grass-roots democracy. They fear that the proposals to change the WTO's 1994 General Agreement on Trade in Services would make it easier to attack dozens of U.S. laws designed to restrict the growth of big-box retailers. (emphasis added) (LAT)

Sounds awfully similar to the complaints issued in the articles that I linked to above doesn't it?

For example:

The Global Compact Center and its Responsible Investment Initiative are
thinly veiled attacks against capitalism that, left unchecked, will result in a
ceding of private and sovereign national oversight and regulatory powers to the
global government. (CapMag)

Ironically, even environmentalists - who are among those most responsible for the massive growth in world government over the last few decades - are not lamenting the incursion of global governing institutions across national and local boundaries.

Campaigners today delivered a petition to the World Trade Organization Director Pascal Lamy during trade talks taking place at the Hong Kong Convention Centre.

Through the petition citizens ask the WTO not to undermine the right of individual countries, in this case European countries, to take appropriate steps to protect their farmland, environment, and consumers from the risks posed by genetically modified food and crops.

Ronnie Hall, Friends of the Earth International's trade campaigner and one of the report's authors said, "The myth of unfettered free trade as a solution to poverty needs to be exploded. Regional and bilateral trade agreements running in parallel are as untransparent and harmful as the WTO." (emphasis added) (ENS)

Unfortunately though, it seems that liberal tunnel-vision on the issue of global governance is not likely to abate any time soon. (As untransparent and harmful as world government is more like it). While I agree with Mr. Hall's statement entirely, it seems liberals still do not recognize global governance itself as a problem, but only global capitalism as they see it. The opposite though might also be said of conservative free-traders who support the WTO but lament organizations like UNESCO.

"What we need now is a halt to trade liberalization negotiations and an urgent review of the impacts of international trade rules on poor people and the environment," Hall said. (ENS)

Like I said, selective opportunism.

I will end this post with a quote from Cheryl Chumley:

The idea of ceding authority to the global government is never one that should be taken lightly..... (CapMag)

posted by The Analyst @ 3:38 AM