I'm glad to see you blog on the true choice we have before us....a global regime of corporately managed trade or a free association of freely-trading communities, regions and nations. Becoming one world and owning the entire world are two very different things, n'est pas? So I appreciate your remarks about a solidaristic globalization.

It's kind of interesting that European social democrats have embraced globalization. European Social Democrats have seen how the European Union raised incomes and living standards in Spain and Greece and Italy, not just with free trade but with the investments in infrastructure that can make free trade into fair trade as well. Social Democrats in Europe believe that the social democratic public philosophy should seek to shape global economic institutions. Unfortunately many members of the NDP, social democratic members of the Liberal Party and the progressive left in the Democratic Party seem to have yet to discover a high road away from economic nationalism. Quebec's social democrats have at least crossed that high road as often as they can.

I believe the EU model, despite certain remarkable flaws involving its technocratic bureacracy, is an excellent model for the type of reform needed to transform NAFTA into a common market with democratically elected representatives from every corner of Canada, USAmerica and EUMexico. European Union types of infrastructural investment in Mexico would supercharge the Mexican economy leading to a rapid close of the gap between it and its Canadian and US trading partners. And this is a goal we as "economic democrats", whether Social Democratic or Chrisian Democratic [I'm a little bit rosy and little bit orange myself ;)] that we should embrace for the Americas, particularly for North America.

Joe CoMartin (NDP), David Bonior(Democrat) and Carlos Heredia (PRD) are all persons with extensive legislative experience in their respective governments. They are beginning to share a post 9/11 vision of a North American Parliamentary Union to transform NAFTA into a true common market. Personally I believe that fruition of this vision requires a mass social movement to build a North American Commonwealth.