Twelve countries just signed what is being called the biggest deal in a generation. The TPP is one of the most, if not the most relevant and important corporate power grab in the history of this country. The deal creates a free trade zone among 12 Pacific nations that together account for 40% of the world’s economy. This comes at a time when the corporate presence in every facet of this country is at an all time high; from television and print to politics in general. Yet sadly, the topic of the TPP is next to non-existent in the minds of Americans. The potential of this agreement to have ominous consequences on the average American’s day-to-day life, is more than just relevant, it’s dire.
As of today, with the signatures in place, the agreement will not become law until Congress approves it. There is currently a massive protest under way in Auckland, New Zealand, with the intention of drawing the world’s gaze to this clandestine meeting of world leaders making critical decisions without any constituent input; despite the fact that every aspect of this deal pertains to the rights and freedoms of every person reading this.
The protest in Auckland has drawn over 1000 people to join the call in rising up against this direct threat to the average person’s way of life. This a large protest by anyone’s standards, and is in regards to a very secretive and very important meeting, yet has received very little coverage outside of local outlets. This is a gathering of like-minded politically driven and passionate independent citizens (which the world could use much more of) standing up for their belief that this deal will harm their way of life and that of the future of their children. The lack of coverage comes as no surprise to anyone awake enough to see the outrageous slant in the mainstream and how that directly reflects their corporate controlled interests.
(The full text of the TPP agreement: https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/trans-pacific-partnership/TPP-Full-Text)
Now that the actual 5,544-page document of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, has been released, as Chris Hedges said, “[It] confirms what even its most apocalyptic critics feared.”
“The TPP, along with the WTO [World Trade Organization] and NAFTA [North American Free Trade Agreement], is the most brazen corporate power grab in American history,”Ralph Nader told me when I reached him by phone in Washington, D.C. “It allows corporations to bypass our three branches of government to impose enforceable sanctions by secret tribunals. These tribunals can declare our labor, consumer and environmental protections [to be] unlawful, non-tariff barriers subject to fines for noncompliance. The TPP establishes a transnational, autocratic system of enforceable governance in defiance of our domestic laws.”
The TPP is part of a triad of trade agreements that includes the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA). TiSA, by calling for the privatization of all public services, is a mortal threat to the viability of the U.S. Postal Service, public education and other government-run enterprises and utilities; together these operations make up 80 percent of the U.S. economy. The TTIP and TiSA are still in the negotiation phase. They will follow on the heels of the TPP and are likely to go before Congress in 2017.
These three agreements solidify the creeping corporate coup d’état along with the final evisceration of national sovereignty. Citizens will be forced to give up control of their destiny and will be stripped of the ability to protect themselves from corporate predators, safeguard the ecosystem and find redress and justice in our now anemic and often dysfunctional democratic institutions. The agreements—filled with jargon, convoluted technical, trade and financial terms, legalese, fine print and obtuse phrasing—can be summed up in two words: corporate enslavement.
Sources: https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/trans-pacific-partnership/TPP-Full-Text, http://www.truthdig.com/report/print/the_most_brazen_corporate_power_grab_in_american_history_20151106, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQoSVdwVUhg, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11584458