Politically Correct “Fairness” Anything BUT Fair
By Seth Grossman, Political Columnist
Reprinted from December 17, 2008 Current Newspapers of Atlantic County
“The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum.”?
— Noam Chomsky
Two weekends ago, the taxpayers of Northfield, Linwood, and Somers Point helped the South Jersey ‘Fair Trade’ Alliance hold its fourth annual International Gift Fair at Mainland High School.
Carol Austin, Mainland’s “world cultures” teacher ran the event, along with her students who “volunteered throughout the two days of the fair.” Students do this to get into good colleges with scholarships these days. Also, many teachers give academic credit to students who “volunteer” to help their favorite causes.
Carol Austin, like all club advisors, gets an extra stipend to run this project and monthly meetings of the Amnesty International Club after school. The goals of the national organization are found at “our priorities” on www.amnestyusa.org. Most are against the United States.
They demand that President-elect Obama do the following within 100 days:
(a) Announce a firm plan to close the Guantanamo prison for hard core Muslim terrorists,
(b) Give all captured terrorists U.S. Constitutional and prisoner-of-war protections of civilized nations who follow the Geneva Conventions,
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(c) Put on trial, those Americans who successfully defended this country against terror attacks during the past seven years.
Thanks to pressure from Amnesty International, dozens of terrorists were already released from Guantanamo. Most went right back to jihad, where they killed and maimed hundreds of innocent men, women, and children around the world. Many more will die if Amnesty International gets its way, and forces the release of the most dangerous terrorists still being held. Does Carol Austin ever discuss those ugly details with her students?
The South Jersey Fair Trade Alliance Fair is a project of the Amnesty International Club. According to Carol Austin, “Teaching students about fair trade is important as a way to promote justice in the world.”
By promoting “fair trade,” Carol Austin teaches her students this classic left-wing doctrine: We in rich countries exploit poor countries by not paying them “fair” prices for the goods we buy. She wants her students to “understand social activism” by supporting groups like the South Jersey Fair Trade Alliance. This group lobbies for new laws that would make it a crime to buy any coffee, tea, chocolate, or bunch of bananas without a “fair trade” certificate. This would be issued by the government for goods produced by adult workers who got wages, sick leave, overtime, pension, health and education benefits acceptable to an American union like the United Auto Workers (UAW).
“Fair trade” laws would make us pay a lot more, but would do little to make life better in poor countries. First, it would create new “fair trade” crimes. When a government official can turn a 79 cent bunch of bananas into a $5 bunch just by stamping a piece of paper, you know there will be all sorts of bribes, threats, violence, and counterfeiting.
But even if “fair trade’ laws were honestly enforced, they still wouldn’t work. New Jersey’s motto has real meaning and relevance – only liberty brings prosperity.
Poor countries like Zimbabwe, Indonesia, and Nicaragua are rich in natural resources. But their people have no liberty, so they are poor. Hong Kong has no natural resources. But its people have freedom, and are among the richest in the world.
The only way to end poverty in poor countries is to secure their people the same “liberty and justice for all” that we once had in America, when our nation was rich.
Unfortunately, we in rich countries do the opposite. We give free food as “humanitarian aid” that ruins farmers in poor countries trying to sell their crops. We pay for billion dollar development projects through the United Nations and International Monetary Fund (IMF), etc. We let the corrupt elites in those poor countries keep all the profits to offer bribes, to buy weapons and to control their governments. This way, nobody else can build or own successful farms or businesses. We block many imports (like sugar) from poor farmers overseas that compete with rich farmers here. We give in to religious leaders in overcrowded countries who oppose family planning because they want their people poor, uneducated, and dependent on their charity.
Are any of these issues brought up and discussed in any of Ms. Austin’s “world cultures” classes? Are they brought up in any other classes or clubs? Or is Liberty and Prosperity beyond “the spectrum of acceptable opinion” in our public high schools today?
For more information, visit www.libertyandprosperity.org or contact Somers Point attorney Seth Grossman at grossman@snip.net or 609-927-7333. Seth Grossman hosts a two way talk radio program every Saturday from 8am – 9am on WVLT Vineland, 92.1 FM.