[E-rundbrief] Info 1457 - Johan Galtung against TPP-TTIP-Tisa

[Matthias Reichl]

E-Rundbrief - Info 1457 - Johan Galtung (N( CH): TPP-TTIP-Tisa: A 
Tipping Edge from Democracy.

Bad Ischl, 29.7.2015

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

================================================

TPP-TTIP-Tisa: A Tipping Edge from Democracy

transnational, July 20th, 2015

By Johan Galtung

Unbelievable but true: Obama, other presidents and governments are 
seriously contemplating to hand their countries, people and all, over 
to business to create the largest “free trade areas” in history with 
NAFTA for North America, TPP for the Pacific, TTIP to the Atlantic and 
TiSA, services covering some 50 states all over.

Pharmaceuticals, chemicals, textiles, chicken; communications, 
e-trade, financial services, insurance, what not, negotiate across the 
oceans how to market each other’s products across oceans, overriding 
domestic laws, even constitutions that stand in the way of business.

The State-Capital-People, or Government-Investors-Civil Society 
restructured against not only Civil Society, but Parliament and Law.

The gains for business are obvious; removing the last inter-state 
tariff and non-tariff barriers, and more importantly: intra-state laws 
and regulations impeding the free flow of goods and services to 
protect people and nature; except laws protecting business.

So, imagine what may happen. The safest investment would be in 
transportation of goods and communication of services as basically the 
same products will be flowing in all directions. There will be even 
more buying and selling. Many prices will fall, products will be 
cheaper to customers, others not, depending on what these branches 
decide. Business will make more money than ever, connecting, linking 
producers and consumers; charging commissions.

The net result? Even more inequality. Laws taxing commissions may be 
declared illegal, like progressive taxation and inheritance tax. 
Benefits to the middle and lower classes from lower prices for 
consumer goods may be more than offset by welfare state benefits cut 
and the erosion of safety. Jobs will be lost when goods produced 
elsewhere are also available. On top of that all the harms of unequal 
societies so well described by many recently.

This article sees the three agreements as a tipping edge from 
democracy; but, to what?

Away from democracy as a process of and by the people, and away from 
democracy as a society for the people, except in the sense of lower 
prices. Goodbye Lincoln.

In the process secret parties are negotiating secretly secret texts; 
people are bypassed, no referendum, no informed debate in public 
space; parliaments are refused the right to vote or bypassed by “fast 
track” procedures giving “law-makers” minimal say. Processes that have 
taken centuries to build are neglected. Destruction is easy, a decade 
or two; reconstruction may take considerably more time.

A process toward what kind of society? A structural autocracy.

Not an autocracy in the Stalin-Hitler-Franco sense known to Europeans. 
Those autocrats were dictators, they dictated policies and their 
dictates were known; if not the details in the processes.

In a structural autocracy there may be top autocrats from State and 
Capital – not from People – but their names are secret. They are 
accountable to nobody but themselves. Everything is secret including 
that secret, but that and many other secrets were (wiki)Leaked. And 
Assange has now been isolated in an embassy for three years. As all of 
this must have been planned for some years, the extreme US anger at 
his and Snowden’s whistleblowing, struggle, fight is understandable.

In the structural autocracy inter- and intra-state economic flows will 
run by themselves, on their own steam, generating enough money.

There is a system for investor-state dispute settlement by arbitration 
(google “ISDS Clause”) whereby investors can sue foreign governments 
but governments cannot sue foreign investors. Nor can Civil Society 
sue them as a treaty will remain unknown for years. Secret judges will 
use secret procedures and arguments subvert the rule of law in 
addition to democracy. The court is in Washington DC, linked to the 
World Bank, linked to the US government.

In a dictatorship-autocracy direct violence is flowing to keep people 
in line. We know the methods: breaching into homes at night, searching 
for arms and documents, arresting somebody, torture, detention in 
dungeons or concentration camps, killing; even genocidal killing of 
women and children. Rightly opposed by everybody, torture and genocide 
falling under jus cogens, mandatory law.

In the structural autocracy in the making, with State and People 
subordinate to Business nothing like that may happen, or so they hope. 
People will literally buy the system at lower prices, being bribed. 
The Capital-Consumer alliance will reduce people to exactly that, to 
consumers as some other autocracies have reduced people to soldiers, 
workers, sycophants, to spectators at Colosseum, TV.

Democracy elevated people to become the masters of State, even of 
Capital. State-Capital now hit back. Business as usual, one might say.

In a structural autocracy structural, not direct violence flows.

We can predict a return to life expectancies for lower classes half of 
the higher classes, 45 years against 90, often in agonizing misery.

With no financial control there will be unimpeded derivative 
speculation with savings, pension funds etc. and crashes like 2008. 
Not instant killing, but steady erosion of many peoples’ livelihoods.

With pharmaceuticals unopposed some cures can only be bought by people 
at the top. It took centuries to build welfare states, a decade or two 
to destroy them. Rebirth may take considerably more time.

Obamacare, constitutional or not, will be a victim, standing in the 
way of the insurance industry. So why is Obama in it?

He never really cared for the US underprivileged, women, blacks, 
unemployed, and lower classes who voted for him but betrayed them in 
favor of the middle classes and was punished at mid-term. A 
megalomaniac, he was “above the parties”, making deals with 
Republicans; this is one.

STOP IT! Do not sign countries, people and all, into suicide.

Originally published at Transcend Media Service

http://blog.transnational.org/2015/07/4090/



-- 

Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
Wolfgangerstr. 26, A-4820 Bad Ischl, Austria,
fon: +43 6132 24590, Informationen/ informations,
Impressum in: http://www.begegnungszentrum.at
Spenden-Konto Nr. 0600-970305 (Blz. 20314) Sparkasse Salzkammergut,
Geschäftsstelle Pfandl
IBAN: AT922031400600970305 BIC: SKBIAT21XXX

--

Ausgezeichnet mit dem (österr.) "Journalismus-Preis von unten 2010"

Honoured by the (Austrian) "Journalism-Award from below 2010"