Saturday, September 29, 2012
New Music Friday
Let's take it down a notch and experience Porcelain Raft's "Drifting In And Out."
Ever wonder what it would sound like if the lead singer of Mazzy Star started taking Zoloft, dabbling in Electronica and listening to Cure albums?
Just press play:
Answers For Your Favorite Cultural Relativist
If there is one thing I hate in discussions about international human rights violations, it's that one turd who whines that we have to no right to put our Western values on other cultures.
Bam! Conversation over.
Or is it?
Enter Ann Marie Mayer and her book "Islam and Human Rights." In the text Mayer mainly focuses on Islam but her arguments have wider application.
She starts out by addressing the claim that the West has committed atrocities of its own and is therefore is in no position to judge others:
"If the hypocrisy of the foreign policy of a scholar's home government disqualified that scholar from pursuing study of other societies and cultures, most such study would be barred."
She continues:
"To believe that Islam precludes Orientals from claiming the same rights and freedoms as people in the West is to commit oneself to perpetuating the Orientalist tenet that Islam is a static, uniform system that dominates Oriental society, the coherence and continuity of which should not be imperiled by foreign intrusions such as democratic ideas and human rights."
And further:
"Assertions that governmental resistance to international human rights represents a defense of traditional culture and morality have been made by governmental spokespersons in international conferences in attempts to defend governmental records of human rights violations."
Mayer points out that among scholars and practitioners of Islam there is hardly a consensus on religious interpretation.
Here are three of my favorite quotes:
"As an Argentinean observer of the attitudes of American cultural relativists has noted, their position implies that countries that do not spring from a Western tradition may somehow be excused from complying with the international law of human rights. This elitist theory of human rights holds that human rights are good for the West but not for much of the non-Western world."
"The result is a vague warning against "ethnocentrism," and well-intentioned proposals that are deferential to tyrannical governments and insufficiently concerned with human suffering."
"Because the consequences of elitism is that certain national or ethnic groups are somehow less entitled than others to the enjoyment of human rights, the theory is fundamentally immoral and replete with racist overtones."
How I wish I had read her work when one of my classmates used the "Western values" argument to kill a conversation about female genital mutilation.
Instead I just gave him the stink eye and said, "Oh, please."
Next time Cultural Relativist. Next time.
Bam! Conversation over.
Or is it?
Enter Ann Marie Mayer and her book "Islam and Human Rights." In the text Mayer mainly focuses on Islam but her arguments have wider application.
She starts out by addressing the claim that the West has committed atrocities of its own and is therefore is in no position to judge others:
"If the hypocrisy of the foreign policy of a scholar's home government disqualified that scholar from pursuing study of other societies and cultures, most such study would be barred."
She continues:
"To believe that Islam precludes Orientals from claiming the same rights and freedoms as people in the West is to commit oneself to perpetuating the Orientalist tenet that Islam is a static, uniform system that dominates Oriental society, the coherence and continuity of which should not be imperiled by foreign intrusions such as democratic ideas and human rights."
And further:
"Assertions that governmental resistance to international human rights represents a defense of traditional culture and morality have been made by governmental spokespersons in international conferences in attempts to defend governmental records of human rights violations."
Mayer points out that among scholars and practitioners of Islam there is hardly a consensus on religious interpretation.
Here are three of my favorite quotes:
"As an Argentinean observer of the attitudes of American cultural relativists has noted, their position implies that countries that do not spring from a Western tradition may somehow be excused from complying with the international law of human rights. This elitist theory of human rights holds that human rights are good for the West but not for much of the non-Western world."
"The result is a vague warning against "ethnocentrism," and well-intentioned proposals that are deferential to tyrannical governments and insufficiently concerned with human suffering."
"Because the consequences of elitism is that certain national or ethnic groups are somehow less entitled than others to the enjoyment of human rights, the theory is fundamentally immoral and replete with racist overtones."
How I wish I had read her work when one of my classmates used the "Western values" argument to kill a conversation about female genital mutilation.
Instead I just gave him the stink eye and said, "Oh, please."
Next time Cultural Relativist. Next time.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Vulgar en Verde
My school just added a bunch of too green Astro Turf around some of the trees in one of our common areas.
For some reason, it just didn't sit well with me.
Why couldn't we use bark or pebbles? Why must our natural areas wear unnatural ground toupees?
It's had a strange effect on my fellow students too.
During the class breaks I found half a dozen or so of them standing on the artificial grass with brows knit, lifting one foot gingerly and setting it down again. They seemed to feel that something was off about the whole affair.
"It's missing something," I said aloud. And then inspiration struck.
I went to several garden and hardware stores yesterday looking for the perfect Astro Turf compliment.
The helpful assistants showed me all sorts of tasteful rabbits and frogs and the occasional Buddha in repose.
"Do you have anything a little more.....tacky?" I asked.
They did not.
This was obviously a job for the internet.
That's where I found this beauty:
He whistles! And in 7 to 10 business days he will be delivered to my house.
I'm not sure if I want to add more or just let this fellow make a statement by himself. I've considered buying pink flamingos and rainbow colored whirligigs but I don't want to puncture or damage the school's property or do anything that can be construed as vandalism.
I'm thinking of buying some giant red and white spotted mushrooms and maybe a couple of plastic geese or a light-up frosty the snowman-as long as they are brightly colored and an affront to good taste, I'm game.
I'll be sure to photograph the final oeuvre d'art and post it here.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Character Building: DJ Edition
Oh my, my, my.
What went right on Thursday night? Not much my friend, not much.
I got there around 11:30 so I could get a feel for what the other guys were playing. To my surprise the venue had a dance space. I was expecting to play slower ambient house or chill type background music. I quickly saw that that wouldn't do.
Before I play a set I will sit for hours at home looking for rare remixes and trying to match beats so when I cross fade from one deck to the other there won't be any weird cacophony.
I subscribe to a premium membership through the DJ software company so I can get unlimited downloads like 99-Style by Poka- which is damned near impossible to find anywhere else. I have it on Sound Cloud but the free downloads ran out ages ago and the program isn't set up for mixing.
Anyhoo, I wasn't expecting difficulties with the equipment but that's exactly what I got.
I suppose if you are going to fail as hard as I did, it helps to at least do it in front of friends-people who wish you well and will still speak to you when you see them in class on Monday.
Sigh.
I got all hooked up at about 1:45 a.m. and S helped me get situated. He and I are both still learning how to use the actual deck and spend the majority of our time using the software on our laptops for mixing.
When setting up we accidentally selected the option that only allows you to download one song at a time on one deck. When I tried to add a song to deck B, the song loaded over the one I was already playing on deck A. Awful!
Then the speakers went silent and we could hear the muffled music emanating quietly from some unknown origin. We spent the next few minutes looking all over and trying to find out what button we had hit to make the music go away. At this point A. came over and drunkenly asked if I would play some hip hop. He kept insisting and cajoling. I was panicking over the impending disaster and shooed him away.
The people on the dance floor started to get restless and clear out. We had to figure something out fast. I reset the deck options and S somehow figured out the problem with the speakers. Finally Poka came booming out over the speakers and people started to dance.
"I think we need more practice with this thing," S said, gesturing at the deck.
I agreed.
The song after Poka was slower and a few people left the floor. The song after was also slow and the rest of them cleared out.
The owner of the establishment came over and put his arm around me sympathetically. (Imagine a kinder, gentler, Asian Simon Cowell.) "Sweetheart, do you have any salsa?" he asked.
"I don't!" I wailed.
I called S over and he replaced my laptop with his own. The resulting silence sent the rest of the patrons home which wasn't too surprising since it was pretty near closing time anyway.
I felt so awful.
The kid who won our school DJ contest was there trying to get an idea about what to play at the Halloween party. I drove him home and we talked about the clubs he had gone to back in his native Japan. He said he needed some help compiling music for our party and I promised to help him out.
My friend Ser came over today and told me he thought more people would have voted for me if they had known how pronounce my DJ name.
I had tried to be all clever and chosen the Nahuatl word "Xochitl."
The guy who won was calling himself "DJ Atom."
I think Ser may have a point.
While Ser and I were driving around Fort Ord we discovered a roller rink and I noticed they have a need for a DJ.
I bet I'd have to play a lot of Justin Bieber for tween girls and that's just a step above painting one's face white and pretending to be trapped in an invisible box.
Anyway, here are some tips I've compiled for anyone trying to DJ in a U.S. club:
1. Always have an alcoholic beverage handy. Don't drink it just keep it there so you can blame it on the ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-alcohol if things start going south.
2. Have an easy-to-pronounce DJ name, especially if there is a competition and people will have to write it down to vote for you. (I'm thinking of changing mine to "DJ Hot Mess" or "DJ Technical Difficulties", that way I can say I warned my listeners.)
3. Remember that you are NOT in Europe and all those sweet remixes that would bring 'em to their knees at Club Pacha will probably not go over well with the Americans. Be prepared to play something hideous like that damned G-6 song or something with Chris Brown's punk ass in it. (I refuse to play Chris Brown but there are plenty of auto-tuned substitutes that are equally as awful.)
4. Don't get all "lost in the music" and start doing crazy dance moves around the equipment. You might fall on one of the deck buttons and mute your sound (like I did). It ruins your image of cool indifference if you're too into your own tracks. Head nodding, and some light stepping is okay.
5. Show up early and do a mic and sound check before everyone else gets there.
6. Do NOT hit the Sync button on the same side of the deck where the current song is playing unless you want it to sound like Alvin and Chipmunks just dropped a frantic dance track.
7. Only fiddle with the pitch buttons when you are confident that they won't spell out disaster on a cross fade. Practice at home.
8. Never wear long sleeves to an inside gig. No matter what the weather outside is like, inside is going to feel like a sauna.
I'll add more to the list as my experiences permit. For now though, this ought to be a good start.
Good luck and good night!
What went right on Thursday night? Not much my friend, not much.
I got there around 11:30 so I could get a feel for what the other guys were playing. To my surprise the venue had a dance space. I was expecting to play slower ambient house or chill type background music. I quickly saw that that wouldn't do.
Before I play a set I will sit for hours at home looking for rare remixes and trying to match beats so when I cross fade from one deck to the other there won't be any weird cacophony.
I subscribe to a premium membership through the DJ software company so I can get unlimited downloads like 99-Style by Poka- which is damned near impossible to find anywhere else. I have it on Sound Cloud but the free downloads ran out ages ago and the program isn't set up for mixing.
Anyhoo, I wasn't expecting difficulties with the equipment but that's exactly what I got.
I suppose if you are going to fail as hard as I did, it helps to at least do it in front of friends-people who wish you well and will still speak to you when you see them in class on Monday.
Sigh.
I got all hooked up at about 1:45 a.m. and S helped me get situated. He and I are both still learning how to use the actual deck and spend the majority of our time using the software on our laptops for mixing.
When setting up we accidentally selected the option that only allows you to download one song at a time on one deck. When I tried to add a song to deck B, the song loaded over the one I was already playing on deck A. Awful!
Then the speakers went silent and we could hear the muffled music emanating quietly from some unknown origin. We spent the next few minutes looking all over and trying to find out what button we had hit to make the music go away. At this point A. came over and drunkenly asked if I would play some hip hop. He kept insisting and cajoling. I was panicking over the impending disaster and shooed him away.
The people on the dance floor started to get restless and clear out. We had to figure something out fast. I reset the deck options and S somehow figured out the problem with the speakers. Finally Poka came booming out over the speakers and people started to dance.
"I think we need more practice with this thing," S said, gesturing at the deck.
I agreed.
The song after Poka was slower and a few people left the floor. The song after was also slow and the rest of them cleared out.
The owner of the establishment came over and put his arm around me sympathetically. (Imagine a kinder, gentler, Asian Simon Cowell.) "Sweetheart, do you have any salsa?" he asked.
"I don't!" I wailed.
I called S over and he replaced my laptop with his own. The resulting silence sent the rest of the patrons home which wasn't too surprising since it was pretty near closing time anyway.
I felt so awful.
The kid who won our school DJ contest was there trying to get an idea about what to play at the Halloween party. I drove him home and we talked about the clubs he had gone to back in his native Japan. He said he needed some help compiling music for our party and I promised to help him out.
My friend Ser came over today and told me he thought more people would have voted for me if they had known how pronounce my DJ name.
I had tried to be all clever and chosen the Nahuatl word "Xochitl."
The guy who won was calling himself "DJ Atom."
I think Ser may have a point.
While Ser and I were driving around Fort Ord we discovered a roller rink and I noticed they have a need for a DJ.
I bet I'd have to play a lot of Justin Bieber for tween girls and that's just a step above painting one's face white and pretending to be trapped in an invisible box.
Anyway, here are some tips I've compiled for anyone trying to DJ in a U.S. club:
1. Always have an alcoholic beverage handy. Don't drink it just keep it there so you can blame it on the ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-alcohol if things start going south.
2. Have an easy-to-pronounce DJ name, especially if there is a competition and people will have to write it down to vote for you. (I'm thinking of changing mine to "DJ Hot Mess" or "DJ Technical Difficulties", that way I can say I warned my listeners.)
3. Remember that you are NOT in Europe and all those sweet remixes that would bring 'em to their knees at Club Pacha will probably not go over well with the Americans. Be prepared to play something hideous like that damned G-6 song or something with Chris Brown's punk ass in it. (I refuse to play Chris Brown but there are plenty of auto-tuned substitutes that are equally as awful.)
4. Don't get all "lost in the music" and start doing crazy dance moves around the equipment. You might fall on one of the deck buttons and mute your sound (like I did). It ruins your image of cool indifference if you're too into your own tracks. Head nodding, and some light stepping is okay.
5. Show up early and do a mic and sound check before everyone else gets there.
6. Do NOT hit the Sync button on the same side of the deck where the current song is playing unless you want it to sound like Alvin and Chipmunks just dropped a frantic dance track.
7. Only fiddle with the pitch buttons when you are confident that they won't spell out disaster on a cross fade. Practice at home.
8. Never wear long sleeves to an inside gig. No matter what the weather outside is like, inside is going to feel like a sauna.
I'll add more to the list as my experiences permit. For now though, this ought to be a good start.
Good luck and good night!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Thursday Night Live
I will be DJ-ing at a local venue this Thursday night and the following track will be my opener:
Sunday, September 16, 2012
The DJ Experience
Last night I participated in a school DJ competition against four other guys.
I loved it!
People shouted "turn it up", especially when I played Gangnam Style. One guy made eye contact with me and then started doing the horse riding dance from the video. A group of girls broke out into grins and started bobbing their heads. The Korean students showed explicit approval.
This track seems to be universally liked.
It was great to have my friends there to support me and dance and show their enthusiasm.
Several people came over to where I was mixing to ask what I was playing or just to say they liked my set list.
Ohmygoditwastotallyawesome!
I don't know who won yet, but I even if it wasn't me, I had a great time.
I loved it!
People shouted "turn it up", especially when I played Gangnam Style. One guy made eye contact with me and then started doing the horse riding dance from the video. A group of girls broke out into grins and started bobbing their heads. The Korean students showed explicit approval.
This track seems to be universally liked.
It was great to have my friends there to support me and dance and show their enthusiasm.
Several people came over to where I was mixing to ask what I was playing or just to say they liked my set list.
Ohmygoditwastotallyawesome!
I don't know who won yet, but I even if it wasn't me, I had a great time.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
This DJ
 |
| Try not to envy my powerful speaker output. |
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!
Many of you may not know this but I have been harboring DJ desires for some time now (just check out my wallpaper).
On the last Friday of every month my grad school hosts a social hour. I've had some interesting times at these events. The first time I showed up not knowing that I was supposed to bring my own cup for the wine. I ended up drinking wine directly from the bottle; girl out of South, South not out of girl, etc. The next time I wore a lengha and a fake nose ring.
Our usual DJ graduated last semester and the one that replaced him last Friday was okay but he seemed to still be learning the ropes. I contacted our student council president and asked her if I could DJ at our next event. Not only did she approve the idea but it turns out that she was planning to have a competition to choose who will DJ our Halloween party ( an outside gig that actually require "DJ insurance").
Well this was all well and good except for the fact that I had never actually used any sort of DJ equipment. Turns out, neither had the other DJ. I ran into him and he told me the school had just purchased the Numark IDJ3. I went home and watched some YouTube tutorials and then made arrangements to check ours out so I could fiddle around with it and fumble my way towards mixing greatness.
The device is light and easy to hook up. It comes with a iPod docking station (which seems to render the deck buttons useless) and software that allows for interface with a laptop.
I had fun learning how to cue, fade and scratch. This little marvel also allows you to mix, loop and record your own tracks on your iPod.
There's a lot more for me to learn but I feel confident enough to face my colleagues this Friday whilst blending a playlist and tweaking a nob or two for effect.
My life goal is to have a 20-year career as a diplomat before retiring to Ibiza and becoming a granny DJ. I want to do things old school with Technics turntables, and some dude named Lars to hand me my records. If things get rowdy I'll just go all wide-eyed when the police show up and talk about how in my day, young people knew how to behave.
 |
| My iPod Nano gives a subtle shout out to 2008 |
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Labor Day Panty Run
I went out to Big Sur with my daughter and friend Chris on Sunday.
One never knows what to expect from a California beach (weather wise) so I wore some black exercise pants and a thin long sleeved shirt.
After passing through more micro-climates than I care to count we made it down to the beach and the sun actually peeked out from behind the low-hanging clouds.
I decided that I needed some sun on my legs and that my black underwear was just as good as bikini bottoms. I slipped out of the pants.
I ended up chasing a Frisbee around the beach in my skivvies and the world did not grind to a halt.
No pearls were clutched, no children's eyes covered, no little old ladies revived through smelling salts.
I ran around like a wild thing in my underwear. It was awesome.
One never knows what to expect from a California beach (weather wise) so I wore some black exercise pants and a thin long sleeved shirt.
After passing through more micro-climates than I care to count we made it down to the beach and the sun actually peeked out from behind the low-hanging clouds.
I decided that I needed some sun on my legs and that my black underwear was just as good as bikini bottoms. I slipped out of the pants.
I ended up chasing a Frisbee around the beach in my skivvies and the world did not grind to a halt.
No pearls were clutched, no children's eyes covered, no little old ladies revived through smelling salts.
I ran around like a wild thing in my underwear. It was awesome.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
A Tail of Two Scissors
I went in for a major hair overhaul today.
I always pluck up the courage to grow it out and end up hating the results with every inch of growth.
I went to the lady I've come to trust when it comes to cutting the perfect bob.
So there I was, sitting peacefully and watching my hair come back to life. Ah, bless.
Suddenly, some hulking man stomped in and began making reference to "broken scissors."
I could tell the stylist knew the guy but I didn't understand who he was or, more importantly, why he thought he had the right to bust in and start asking her 50 questions while she was trimming my hair.
He demanded she give him the scissors so he could inspect them.
I didn't like the way he was standing over both of us or the fact that he insisted that the stylist deal with the scissor issue right then and there.
She stopped cutting my hair and meekly handed him another pair of scissors from her drawer. He then proceeded to look over them and claim there was nothing wrong with them.
His proximity to us and continued ordering about of the stylist grated on my last nerve.
He next told her to use them on my hair to see if they worked.
"Is it cutting the hair?" he asked.
At that point I had had enough.
"I don't want my hair experimented on," I said firmly.
My stylist picked up the functioning pair of scissors and resumed my trim.
The man walked away but continued to fiddle with the scissors. Finally he left.
The full story is that he came to my stylist claiming to have just started a scissor sharpening business and because he had been her customer for years, she was happy to try his service.
In the end, he broke her scissors and charged her $50 for his service. She had to buy a brand new pair of scissors for $320.
Somehow word got back to this guy that her scissors were broken.
I guess he though he could just storm into her store and intimidate her into using broken scissors and continuing to do business with him.
The lady told me she didn't want to bad mouth him so she had only told her sister (who also cuts hair at the salon) and the owner of the business so they would know why she didn't want to do further business with him.
Her sister later told her that he had broken her scissors as well.
She wanted to keep the peace so she had told the man "thank you, but I don't want your services anymore."
If I had had some sort of aerosol on my person I would have sprayed it repeatedly into his eyes while shouting "stranger danger!"
I guess it just goes to show why you should always have a small bottle of perfume handy in your purse.
I always pluck up the courage to grow it out and end up hating the results with every inch of growth.
I went to the lady I've come to trust when it comes to cutting the perfect bob.
So there I was, sitting peacefully and watching my hair come back to life. Ah, bless.
Suddenly, some hulking man stomped in and began making reference to "broken scissors."
I could tell the stylist knew the guy but I didn't understand who he was or, more importantly, why he thought he had the right to bust in and start asking her 50 questions while she was trimming my hair.
He demanded she give him the scissors so he could inspect them.
I didn't like the way he was standing over both of us or the fact that he insisted that the stylist deal with the scissor issue right then and there.
She stopped cutting my hair and meekly handed him another pair of scissors from her drawer. He then proceeded to look over them and claim there was nothing wrong with them.
His proximity to us and continued ordering about of the stylist grated on my last nerve.
He next told her to use them on my hair to see if they worked.
"Is it cutting the hair?" he asked.
At that point I had had enough.
"I don't want my hair experimented on," I said firmly.
My stylist picked up the functioning pair of scissors and resumed my trim.
The man walked away but continued to fiddle with the scissors. Finally he left.
The full story is that he came to my stylist claiming to have just started a scissor sharpening business and because he had been her customer for years, she was happy to try his service.
In the end, he broke her scissors and charged her $50 for his service. She had to buy a brand new pair of scissors for $320.
Somehow word got back to this guy that her scissors were broken.
I guess he though he could just storm into her store and intimidate her into using broken scissors and continuing to do business with him.
The lady told me she didn't want to bad mouth him so she had only told her sister (who also cuts hair at the salon) and the owner of the business so they would know why she didn't want to do further business with him.
Her sister later told her that he had broken her scissors as well.
She wanted to keep the peace so she had told the man "thank you, but I don't want your services anymore."
If I had had some sort of aerosol on my person I would have sprayed it repeatedly into his eyes while shouting "stranger danger!"
I guess it just goes to show why you should always have a small bottle of perfume handy in your purse.
U.S. Cotton Dumping Brings Hush Money To Brazil
I have just started my International Economics course at school and our focus this semester will be on trade and finance.
Our professor got things off to an interesting start by recounting a disturbing tale involving U.S. Cotton subsidies, the WTO and Brazil.
You won't believe what happened.
The U.S. heavily subsidizes domestic cotton production even when other crops could be grown more sustainably without subsidies. N.P.R. reports that these subsidies amount to between 1.5 and 4 billion dollars annually.
TIME magazine's Michael Grunwald had this to say:
"I've previously written that federal farm subsidies are bad fiscal, environmental and agricultural policy; bad water, energy and health policy; and bad foreign policy, to boot. Cotton subsidies are a particularly egregious form of corporate welfare, funneling about $3 billion a year to fewer than 20,000 planters who tend to use inordinate amounts of water, energy and pesticides. But the World Trade Organization (WTO) doesn't prohibit dumb subsidies. It only prohibits subsidies that distort trade and hurt farmers in other countries."
The U.S. dumps this cheap cotton into the market and drives down its price making it difficult for subsistence farmers in places Mali, Benin, Chad and Burkina Faso to enter the market competitively and pull themselves out of poverty.
Back in 2002, Pedro Camargo, Brazil's Secretary of Trade in the Agriculture Department, decided to file a complaint against the U.S. with the World Trade Organization on grounds that it was distorting trade.
The WTO sided with Brazil.
Always being one to set the example in global leadership, America ignored the ruling.
Former Florida Congressmen and retired WTO judge Jim Bacchus made this erudite statement: "The WTO has no legal authority to make any sovereign country do anything. It has no police force; it has no black helicopters."
In other words, the U.S. will go on being a petulant child and denying the legitimacy of international organizations that try to curb its power. (See also the "International Criminal Court" and "United Nations.")
But Brazil wasn't done with us yet. The WTO allows the winning party to tax imports from the offending country and that's exactly what was threatened.
Brazil contacted powerful businesses in the U.S. and warned them that heavy import taxes would go into effect within a month. Lobbyist for the businesses went into overdrive and the U.S. capitulated in the end.
According to NPR:
"The American negotiators sat down in Brazil and immediately declared it impossible to get rid of the cotton subsidies right away. But the two sides came to an agreement. The U.S. would pay Brazilian cotton farmers $147 million a year, and Brazil would drop the threat of retaliation."
From where I'm standing this looks a hell of a lot like a bribe.
"Maybe it's a bribe," Pedro Camargo told the reporter from NPR. "For Brazilian farmers, its' a lot of money."
So to sum up, we are still spending billions on domestic cotton subsidies, we pay millions to Brazil annually so it will keep its trap shut and farmers in West Africa are still struggling with poverty.
Hurrah for free trade, globalism, rational actors in the market, etc.
Our professor got things off to an interesting start by recounting a disturbing tale involving U.S. Cotton subsidies, the WTO and Brazil.
You won't believe what happened.
The U.S. heavily subsidizes domestic cotton production even when other crops could be grown more sustainably without subsidies. N.P.R. reports that these subsidies amount to between 1.5 and 4 billion dollars annually.
TIME magazine's Michael Grunwald had this to say:
"I've previously written that federal farm subsidies are bad fiscal, environmental and agricultural policy; bad water, energy and health policy; and bad foreign policy, to boot. Cotton subsidies are a particularly egregious form of corporate welfare, funneling about $3 billion a year to fewer than 20,000 planters who tend to use inordinate amounts of water, energy and pesticides. But the World Trade Organization (WTO) doesn't prohibit dumb subsidies. It only prohibits subsidies that distort trade and hurt farmers in other countries."
The U.S. dumps this cheap cotton into the market and drives down its price making it difficult for subsistence farmers in places Mali, Benin, Chad and Burkina Faso to enter the market competitively and pull themselves out of poverty.
Back in 2002, Pedro Camargo, Brazil's Secretary of Trade in the Agriculture Department, decided to file a complaint against the U.S. with the World Trade Organization on grounds that it was distorting trade.
The WTO sided with Brazil.
Always being one to set the example in global leadership, America ignored the ruling.
Former Florida Congressmen and retired WTO judge Jim Bacchus made this erudite statement: "The WTO has no legal authority to make any sovereign country do anything. It has no police force; it has no black helicopters."
In other words, the U.S. will go on being a petulant child and denying the legitimacy of international organizations that try to curb its power. (See also the "International Criminal Court" and "United Nations.")
But Brazil wasn't done with us yet. The WTO allows the winning party to tax imports from the offending country and that's exactly what was threatened.
Brazil contacted powerful businesses in the U.S. and warned them that heavy import taxes would go into effect within a month. Lobbyist for the businesses went into overdrive and the U.S. capitulated in the end.
According to NPR:
"The American negotiators sat down in Brazil and immediately declared it impossible to get rid of the cotton subsidies right away. But the two sides came to an agreement. The U.S. would pay Brazilian cotton farmers $147 million a year, and Brazil would drop the threat of retaliation."
From where I'm standing this looks a hell of a lot like a bribe.
"Maybe it's a bribe," Pedro Camargo told the reporter from NPR. "For Brazilian farmers, its' a lot of money."
So to sum up, we are still spending billions on domestic cotton subsidies, we pay millions to Brazil annually so it will keep its trap shut and farmers in West Africa are still struggling with poverty.
Hurrah for free trade, globalism, rational actors in the market, etc.
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