Kids need choices and a chance to excel. When asked, most parents say they want their children to have better jobs than they. Globalization, and the innovation it sparks, opens a wide array of new career paths. Assembly plants are no longer the stepping-ladder to a better life that they were for millions of Southerners 50 years ago. They remain so for immigrants, but no longer for native-born Americans.
Trade enables development overseas.
Many poor countries do not maintain environmental and labor standards that are common in the industrialized world. For many of them, it is a lack of know-how and resources that has prevented them from raising the bar. Some, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, argue that instead of freezing trade with these countries, the more humane response is sustainable growth through trade, backed by technical assistance and good corporate citizenship among the multinationals present in the country. Other groups, such as the Progressive Policy Institute, also encourage public dialogue on free trade to include a full discussion of retraining opportunities. For more ideas on how to explain a free-trade position, contact one of the several trade education initiatives listed below.