dmcanzi@watdcsu.UUCP (David Canzi) (08/28/86)
[Followups to net.politics] If the US sells wheat to the USSR cheap, they deprive the Russians of the opportunity to produce their own wheat by making it unprofitable for them to do so. This creates unemployment and hardship, unless the government manages to find some other use for those unemployed people. So, it seems to me that it's perfectly consistent to punish the South Africans with trade sanctions, and to punish the USSR with cheap wheat. Both of those countries damn well deserve it. (For people wondering if I'm serious -- I'm not saying. If you think the argument in the first paragraph is ridiculous, kindly note the similarity to the arguments, which are usually taken seriously, that cheap foreign goods harm the US, and that artificially jacking up their prices is good for the economy.) -- David Canzi "Freedom of speech does not mean that you can simply say what you want to say or what you like saying." -- The People's Daily, Peking