If I want to walk on the streets with a gas mask on, I have the right to do so, and no person can take that right from me, regardless of what the circumstances are. Please take off your mask, sir, so that when we shoot harmful and possibly carcinogenic irritants at you, you will be in terrible pain. A tree will never be more valuable than a human being. Not one tree, and not a million. Sea turtles do not come before free trade.
Men also have the right to contract without the interference of government.
The World Trade Organization is in concept, a beneficial association. The fact that it is run by governmental bodies and can force laws on businesses and countries is the wrong part of this system. Free trade and capitalism is not the province of government, it is the business of businessmen and workers, and no laws should have any control over the workings of the market. The degree to which trade is restricted is the degree to which a government inflicts poverty and misery on its citizens. I hope for peace and rationality to return soon to Seattle.