I am sorry to say that this article left a slightly sour taste in my mouth. Much like looking a gift horse in the mouth, one cannot help but wonder why. "The United States on Friday offered needy countries more than 330,000 packaged meals donated by Britain to feed Hurricane Katrina victims but rejected due to a U.S. ban on British beef. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said the "Meals Ready to Eat," or MREs, had been held in a warehouse in Little Rock, Arkansas, for more than a month after U.S. Agriculture Department officials said they could not be distributed in the United States because they contained British beef products."
The article elaborates on how, at the height of the Katrina crisis, the State Department had asked it's embassies around the world to seek donations.
My mind wondered as I read, and digested, the article :
- did they tell/remind people about the restrictions first?
- were they too embarressed to make mention of the trade embargoes?
- or did they think they could use it, if the need was extreme?
- why wasn't something said in the first place?
I have heard about the trade restrictions dished out. On how heavy subsidies are being dished out for agrarian-related industries like beef and milk. Heard about the row with China on cheap textiles.
Perhaps it's because I'm from Singapore. We're small enough to HAVE to trade with EVERYONE. We grow nothing..... we have nothing..... for crying out loud, we import our water supply.
But I suspect that makes us more impartial and more open than most.
I am all for open trade. I am *not* a big fan of protectionism. I am all for a free floating, market-style economy. You truely know where you stand, in an environment like that. You don't stand there and yap at the government for handouts.
And this is exactly why China is booming so hard right now. They're hungry. Starving. Ravenous. Striving and reaching always for more more more. They're working for it. It's better than having it handed to you.
Just my thoughts, eh? Don't get your panties in a twist.
Natural introvert, learned extrovert.
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2 comments:
i hope the government told the victims of Hurricane Katrina, who were hungry and needed food, that the government had food but would not give it to the starving citizens because of trade embargos. if we say its because of health related issues, why the hell are we willing to give it to other countries and poison them? arrrghhhh we are such a hypocritical nation sometimes!
Dak-Ind, I suspect nothing was mentioned at that point in time. Sad, eh?
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