Free Trade

In my issues paper, I will be addressing the global effect of free trade and the growing acceptance of open borders around the world. Many Americans fear the possible consequence of losing jobs and hurting the economy. They also disagree with the poor working conditions and treatment of workers in third world countries that are often taken advantage of by large corporations. My topics for my issues paper will talk about these main concerns that the American people commonly have. Therefore, I will mainly be directing my argument to the American population that disagrees with free trade. I will direct my argument towards them by addressing their valid concerns and agree that these are possible outcomes. However, I will clarify that although these are plausible concerns, these potential effects are not as negative as they tend to believe. I will establish my point that the negative effects of free trade are not as bad as those that would take place without free trade. In order to not get caught up in generalizing all people who disagree with free trade, I will find specific statements by economists, labor groups and other humanitarian groups that believe that open borders leads to job loss and provides opportunities for corporations to take advantage of the resources and poverty stricken people that exist in third world countries. By specifically stating these concerns from the audience themselves, I will be able to better formulate and craft my argument around their ideas. My argument will be stronger if my audience can see that I am well aware of their concerns and admit that they are valid and plausible. This recognition and citing my target audience directly will allow me to narrow down my broad topic of free trade as well as leave less room for loop holes that my audience can question my own validity on the subject.

While developing my paper, I am worried about becoming too repetitive. I feel like I need to include more topics into my paper but I do not know where to draw the line. It is such a broad topic so I do not know what is too much and what is too little. It is also a very complex topic that includes economics and terms that the general public sometimes does not understand. I know that I will need to include a lot of background information and explanation of terms that I will be using in my paper but I am not quite sure what that all entails.