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| Just one of many of the problems with the TPP and the global corporate take over. |
We have been shut out and shut up. As citizens were demoted to consumer status we lost our seat at the debate. No one is listening to our views. Unless they affect profits, no one cares.
Disoriented by gorging on cheap goods and services we failed to notice the coup going on as we shopped our way to materialist bliss. As the TPP trade deal is finalized we can see that the corporate take over of the world is almost complete.
We can also see that capitalism is broken.
Our governments have been corrupted by corporate money to the point that elected officials don't work for The People any more. Other than at the ballot box, our voice has ceased to matter.
All this occurs as many are waking to the grim future if capitalism continues down the path that misdealings like the TPP follow. Collapse seems like a likely outcome.
Hundreds of "corporate advisers" have been allowed to access the TPP document and trade negotiators. The following are some of the more well known corporations that have helped write the agreement.
American Petroleum Institute
Archer Daniels Midland
AT&T
BNSF Railway (Tar Sands)
Boeing
Cargill
Caterpillar
Chevron
DuPont
Federal Express
Ford Motor
General Electric
Georgia Pacific
Halliburton
Hershey
Hewlitt Packard
Honeywell
IBM
Johnson and Johnson
Kraft Foods
M&T Bank
Monsanto
Pharma
Procter and Gamble
Starbucks
US Chamber of Commerce
Verizon
Walmart
All the public has seen are documents that have been leaked.
While we have been shut out and shut up in such negotiations, we can still vote with our dollars. As of yet corporations can't sue us for not buying their products. If enough of us do this, things will change.
"Businesses have changed when the public came to expect and require different behavior, to reward businesses for behavior that the public wanted, and to make things difficult for businesses practicing behaviors that the public didn't want. I predict that in the future, just as in the past, changes in public attitudes will be essential for changes in businesses' environmental practices.” - Jared Diamond, in Collapse
If I am not invited to the debate I will make my non-materialistic lifestyle speak for me. A mass movement of simplicity would show the powers that be that we can structure better lives with them or without them.
Affect their profits - that will get their attention. The list above is a good place to start. You can find a more comprehensive list of TPP conspirators here.
Do you know about SumOfUs.org? You can hop on their website and sign a petition to stop the TPP. If you become a member you receive updates about many of the things we care about.
ReplyDeleteMadeleine,x
Yes, we are familiar with SumOfUs.org. They do good work. Thanks for the reminder.
DeleteIt feels overwhelming most of the time. But I know that I all can do is my own little part, and if enough of us do our part, the world will change.
ReplyDeleteIt all seems surreal. Things feel like they are speeding up, and everything is coming to a head. We live in interesting times that make our individual actions more important than ever before in human history.
DeleteIn spite of all the negative stuff, the world is changing for the better in many ways. Awareness of the problems we face is at an all time high, and people have been making important changes in their lives.
Once public sentiment reaches the tipping point, massive and rapid change is possible. Each of us must lead the way.