To me, yes. Meet the new massa, same as the old massa....
3:47 AM
Anonymous said...
The whole thing is hoax put out by gatt.org, an anti-wto group. Check
the links offered in the article. The Wharton Business school denounces
Schmidt; the think tank is a liberal organization against the practice
of selling whales and claiming it's a form of cultural imperialism; and
schmidt's e-mail address leads right to gatt.org.
And
the most remarkable point of all is that, in our modern era and
"enlightened" society, we even need to consider whether or not
something this outrageous is true.
And, for all intents and purposes, it is.
1:05 PM
US Trade Representative follows up on comments of WTO representative Schmidt as Schmidt assistant Thomas looks on
Philadelphia - At a Wharton Business School conference on business in Africa, World Trade Organization representative Hanniford Schmidt
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.
Schmidt and assistant Thomas fraternize with US Trade Representative to Africa
"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 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.
Selling whales saves whales, and the same can be applied to poor Africans
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.
WTO's Schmidt and colleague visit historic Philadelphia
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."
6 Comments
Close this window Collapse commentsThis is a joke, right? Is this guy for real?
12:33 AM
a very provocative post ...
"the inevitable result of free-market theory"
is true enough, however ...
hourglass
11:08 AM
Is this for fucking real?
9:55 PM
Depends on your perspective, I'd hazard, JP.
To me, yes. Meet the new massa, same as the old massa....
3:47 AM
The whole thing is hoax put out by gatt.org, an anti-wto group. Check the links offered in the article. The Wharton Business school denounces Schmidt; the think tank is a liberal organization against the practice of selling whales and claiming it's a form of cultural imperialism; and schmidt's e-mail address leads right to gatt.org.
4:11 AM
My money's on the Yes men. Pure brilliance.
And the most remarkable point of all is that, in our modern era and "enlightened" society, we even need to consider whether or not something this outrageous is true.
And, for all intents and purposes, it is.
1:05 PM
US Trade Representative follows up on
comments of WTO representative Schmidt as
Schmidt assistant Thomas looks on
Text, photos, video: http://www.gatt.org/wharton.html
WTO Contact: Hanniford Schmidt (schmidt@gatt.org)
Philadelphia - At a Wharton Business School conference on business in Africa, World Trade Organization representative Hanniford Schmidt 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.
Schmidt and assistant
Thomas fraternize with
US Trade Representative
to Africa
"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 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.
Selling whales saves whales, and the
same can be applied to poor Africans
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.
WTO's Schmidt and colleague visit
historic Philadelphia
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."
World Trade Organization, rue de Lausanne 154, CH-1211
Geneva 21, Switzerland
posted by New American Patriot at 5:03 PM on Nov 13 2006