Web Letters: A Conversation With Richard Falk

Falk sounds like a good candidate for the Supreme Court, if he is relatively young. His position is no different from mine. I have always opposed overt or economic imperialim. I view NAFTA and "free trade" arrangements as a form of economic imperialism designed to benefit multinational big business. Historically, Western economic imperialists have used their home countries to manufacture goods to sell cheaply to countries whose natural resources we might need for use in the manufacturing process. The major difference now is that multinational big business has abandoned their home countries for China and other nations for cheaper labor. China can be seen as the major replacement for those home countries by big business interest.

The new "scramble for Africa" and the global south is not for colonies but, through "free trade" arrangements, economic control of these countries and their natural resources. China is now the main instrument of economic imperialism. Modern economic imperialism seeks to reduce every country to a banana republic and their people to wage slaves.

Regardless of Israel's or the Bush Administration's desires, missiles and militias are creating facts on the ground that may bring about some peace agreements between Israel and her neighbors. Falk's or any Western opinions might not matter.

Pervis J. Casey

Riverside, CA