<incom> WTO Announces Formalized Slavery Model for Africa

[Gurstein, Michael]

(The "Yes Men" do it again... http://www.theyesmen.org/
 
M
 
http://www.gatt.org/wharton.html
 
WTO NEWS: 2006 PRESS RELEASES 


Press/388
November 13, 2006
WTO Announces Formalized Slavery Model for Africa

US Trade Representative to Africa, Governor of Nigeria Central Bank
weigh in at Wharton 


 150pxls.gif (76 bytes) <http://www.gatt.org/res-img2/160pxls.gif> 
SEE ALSO:
 <http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news_e.htm#PressReleases> press
releases
 <http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news_e.htm#archives> WTO news
archives
 <http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/spmm_e/spmm_e.htm> Mike Moore's
speeches

  




  <http://www.gatt.org/res-img2/300pxls.gif> 
Philadelphia - At a Wharton Business School conference on business in
<http://www.whartonglobal.com/africa/panels.asp#Trade> Africa, World
Trade Organization representative Hanniford Schmidt
<mailto:schmidt at gatt.org>  announced the creation of a WTO initiative
for "full private stewardry of labor" for the parts of Africa that have
been hardest hit by the 500 years of Africa's free trade with the West. 

The initiative will require Western companies doing business in some
parts of Africa to own their workers outright. Schmidt recounted how
private stewardship has been successfully applied to transport, power,
water, traditional knowledge, and even the human genome. The WTO's "full
private stewardry" program will extend these successes to (re)privatize
humans themselves. 


"Full, untrammelled stewardry is the best available solution to African
poverty, and the inevitable result of free-market theory," Schmidt told
more than 150 attendees. Schmidt acknowledged that the stewardry program
was similar in many ways to slavery, but explained that just as
"compassionate conservatism" has polished the rough edges on labor
relations in industrialized countries, full stewardry, or "compassionate
slavery," could be a similar boon to developing ones. 


The audience included Prof. Charles Soludo (Governor of the Central Bank
of Nigeria), Dr. Laurie Ann Agama (Director for African Affairs at the
Office of the US Trade Representative), and other notables. Agama
prefaced her remarks by thanking Scmidt for his macroscopic perspective,
saying that the USTR view adds details to the WTO's general approach.
Nigerian Central Bank Governor Soludo also acknowledged the WTO
proposal, though he did not seem to appreciate it as much as did Agama. 


A system in which corporations own workers is the only free-market
solution to African poverty, Schmidt said. "Today, in African factories,
the only concern a company has for the worker is for his or her
productive hours, and within his or her productive years," he said. "As
soon as AIDS or pregnancy hits-out the door. Get sick, get fired. If you
extend the employer's obligation to a 24/7, lifelong concern, you have
an entirely different situation: get sick, get care. With each life
valuable from start to finish, the AIDS scourge will be quickly
contained via accords with drug manufacturers as a profitable investment
in human stewardees. And educating a child for later might make more
sense than working it to the bone right now." 


To prove that human stewardry can work, Schmidt cited a proposal by a
free-market think tank
<http://www.policynetwork.net/main/article.php?article_id=505>  to save
whales by selling them. "Those who don't like whaling can purchase
rights to specific whales or groups of whales in order to stop those
particular whales from getting whaled as much," he explained. Similarly,
the market in Third-World humans will "empower" caring First Worlders to
help them, Schmidt said. 


One conference attendee asked what incentive employers had to remain as
stewards once their employees are too old to work or reproduce. Schmidt
responded that a large new biotech market would answer that worry. He
then reminded the audience that this was the only possible solution
under free-market theory. 


There were no other questions from the audience that took issue with
Schmidt's proposal. 


During his talk, Schmidt outlined the three phases of Africa's 500- year
history of free trade with the West: slavery, colonialism, and
post-colonial markets. Each time, he noted, the trade has brought
tremendous wealth to the West but catastrophe to Africa, with poverty
steadily deepening and ever more millions of dead. "So far there's a
pattern: Good for business, bad for people. Good for business, bad for
people. Good for business, bad for people. That's why we're so happy to
announce this fourth phase for business between Africa and the West:
good for business-GOOD for people." 


The conference took place on Saturday, November 11. The panel on which
Schmidt spoke was entitled "Trade in Africa: Enhancing Relationships to
Improve Net Worth." Some of the other panels in the conference were
entitled "Re-Branding Africa" and "Growing Africa's Appetite."
Throughout the comments by Schmidt and his three co-panelists, which
lasted 75 minutes, Schmidt's stewardee, Thomas Bongani-Nkemdilim,
remained standing at respectful attention off to the side. 


"This is what free trade's all about," said Schmidt. "It's about the
freedom to buy and sell anything-even people." 


 <http://www.gatt.org/wharton-images-large/P1050769.jpg> 


 <http://www.gatt.org/wharton-images-large/P1050785.jpg> 
US Trade Representative follows up on comments of WTO representative
Schmidt as Schmidt assistant Thomas looks on 


 <http://www.gatt.org/wharton-images-large/ppt-whales.jpg> 
Selling whales saves whales, and the same can be applied to poor
Africans 


 <http://www.gatt.org/wharton-images-large/P1050765.jpg>  
Schmidt and assistant Thomas fraternize with US Trade Representative to
Africa 


 <http://www.gatt.org/wharton-images-large/P1050788.jpg> 
WTO's Schmidt and colleague visit historic Philadelphia 


 <mailto:communications at gatt.org> CONTACT US : World Trade Organization,
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