Questioning Protectionism

In response to David Sirota's anti-free trade screed on the Huffington Post I left the following in the comments section:

Sigh...

1. Opposing free trade is immoral. If I want to buy a product from overseas or employ a person in another country that should be no one else's business.

2. Why are progressives preaching economic nationalism? Shouldn't we look at people as people first regardless of their citizenship? If an American middle class person loses their job and someone living a dirt-poor existence in Vietnam gains it, why is that a bad thing? Is wrapping the progressive cause in the red, white and blue really a good tactic? Do progressives want to emulate Pat Buchanan?

3. Fact: Free trade has expanded greatly in the last 15 years. Fact, unemployment in the US is lower now than 15 years ago. If free trade produces unemployment then how is this explained?

4. If wages are being depressed then why did the median net worth of U.S. households jump from $70,800 to $93,100 from 1995 to 2004? (similar points in the business cycle BTW)

5. If we are engaged in a race to the bottom then how to explain the worldwide prosperity boom of the past 10 years? How to explain the number of people, especially in the developing world, that have been raised out of poverty? Isn't that cause for celebration?

6. Yesterday I walked 2 blocks through a major US city and passed at least 5 ATMs. In the CVS near my office there is a self-checkout machine. All of those machines represent potential jobs that were either lost or not created. Should we call for a halt to technological progress, which has eliminated huge numbers of working class jobs? Why is it OK to lose jobs to machines but not people in other countries?

7. Americans are experiencing wage pressures due to increased competition from illegal immigrants, who work for less. Are progressives to also wrap themselves in this cause and embrace the likes of Tom Tancredo? After all, it should make little difference if a foreign national takes a job either here in the U.S. or in their home country.

I eagerly await responses!

Should be interesting.