Students arise! People of privilege, protest poverty for the sake of profit! Condemn capitalization! Evil corporations and corrupt politicians are again plotting to steal from the poor and give to the rich! This week New York is the location of the World Economic Forum, where dastardly deeds will be done to developing nations!

Oh, the horror!

Other than the fact that those planning to protest the World Economic Forum are completely wrong, is there any reason not to act?

In all seriousness, the violence and death that followed similar protests in Seattle and Genoa, Italy are made all the more tragic by the fact the protesters are not just wrong, but are actually harming the cause of the poor and developing countries they claim to support.

Globalization and free trade are not a zero sum game. It is not as if there is a set amount of money in the world, and for one country to get rich, another country must become poor. It is, in fact, possible — and preferable — for all countries to become richer at the same time.

Consider a world made up of just two countries, one rich and one poor. Suppose the rich country is like the United States. The economy is fully developed, which means highly skilled — and highly paid — workers, and plenty of money to develop and expand the economy even more.

The poor country, on the other hand, has an emaciated economy and possesses no money to develop and expand it, which means no jobs — and no money — for their workforce.

If the protesters had their way, businesses in the rich country would stay home, raise prices to pay for vastly more expensive labor and send the occasional “message of global justice to poor and developing nations.” The poor country would be left on its own to build an economy with no investment and no jobs for its workforce. The rich country would be worse off, but the poor country dramatically more so.

Fortunately, there is a better way; one that is being pursued at this week’s World Economic Forum.

There is one advantage the poor country has in comparison to the rich country — cheap labor. This is the only commodity a poor county has to trade for the money and investment needed to develop its economy and increase its standard of living.

This commodity dovetails nicely with the one disadvantage accompanying the operation of a business in a rich country — expensive, high-skill labor doing low-skill work.

Globalization and free trade seek to capitalize on the advantages possessed by both countries. The poor country benefits because money pours into the country in the form of capital investments, taxes and worker’s salaries. Citizens of the poor country benefit because they have a job that, in almost all cases, pays far above the national average.

The rich country also benefits. Goods are produced and sold for a cheaper price, meaning businesses have the necessary money to innovate and develop new products. Workers are freed from menial jobs and are able to take advantage of the higher skill level possessed by the average citizen in the rich country. Customers benefit from lower prices, allowing them to either spend more or invest more, both of which spur the economy to new heights, resulting in further globalization, which benefits the poor country, and on and on it goes.

Politicians across the globe understand this — witness the proliferation of free trade agreements around the world. Poor countries are the biggest advocates, and rightly so.

In fact, the primary opponents to globalization and free trade are rich and privileged young people who have spent less time studying economics than they have flagellating America for being rich and privileged. The only plausible explanation for their ignorance is a knee-jerk assumption that anything that turns a profit (uh-oh — here comes big bad capitalism) must be wrong.

The protesters are right when they say globalization and free trade make the rich richer. What they do not realize is opposing them is to be in favor of making the poor poorer.

Not exactly a cause worth protesting, much less dying for.

Benjamin Thompson ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science.