Ejluv and Yorickbrown
WOW Very well said. That was really well put.

The Nassau Institute has an interesting article that recommends what Bahamians should do in reference to the CSME and the FTAA...

Excerpt from: "Join CSME? Uh! Uh! The Bahamas Should Go-It-Alone." by Paul Bower

Bahamians must decide where they want to go before signing on to what could become a journey to a destination they may not like.

In some ways the proponents of FTAA make an alluring case but a closer look reveals that, particularly for the smaller nations of the Caribbean, there are many pitfalls along the way - and a great danger of them becoming marginalised and lost in the shuffle. As the WTO Cancun debacle recently showed, Free Trade is not always Fair Trade, and trade agreements tend to benefit the larger players while offering little to the smaller players and even damaging their economies.

Luckily for the Bahamas there is an attractive future outside the CSME and FTAA and it's one that springs from our past. It can be summed up in three words: "Go it alone!"...

..So our best bet for the future is to remain the standout we have always been. Let other countries be mesmerised by the uncertain benefits and "pie in the sky" of CSME and FTAA. Let them give up their national sovereignty and be ruled by faceless "tradeocrats" who, once FTAA kicks in (if it ever does so) will start overwhelming them with a deluge of directives on every aspect of their economies - directives that will have the force of law without ever having been debated or vetted by their elected legislatures. For nations that join FTAA democracy will be damaged beyond repair.

So, let us head for a loftier goal. Let us be determined to safeguard our two centuries old democracy, give the boot to the tradeocrats and maintain our time-honoured position as an outstanding standout - the Switzerland of the Western World!

[ READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE (http://www.nassauinstitute.org/wmview.php?ArtID=505) ]

a big resounding NO to the FTAA ... all we have to do is look to our mexican neighbours to see how well they fared under NAFTA. the only thing that NAFTA did for mexico was create an even bigger service class.

no thank you. bahamians have more options, and as we develop a knowledge economy, no one will be able to snow us with the so-called "benefits" of one big free trade zone here in the caribbean.

een no such thing as a free lunch!

evryone says "go it alone", but in this serious of economic times, can we afford to go it alone?
can we make moves with simply bi-lateral treaties?

it is something we need to consider....the big superpower to the north is in control of everything!
period! :voodoo:

not much we can do, except for if we do go it alone, hope that we can have a lot of bi-lateral side treaties that keep our foreign relations and imports afloat!

i just dont get the reasoning behind globalization working behind free trade...
in order for free trade, we have to set up zones...in that zoning "most of the time regional" their are bloc's!
in order to be a part of that bloc, you have to be a part of the region..if you aint then it is very unlikely you wont or cant...example, Why would the bahamas join the southeast asia free trade zone?

look at how they chunk it out...southeast asian free trade EAFT the NAFTA the FTAA the EU, CAFTA, MERCASUR..the list goes on and on...
these guys are not supposed to open trade that may damage the economy of the entire body...well then, who is to stop an individual country from opening the trade it wants??
NO ONE!
so what will happens, some country for obvious historical reasons will break the pact, the other members will get pissed, and offer sanctions, which wont mean much if you are allready to forego membership to achieve country or personal goals...
"which country will forego U.S trade treaties for any other group trade...or for that matter canadian tradem british trade or even french trade, not to mention germany and russian investment money
so, you will get into a BLOC only to break its rules, for your countries best economic benefit!

so to me, it isnt do or die...its do until you kill it!
meaning either it will work for the countries comminited to it for now, or until their individual economies kick in...or it wont for the people who say screw it!
either way it wont last..

culture isnt supposed to work that way...and clumping everyone in one basket doesnt ever work!!
culture and pluralism is what everyone seems to forget with this whole thing...some cultures just wont accept it, then what do you do with them...you make them create their own BLOC!


and they say western democrats hated communism...sounds like communism to me..extreeme communism!!
:dunce: ...but we eeent supposed to know the difference!
:bored: ...they get us while they think we sleep!
:mad:

you might to read a few of the u.s. newspapers today that are covering the sugar controversy underway. seems as though the good ol' usa is all well and fine about open borders for everything that they DON'T need, but they're continuing with massive sugar subsidies to their own farmers that are massively unfair to their sugar trading partners in the caribbean and south america.

when was the last time you saw a sugar banana or an apple banana in supervalue? you can thank chiquita/dole for pressuring the us to impose massive import tariffs on caribbean produce, which effectively shuttered caribbean produce imports into north america ... protecting the american companies that they want to protect.

same goes for the eleuthera pineapple, may it rest in peace. know the history of these treaties and these so-called trading "partners" before you jump the gun.

another thing is too...america is the biggest trade partner, and even they have anti dumping laws that prohibit the over importation of certain produce...example the brazilian "chilean and ecuadorian" seafood and brazillian bananas!

hahaha...seems as if brazil is the only south american country who can hoddwink the u.s. aside from venezuelan oil!!
hahahahahaha

no country wants dumping done to them...but they will be quick to dump on you!!
:D

As is with every thing with the big corperate entity
the the labour force is the important
in the devine order of the BAHAMAS going global here is how it played out to me as a BAHAMIAN watching the move

1 . they come in and study the socal standards and the way most of us live the one thing is the materialistic level if it is high they know they have a winner


2 . they seek out the providers of such things the furnature stores banks car dealers and the like and devise a plan which we see every day advertised on air like[B][B]no money down get now pay later salary deduction and employee discount . oh yeah .

3. The big companies know this and they exploit it to the max
lets look at it many Bahamians travel to the US ,has a nice car ,has a mortage ,and has nice things in their house
children in school and other bills all of these needs money to be serviced
and the most of them are in the hotel industry and Banking

4 . the big companys tell the owners of the companies mentioned in paragraph 2 give them what they want, i want you to keep them in det so they can continue to work ill make shure that you get your money even if dey strike how long they could holdout until dem payment need to be met youll get it by way of whats in Paragraph 2 again and u kno ain kno nobody likes the embarrisment of having their things repoed with the nosie neighbours next door lookin an sayin das wat ya get tryin to put ya basket too high havin dat to talk bout so there we have it its a sad thing but until we are able to live within our means and start to really be self productive thats our lot in life we have wood we have jouiners we have farmers an a whole lot of other skilled people here lets use them an show them dont rob me is ya sister an ya brother


dont forget what you work for is ya chirren an i kno you een want them goin through this

I don't necessarily agree with Zhivargo, but if you examine everyone who said "no" to the FTAA in this forum, they all have the 'fortress' mentality. Pull up the drawbridge, fill the moat, start the oil a-boiling and wait for the Yankee intruders to come and rape and pillage.

Me, I would like to go over and have leak in the backyard of the United States, and charge them for organic fertiliser.

FTAA is like a high stakes poker game. A high stakes poker game is fundamentally the same as playing for matchsticks. If you are confident of your ability to compete and win, then the pot is just a number. It doesn't matter whether the prize is matchsticks or money.

I personally would welcome the opportunity to live in the Bahamas, and compete for government Information Technology contracts in Washington.

This FTAA stuff works well for professional people who have a marketable service or skill to offer.

This FTAA stuff works well for professional people who have a marketable service or skill to offer.

And how about taking a gander at the percentage of The Bahamas' workforce who meet that criteria? (not intended as an insult to our workers, but let's be real here!)

You got one thing wrong, we dont wait for the Yankees to pillage. We invite them to. :shhh: