Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Now that we can see the TPP text, we know why it’s been secret

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

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Now that we can see the TPP text, we know why it’s been secret

Click here to access article by Pete Dolack from Systemic Disorder.

Dolack provides samples of the TPP original text to illustrate why this clever fascistic proposal was made secret and how the neoliberal trade pact would further decimate what passes for "democracy" in capitalist countries.

The TPP, if enacted, promises a race to the bottom: An acceleration of jobs to the countries with the lowest wages, the right of multi-national corporations to veto any law or regulation their executives do not like, the end of your right to know what is in your food, higher prices for medicines, and the subordination of Internet privacy to corporate interests. There is a reason it has been negotiated in secret, with only corporate executives and industry lobbyists consulted and allowed to see the text as it took shape.

Corporations, increasingly in the form of financial as well as industrial corporations, are the engines of capitalism. They generate the profits and create the power which enables our masters to determine all important decisions made in our respective capitalist countries.

I don't use fascism or its derivative words carelessly. The essence of fascism is corporate rule. The historical fact that fascism was first demonstrated in Germany, Italy, and Japan using authoritarian methods does not change the central character of fascism. These capitalist nations of the 1930s used violence or the threat of violence to accomplish their aims. This updated form of fascism is merely trying to use the fake apparatus of capitalist "democracy" to accomplish the same aims for the advanced capitalist countries in the 21st century--global domination.

The added component of secrecy was essential in order to keep what they were doing out of the public spotlight. But secrecy was never really a novel component. Capitalist ruling classes have always used secrecy, along with deception, as a component of their rule. Important decisions have always been make behind closed doors whether in Congress, the Executive, the Judiciary: and in recent times especially in capitalist "think tanks" such as the Council on Foreign Relations and the Brookings Institution.

You might also be interested in economist Dean Baker's contribution to understanding TTP by reading his article entitled "The TPP's Children's Table: Labor Rights and Currency" from TruthOut.