Souseiseki wrote:Thermodolia wrote:I agree. I think the we, US and the west, should use trade deals to inact change across the world. For example we should tell China that we aren’t going to trade with them until they get their act together on the environment and democracy.
I think we should use trade as a way to bring nations up to speed on civil, political, and worker’s rights and better care of the environment
bring nations up to speed, or twist their arms into doing what you've decided is right? if they started demanding you change your civil or political rights in exchange for trade deals and started using their economic clout and political inertia to attempt to force it on you you'd be absolutely seething. we can see this in practice - not a day goes by where someone in the UK does not scream to the heaven's about how the ECHR is tramping their sovereignty when it brings them "up to speed". but when it comes to the UK or canada declaring they've definitely got it right this time and yet again appointing themselves as the bastions of light who must enlighten the backwaters no one bats an eye, despite the fact we're still cleaning up the mess from the damage cause the last two times they did it. i am sick of reading about the constant bullshit the US has pushed and is still pushing onto the rest of the world, ourselves included, and i won't abide by continuing to allow them to do it. every paper i read has some "and then the west swung their chlorinated chicken around and pressured/forced everyone into going along with whatever great idea they had this time" section in it. but they'll keep doing it, they'll keep being successful, and we'll just have to hope that whatever they decide is their next great crusade doesn't turn out to be something we hate and will fuck us for centuries to come. "but we're right!", right?
but, maybe, just maybe, it might be tolerable if they just admitted that they are rabid cultural imperialists. but they won't.
I wonder how I can be an internationalist without being a cultural imperialist