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There is no Third Way politics in the world. Tony Blair was one of the first politicians to express that wealth creation is not divorced from social justice and that his Third Way, that is neither socialism or capitalism, would be the answer to our social and economic growth(1). However, I have the understanding that Blair's Third Way is nothing else but a gimmick to support today's Free Trade against the interest of the people and democracy(2).

The critics of Tony Blair's Third Way were right when they stated that the Third Way was not a set of new real ideas but an advertising slogan(3). German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder was very perspective when he murmured to Tony Blair "Look, I haven't found the first two ways yet, so you tell me where this Third one is(4)."

In one previous article, I mentioned how out of place was Tony Blair's recent statement in defense of Free Trade that "However sincere the protests, they cannot be allowed to stand in the way of rational argument. We must start to make this case with force and determination(5)."

At that time I alluded to the possibility of defending Free Trade with Tony Blair's war planes and missiles. This coming April, Quebec City will be hosting the Summit of the Americas and our authorities, anticipating violent protest, are passing bylaws forbidding the wearing of scarves and other face coverings(6). Further, this Free Trade's Summit will be defended by some 3,000 to 5,000 police, RCMP and riot squads.

Copy cat Deputy Minister Herb Gray responded to critics of these policing measures quoting British Prime Minister Tony Blair: "However sincere the protests, they cannot be allowed to stand in the way of rational argument."

While many studies confirm that sincere decisions based on simple values outperform rational arguments(7) we remind both Deputy Minister Herb Gray and British Prime Minister Tony Blair that they have reached their bounded rationality, and that it is time they talk with their hearts rather than with their big brains.

References/endnotes

Relevant political and economics articles http://ensign.ftlcomm.com

1. Third Way Converts, by: Jim Hoagland, May 20, 1999, Washington Post

2. The Third Way - an Answer to Blair, by Patrick Harrington and the real Third Way. Tony Blair is quoted as saying "The truth is that in a mature society representatives will make better decisions if they take full account of popular opinion and encourage public debate on the big decisions affecting people's lives."

3. The third way in politics, by E.J. Dionne Jr. Syndicated columnist, August 16, 1998, The Seattle Times Company

4. Third Way Club Gathers Members: Prosperity And Stability Become Holy Grail Of The Blair Generation, By: Martin Walker, May 3, 1999, The Guardian

5. The problem with Free Trade: the structure of WTO and NAFTA, By Mario deSantis and James deSantis, February 23, 2001

6. Does Quebec City want naked protestors, Charles Gordon, March 3, 2001, The Ottawa Citizen

7. Bounded rationality or Rational Expectations? Section 15.1 page 598 of Business Dynamics, by John Sterman http://www.mhhe.com/sterman