Protectionism: the smears continue

Protectionism, we hear, is a policy supported by the BNP; Free Trade by respectable parties. Four Legs good, Two legs bad. It was Abraham Lincoln that said "Give us a protective tariff, and we will have the greatest country on earth". He instituted higher tariffs during his presidency, continuing America's traditional protectionist trade policies. Was Lincoln a proto-BNP politician, a Racist? Oh no, he freed the slaves; so that is one smear that won't stick.

Adam Smith: "To expect ... freedom of trade should ever be entirely restored in Great Britain", said Smith, "is as absurd as to expect that an Oceana or a Utopia should ever be established in it". These quotes are from "Day of Reckoning; How Hubris, Ideology and Greed are Tearing America apart" (2007) by Patrick J. Buchanan.

Have you noticed how the BBC is as set against any suggestion of Protectionism as the Financial Times? There was a revealing interview between Gideon Rachmann and Polly Toynbee on the Today programme a few weeks ago. Toynbee criticised globalism from the left-wing perspective as keeping down wages, not benefiting ordinary people, just the rich. (This should be what the Right are saying too.) But both were warned against the dangers of "Nationalism" (shock, horror, save us!). This is how the BBC will deal with the crisis: they will take two people with solidly liberal-left views on social issues, but with divergent opinions on economics. But the Left's distrust of Nationalism has helped legitimise the extremes of Capitalism over the last 15 years, the main arguments against which depend on some form of national solidarity.

Peter Hitchens about the same time defended the moral case for Nationalism: Indeed, it would be immoral not to put your country first; which is different from saying you want to oppress other nations or be xenophobic. Loving your own country doesn't mean you hate others.