Capitalism: you have to respect it. Ya know, in the same way you can have a kind of technical respect for the ideology of the virus or cancer cell. I respect sewer rats too. They are adaptable and resilient, they quickly become immune to poison put down for them by humans, eventually, as if in an act of defiance, they start feasting on that poison, like it's a tasty snack, nomnom.
As long as there are humans to exploit and natural environments to tear down and make commodities from, the march of capital accumulation will continue, always adapting, and always finding new niches and markets.
Seeing as profit is the objective, it has to apply this to any problem that it encounters. So if we need less CO2, well, we commodify the atmosphere and create a market where carbon credits are bought and sold: straight out of the evil genius handbook, it makes some corporations some money ( as an aside fails to stop the destabilisation of the climate, but hey ho). Keeping the oil in the soil, the coal in the hole and the gas in the rocks, now that's an idea..............but.....it does not make money (as an aside, it saves the climate but hey ho)
Whatever you throw at it, capital asks first - how do we make money from this? if it can't satisfy the 'bottom line' and fill the pockets of shareholders, then it is a project that will be passed over. Who needs ecosystems anyway, they are just sooo last year, eh?
If you don't want to read all of this article then just allow the mental residue of these 3 words to permeate in your head space:
"CORPORATE POWER GRAB!"
It is all about corporations. It was invented by corporations. Propaganda to support its aims has been produced by corporations and has quickly been exposed as complete nonsense.
A group of non-corporations did not meet one day over a drink and decide, you know what? - TTIP is EXACTLY what we need.
If TTIP had a native American name it would be dances with corporotocracy
It is an exercise in increasing the power that they have in the US and the EU. As the Asian economies increasingly threaten the imperial powers this is a move to remain competitive.
The flip. The more power corporations have:
Our representative democracy is far from perfect, it is ironically non-representative and decisions are too distant from the people and from civic society. But this flawed system, would be replaced by something much worse with TTIP. That is, a corporotocracy. Some would argue that we are already half way there. Perhaps in the US much more than halfway. The Whitehouse is a revolving door for people to alternate between employment as corporate leaders and politicians. Corporate political collusion is the norm.
Due to the actions of corporate lawyers many moons ago, a corporation in the US has the legal status of, and the same rights as a human! Commentators compare this particular entity (the corporation as a human) to that of a psychopath i.e. it has a complete lack of empathy and compassion.
TTIP (Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership) you would think, is about trade. Not quite, there are not really major barriers between the US and EU, some tariffs that could be reduced maybe. What it boils down to is a corporate wish list for the attenuation of standards. Environmental regulations, workers rights, food safety, think of all the things that Monsanto would do if they had control. If you have not already done so, kiss the climate goodbye. The potential detrimental impact on society and nature is frightening. But the potential boost in profits for the 0.1% is very considerable.
There is a lot more. This is a very 'holistic plan' An evil genius such as our friend pictured top left (Dr Evil) would be proud.
TTIP includes a toxic mechanism called the 'investor-state dispute settlement' this could threaten almost any means by which governments might seek to defend their people or protect the environment. It allows big corporations to throw their toys out of the pram if they don't get what they want and sue governments.
So if for example a government does not allow a frack company to drill under your houses, or to frack, period, the corporate lawyers would take that government to court. The scope is huge. It was deregulation of the banking sector that delivered the financial crisis, here again in a corporotocracy the banks rule OK and could stop governments from applying the brakes.
This isn't the preserve of theory or worst case scenario thinking. This mechanism applies to existing trade agreements. Mining companies are suing governments who are trying to keep them out, nuclear power companies are suing Germany for their decision to go renewable, Australia is being sued by a tobacco company etc
More - TTIP also envisions the establishment of a 'Regulatory Cooperation Council'. Big Business has been lobbying for this for years. This basically means that corporations can 'nip in the bud' government policy, stuff that would potentially be a corporate inconvenience would never progress past the proposal stage.
An Evil Plan indeed.
Why with so much at stake is this not HUGE news then?
Many of the TTIP talks are alarmingly secretive and much information has been derived from leaked memos. As I have said several times in recent articles, the media over here have supported a pro-establishment right wing agenda. Farageism has shifted debate to the right. Whilst people are distracted, putting locks on their doors in fear of a tidal wave of blood sucking Bulgarians the real news story has been completely neglected. Likewise it is true that politicians have failed to elevate the issue. That is because hardly any of them seem to be against it, in fact with few exceptions they are in support.
Having just seen Cameron Clegg and Milliband! photographed with their free copies of the Sun. It does not bode well at all. Over to another 'ocracy' an integral part of the notion of corporatocracy is 'Murdocracy' or related media power. From the Urban Dictionary:
As long as there are humans to exploit and natural environments to tear down and make commodities from, the march of capital accumulation will continue, always adapting, and always finding new niches and markets.
Seeing as profit is the objective, it has to apply this to any problem that it encounters. So if we need less CO2, well, we commodify the atmosphere and create a market where carbon credits are bought and sold: straight out of the evil genius handbook, it makes some corporations some money ( as an aside fails to stop the destabilisation of the climate, but hey ho). Keeping the oil in the soil, the coal in the hole and the gas in the rocks, now that's an idea..............but.....it does not make money (as an aside, it saves the climate but hey ho)
Whatever you throw at it, capital asks first - how do we make money from this? if it can't satisfy the 'bottom line' and fill the pockets of shareholders, then it is a project that will be passed over. Who needs ecosystems anyway, they are just sooo last year, eh?
If you don't want to read all of this article then just allow the mental residue of these 3 words to permeate in your head space:
"CORPORATE POWER GRAB!"
It is all about corporations. It was invented by corporations. Propaganda to support its aims has been produced by corporations and has quickly been exposed as complete nonsense.
A group of non-corporations did not meet one day over a drink and decide, you know what? - TTIP is EXACTLY what we need.
If TTIP had a native American name it would be dances with corporotocracy
It is an exercise in increasing the power that they have in the US and the EU. As the Asian economies increasingly threaten the imperial powers this is a move to remain competitive.
The flip. The more power corporations have:
- The less governments have.
- The less people have.
- The more exposed nature is to destruction.
Our representative democracy is far from perfect, it is ironically non-representative and decisions are too distant from the people and from civic society. But this flawed system, would be replaced by something much worse with TTIP. That is, a corporotocracy. Some would argue that we are already half way there. Perhaps in the US much more than halfway. The Whitehouse is a revolving door for people to alternate between employment as corporate leaders and politicians. Corporate political collusion is the norm.
Due to the actions of corporate lawyers many moons ago, a corporation in the US has the legal status of, and the same rights as a human! Commentators compare this particular entity (the corporation as a human) to that of a psychopath i.e. it has a complete lack of empathy and compassion.
TTIP (Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership) you would think, is about trade. Not quite, there are not really major barriers between the US and EU, some tariffs that could be reduced maybe. What it boils down to is a corporate wish list for the attenuation of standards. Environmental regulations, workers rights, food safety, think of all the things that Monsanto would do if they had control. If you have not already done so, kiss the climate goodbye. The potential detrimental impact on society and nature is frightening. But the potential boost in profits for the 0.1% is very considerable.
There is a lot more. This is a very 'holistic plan' An evil genius such as our friend pictured top left (Dr Evil) would be proud.
TTIP includes a toxic mechanism called the 'investor-state dispute settlement' this could threaten almost any means by which governments might seek to defend their people or protect the environment. It allows big corporations to throw their toys out of the pram if they don't get what they want and sue governments.
So if for example a government does not allow a frack company to drill under your houses, or to frack, period, the corporate lawyers would take that government to court. The scope is huge. It was deregulation of the banking sector that delivered the financial crisis, here again in a corporotocracy the banks rule OK and could stop governments from applying the brakes.
This isn't the preserve of theory or worst case scenario thinking. This mechanism applies to existing trade agreements. Mining companies are suing governments who are trying to keep them out, nuclear power companies are suing Germany for their decision to go renewable, Australia is being sued by a tobacco company etc
More - TTIP also envisions the establishment of a 'Regulatory Cooperation Council'. Big Business has been lobbying for this for years. This basically means that corporations can 'nip in the bud' government policy, stuff that would potentially be a corporate inconvenience would never progress past the proposal stage.
An Evil Plan indeed.
Why with so much at stake is this not HUGE news then?
Many of the TTIP talks are alarmingly secretive and much information has been derived from leaked memos. As I have said several times in recent articles, the media over here have supported a pro-establishment right wing agenda. Farageism has shifted debate to the right. Whilst people are distracted, putting locks on their doors in fear of a tidal wave of blood sucking Bulgarians the real news story has been completely neglected. Likewise it is true that politicians have failed to elevate the issue. That is because hardly any of them seem to be against it, in fact with few exceptions they are in support.
Having just seen Cameron Clegg and Milliband! photographed with their free copies of the Sun. It does not bode well at all. Over to another 'ocracy' an integral part of the notion of corporatocracy is 'Murdocracy' or related media power. From the Urban Dictionary:
The murder of democracy through misinformation - via Rupert Murdoch's "news" outlets. By framing the narrative through his tabloid and TV outlets in Australia, the US and UK, Rupert Murdoch manipulates the collective consensus, changing ostensibly democratically elected governments at will, to meet his commercial and political needs. Murdochracy is a hijacking of democracy by controlling, restricting and distorting the information on which people make decisions to vote.
Seeing the image of the 3 'main leaders' yesterday with their Sun papers is possibly the most powerful image to date; the most damning indictment of our political system and of our democracy.
Nick Clegg has been gallivanting around the US to sell TTIP to its sceptics. David Cameron has said
Nick Clegg has been gallivanting around the US to sell TTIP to its sceptics. David Cameron has said
"it's a once in a generation prize".
Laughing all the way to the bank he is. In solidarity with the people of Liverpool I can't even bring myself to research what Ed Milliband has said.
I intended to set up my own blog so I could write about a host of things, but it seems to be turning into an ongoing Green Party ad. I passionately believe they are just 'on it' right now. The political objection to TTIP is all Green. Caroline Lucas has published an early-day motion on the issue. Greens in Europe are leading the charge. New south west MEP Molly Scott Cato an Economist, like all greens is strongly opposed. In response to an article in the Wall Street Journal she asserts that TTIP:
I intended to set up my own blog so I could write about a host of things, but it seems to be turning into an ongoing Green Party ad. I passionately believe they are just 'on it' right now. The political objection to TTIP is all Green. Caroline Lucas has published an early-day motion on the issue. Greens in Europe are leading the charge. New south west MEP Molly Scott Cato an Economist, like all greens is strongly opposed. In response to an article in the Wall Street Journal she asserts that TTIP:
"will likely result in another onslaught from the peddlers of genetically modified foods, pharmaceuticals and social protections”
"it is not about trade but about corporate power and the expansion thereof"
The fight against TTIP is 'David vs Goliath'. It will come down to the patchy representation greens have in political arenas, grassroots campaigns and a lot of passion. This has to become big news and quickly. Time is thin.
#timetotalkttip
#timetotalkttip
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