It is the consequences of those policies, not the intentions of their advocates, which are flawed. It harms overseas workers by banishing them to mere subsistence living that can be remedied by jobs that produce exports for the consumers of wealthier nations. In the debate between free traders and protectionists, good intentions are not enough. In today's sentimental climate, the liberals usually win the battle for public opinion. Good intentions are considered more virtuous than good consequences.
Liberals appeal to compassion, while conservatives appeal to consequences.
In an age drenched in romanticism, compassion wins almost every time. In his The Roots of Romanticism , Isaiah Berlin has observed that the preeminent characteristic which nineteenth-century romantics bequeathed to the modern world is the priority of passionate belief. Actions themselves are much less important than the fervor of belief that sets them into motion. In an age of relativism, this problem is especially acute. After all, if nothing is right or wrong, the only thing left to commend is passionate belief.