Have you heard of the Trans Pacific Partnership? No? Well that isn't a shock. This is the biggest trade agreement ever suggested, but it isn't talked about. It has been crafted in secret and behind closed doors by big business and some of the wealthiest people in the world. This is the first thing in the Obama administration that has Republican support. With all the other news going around, I've decided to highlight the worst parts of it.
Free trade is the biggest argument for any trade agreement. Economic theory states that the market should be a free and open capitalist market. This is what we should strive for in order to have greater economic conditions. On paper, it looks like free and open trade is an amazing thing we should try, and this partnership will create open markets between countries around the pacific rim. This agreement would account for 792-million people as well as 40-percent of the worlds GDP. That's impressive and could create great opportunities for every country involved, but I have one question really bothering me.
So, who really benefits from this trade agreement? Well, it's the corporations of these countries, not so much the people. Pharmaceutical industry is seeing a lot of advantages from this agreement to create stronger patents. This will stop cheaper generic versions of the drugs from being produced. The argument can be made that this protects intellectual property, but Big Pharma has a strangle hold on medicine the mass public cannot afford and may actually die with out cheaper versions of the drugs. A monopoly, especially over life saving medicine, seems a little risky to have. But that isn't the only advantage big business gets from this trade agreement.
Big corporations also can go outside the legal system of any country and have a tribunal to sue any country that has regulations that may hurt the “expected” profits. This threatens food standards, labor rights, and environmental protection all because of the corporation is looking to make a larger profit. But it doesn't stop there, this trade agreement will also incentivizes American jobs to be taken over seas in order to stop unionization of workers. The TPP allows big business to challenge anything that takes away from their profit and does so at risk of every citizen in any country. Corporations are also taking legal measures to protect any profit they may be losing.
This includes illegally downloaded material. That means almost all the music you have on your phone right now, if the TPP is passed, could send you to jail. But how would big business know that you torrented the latest episode of Game of Thrones? This agreement forces internet providers to monitor your internet usage, which is a scary though for teenage boys. But all of this isn't even the scary bit, it's the fact they want to fast track it; meaning they want to pass it without discussion or amending it in any way.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, in its basic form is eliminating competition, workers rights, regulations that protect citizens and the environment, then stripping citizens from privacy to make as much money as they can. This partnership is being sold as a free trade that will help the economy of each country, and allow access to markets they have never been in. It will help the economy for the corporations with no intentions to help working class citizens of any of these countries. Maybe I'm an ideologue that believes in common good for all citizens and will always put human lives in front of profit, but the scariest part is this has been kept away from the American public. Corporate lawyers designed all these ideas behind closed doors and expect people not to question it.
Maybe you have noticed there isn't a lot of nice things to say about it. They have tried their hardest to pass this behind close doors with corporate lawyers breathing down their necks, and they have failed. I support trade agreements, but never at the cost of personal freedoms, health of citizens, workers rights, or privacy. I suggest that we all look into the TPP in microscope, examine every part of it, and refuse for an agreement to be reached when it will cost us so much in the long run. They can try to convince you it will help the economy, but it will destroy the small man. Corporations are not people, nor do they need this much protection. When we have governments protecting the interest of big business, who is protecting the average citizens?
