We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

TheTrans-PacificPartnership:This is What Corporate Governance Looks Like

Click here to access article by Andrew Gavin Marshall from Occupy.com

The author uses the current efforts of US corporate-based negotiators to craft another international "trade" agreement to illustrate that 1) we are subject to corporate governance and 2) how it functions behind the facade of "democratic" process. Hint: they use lots of deception and secrecy.

These corporate-based negotiators are colluding to formulate international agreements that will nullify laws processed through national governments.
...TPP was intended to deal with “behind the border” issues, typically decided by domestic policy, and “which go beyond the normal scope of trade agreements” including issues of labor, environmental and intellectual property standards.