Twelve Reasons to Oppose the World Trade Organization.

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Twelve Reasons to Oppose the World Trade Organization.Since the establishment of the World Trade Organization in 1994 as an independent unit to ease the movement of and flow of trade goods and services between and among nation states of the international system, this particular organization has also had its fair share of negative aspects in the same system. This thesis therefore seeks to critically and rhetorically analyze an article by Global Exchange article is entitled “Twelve Reasons to Oppose the World Trade Organization”.

The author begins by stating that the WTO exists undemocratically in the International System. The author expresses that he does not understand how and who elected the WTO government. The author punctuates and uses question marks in the sentences. This is a core technique to capture the attention of the target audience. The author’s core argument here is that the impact of the WTO is being felt across all aspects of the society yet it is not a transparent and democratic institution. He proceeds to educate the audients by telling them that WTO is a non state actor yet it controls the state actors. Conventionally, in the international system, the state actors enjoy more privilege when it comes to matters of relative power. Yet this is not the case when it comes to International trade. The author sympathizes with the above situation and proceeds to state that it is with regret is that the rules and regulations that run this body are written by only those states and corporations that make part of trade negotiations yet these rules affect every member states when access to simple information is not possible. The author summarizes this particular point by creating suspense among the audience and leaves them with the question of if the WTO is a democratic institution.

The author then proceeds to put across that this institution is a threat to global peace and security. Using a sarcastic tone, the author states that WTO makes people perceive that free trade ultimately promotes a safer and more peaceful international arena. On the contrary, the answer to the above is generated. To put emphasis on this point, the author asks the audients on the sustainability of global peace. Global peace is not sustainable when nations are competing to find market for their goods. He reinforces this point by further stating that this peace is not sustainable when it is the developed countries that dominate international trade. This peace he proceeds, is not genuine when only the ten great nations enjoy the fruits of world trade at the expense of over 150 developing nations. He reinforces this point by stating that WTO cannot be an instrument of peace when over 80% of nation states in the globe are not seeing the benefits of International Trade. In his accord, this inequality is already a form of economic conflict. These are some of the issues the author uses to provoke the mind of the audients. The author also places emphasis on the need to have trade institutions that achieve global justice for a safer international community.

The author then proceeds to argue that the WTO overlooks human rights as well as labor rights. The argument placed forth is that this institution has rules in place that advocate for rights of corporations to make profits at the expense of labor and human rights. At this point the author employs a sarcastic approach towards these rights. He raises the tone and wonders which rights should come before the other. The author for emphasis proceeds to give examples of countries like Burma which overlook human rights when manufacturing as well as purchasing certain products. He also uses exclamation on the issue of rights. The author particularly points out that government of independent states ought not to consider issues of human rights “non commercial values” when purchasing certain products. This principle of the WTO means that human rights should be put aside at the expense of commercial activities which the author uses to surprise the audients. The author then goes ahead to admit that the WTO has an objective that will see the privatization of essential services of health care, education, water and energy among other basic services. The author embraces the use of punctuation marks to show he is indeed surprised by the whole issue of privatization. He convinces the audience that by privatization of these services would basically mean that public assets would be sold off to private corporations. He also warns them of the core disadvantages of privatization. The author explains to the audience that whereas public service draws its motivation in serving the public and serving them well, private agencies are more motivated by profit making and therefore service delivery to the citizens comes second. He reminds the audients using the irony that even though the private sector are more efficient when it comes to service delivery compared to the public sector, when it comes to matters of quality services however, truth is that public sectors have the interest of the public at heart. The author persuades the audients by stating that in countries which privatization has taken shape then the implication is that one has to pay more for standard services. He winds up this point by reminding the audients that they should indeed campaign against the WTO.

The author also warns the audients of imminent environmental degradation practices by the WTO which is an activity of corporations, particularly the Multi National Corporations (MNCs) which the WTO uses to achieve this. The author convinces the audience that MNCs particularly those established in developing countries deplete natural resources in those host countries. He also argues that a number of industries set up by these corporations are not environmental friendly. He uses existing examples from the South, where he states that the WTO establishes MNCs which set up industries that do not promote sustainable development activities. He points out that in particular, the interest of these MNCs is to make profits while at the same time depleting the resources of the rich southern states. This is a concern, most Northern states have already depleted their natural resources and therefore feel that the south is a viable option for their already depleted natural resources. He expresses his concern as to why WTO has interest in business ethics over environmental ethics. This particular concern should particularly provoke the audients on the issue of environmental protection which is a core pre requisite for achieving sustainable development. At the end he calls for a collective action from the audients to campaign against environmental degradation.

He proceeds to question about the role of Trade Related Intellectual Property’ rights (TRIPs). The author supports this by stating categorically that even pharmaceutical companies are producing sub standard medicinal drugs. TRIPs since its inception, has its attention on the issue of patents, trademarks and to crown it all profits. For instance, when sub standard drugs are produced for medicinal use, the worst is that this would result to more deaths. The author punctuates the role of TRIPs and dismisses the role of WTO and its practices in the globe. He also raises his tone to remind the WTO that the mother objective of TRIPs was to ensure patent of products as well as entry of standard and approved products to the international market. The author uses these techniques to convince the audience that they should indeed advocate for better practices from this institution by campaigning against it.

The author does not understand and is surprised by the viability of this body internationally. 80% of trade goods end up in the very few developed countries and only 20% of trade goods end up in the hands of developing countries. According to the author, this expresses some form of economic marginalization as well as economic inequality. The author therefore convinces the reader that the WTO is a sycophant institution that plays to the tune of the few developed countries.

The author proceeds to persuade the audience that dumping by developed countries has had an effect on the food production capacities of poor countries. He educates the audients by telling them that dumping of already processed foods by the few countries in the markets of the populated developing countries cripples the ability of these nation states to agricultural activities. These nation states have adequate labor but dumping has made them dependent on food aid. The expresses a somber mood when he states that close to 800 million people of the world population with a majority of these from the poor countries suffer either from acute or severe malnutrition. The author finds this absurd because dumping of food stuffs in the markets of poor nations undermines food production capacities. This according to the author is a reason enough to oppose the WTO which plays a major role in the cases of increasing hunger in the world. The author once again expresses the notion of inequality when it comes to matters of decision making in WTO negotiation rounds. The author expresses his concern by the way the rich countries dominate International Trade. He proceeds to state that this is some form of a serious injustice. This hurts the majority poor countries since “they are too poor to defend themselves” as the author puts it. The author states that the WTO undermines the sovereignty of national governments. The author criticizes the fact that developing countries are not allowed to pursue laws that the developed nations once pursued. The author raises this question to provoke the audients.

Eventually, the author reassures the audients that their indeed exists rational alternative s to the WTO. He goes ahead to convince the audients that nation states can create an entity that plays the opposite roles stated above, roles that can promote equity, justice, human rights among other roles that are not discriminatory. The author also reassures the audience in his last point that only time will tell as there is already a steady international opposition against the WTO.

In the essay the author provokes the audience by use of questions, sarcasm among other forms of communication to convey the message on why states ought to oppose the WTO. The author also embraces the use of examples where possible and eventually reassures the audients that there exists an alternative to the WTO.

Work Cited

Kuypers, Jim A. Rhetorical Criticism: Perspectives in Action. Lexington Books. 2009.