[1tin_soldier]

Tell me, should the government of the USA made certain that the whaling industry didn't go out of business ? How about bakellite ? Would you prefer to use a coal/ wood stove to cook on, a crank phone , a washboard to clean your clothes on ? NO ? Why not ? Those folks lost their jobs.

Don't forget the sliderule industry (remember those?). It has been completely wiped out. What a shame.

[nopardons]

Yes, slide rules and comptomator makers and comptomotrists, and 1,000s of other products and jobs. Gone, vanished, no more.

Where are the old knife grinders ? How about the vanishing Chinese laundries ? ;^)

[waterstraat]

Not all of us agree on this issue, because some of us have been replaced by cheaper workers, and some of us have not yet been replaced.

Those here pretending to advocate "free trade", are only advocating "free trade" of 5 or 10 percent of our economy/jobs - they dont want their "own job" to be taken by a foreigner. Why not? if a foreigner can do it cheaper?

Why not replace "all" americans with immigrants or by out sourcing to foreign countries?

I cant think of any job now held by an american that cannot be done by a foreigner(except the president), either here, or out sourced. The cost savings would be tremendous if every current american worker was replaced by a cheaper foreign one. There are more than enough asians, latins, and africans to replace every single american still holding a job at an artificial high wage.

If anyone advocates free trade, then they cant disagree with 100% free trade.