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Comment by stefan_kendall | Hacker News Reader

I absolutely guarantee you that you can live quite healthily without dairy. You're essentially arguing against all free trade. Should Norway policy ensure it can build its own computers, phones, or shoes?

A world that relies on trade is a world at peace.

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A world that relies on trade is a world at peace.

Colonialism was driven by a lust for trade, so that's hardly a truism.

>You're essentially arguing against all free trade.

it is a stretch. Free trade just isn't always the best approach to every situation.

>A world that relies on trade is a world at peace.

again, big stretch. Just for example:

http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21578978-world-...

"Rather, the world of 1913 was quite like that of 2013: modern, substantially urbanised and, even as Woodrow Wilson set about slashing import tariffs, thriving on global trade. "

> "Rather, the world of 1913 was quite like that of 2013: modern, substantially urbanised and, even as Woodrow Wilson set about slashing import tariffs, thriving on global trade. "

Good point - people were in fact using the argument that the extent of international trade made large wars between powers like Germany and the UK unlikely...

There's a difference between food security and securing access to "nice to haves". Food security is about ensuring short-term survival in the event of war (think blockade), or global upheavals large enough to prevent trade. The entire point is that it is protection against a situation where trade is disrupted and the world is not at peace.

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