On the Fourth, on our way home from a BBQ, my girlfriend Daisy and I stopped into Crossroads Trade on Harvard St. in Coolidge Corner. I'm not sure if it was the holiday or the beer I had had at the BBQ, but while Daisy browsed I attempted to engage the clerk on something that really bothers me about "Fair Trade", the implication that it is other than free trade, or that free trade is somehow unfair. The discussion was short but went something like this:
Me: Maybe there is something you can help me with, if one person offers a particular price for a good, and the producer accepts this price, is that not fair?
Clerk: Not if you're hungry.
Me: Ah, I understand, the situation is coercive, how then is the "fair" price determined?
Clerk: Well, it is based on the amount it costs to live for a day in their home country.
Me: So, a craftsmen who can make twice the [necklaces, coffee, sandals, etc] in a day is paid half as much per item?
Clerk: Here, you can find out more at http://fairtradecalculator.org/
Admittedly, I was having a bit of sport with her, and she probably saved herself some thinking by ending it there. However, it is fascinating to me that people seek fairness beyond equal individual liberty for all - often to the detriment of those they seek to assist. Hayek hit the nail on the head:
We must face the fact that the preservation of individual freedom is incompatible with a full satisfaction of our views of distributive justice
-Friedrich August von Hayek
