Twofer - Trade Pacts Actively Kill "Buy Local" Employment Efforts And Thwart Clean Energy Initiatives
Here's a good example of how messed up these "fair" trade treaties are. Recently the WTO ruled against India who was attempting to implement a plan to create a green economy by bringing jobs to the masses through the installation of domestically produced solar panels. The complaint was brought by the US who argued that the "buy local" component of the Indian plan discriminated against US solar panel producers
Here is India Business describing the impact of the WTO ruling against India:
WTO ruling may hit solar cos’ $100bn opportunity
"It's very bad news for the Indian solar industry. If the opportunity to manufacture panels and cells for the 100-gigawatt mission is lost, then we are probably losing business worth a$100 billion. We are just letting other countries have it. These are small- to medium-sized industries that can be easily set up and the manual units employ a large number of women," said Ajayprakash Shrivastava, president of Solar Energy Society of India (SESI) and who runs a manufacturing company. In his manual unit alone, 60 out of 80 employees were women till recently. "They are better at soldering so they are preferred," he added.
Manufacturers also question how "Make in India" will happen if important sectors like these are pushed back. "The ruling is having a reverse effect on startups in the sector. From being one of the most attractive, it hast lost its sheen. We will support the government in whichever way possible to fight this out," added Prafulla Pathak, secretary general of SESI.
As Clayton Aldern in Grist points out:
WTO swats down India’s massive solar initiative
U.S. solar industry leaders praised the WTO panel ruling. (Recall that they stand to make more money by selling their equipment in India.) “This decision helps us bring clean energy to the people of India, as that nation’s demand for electricity rapidly grows,” Dan Whitten, vice president of communications for the Solar Energy Industries Association, told PV-Tech. This, of course, ignores the fact that domestic content requirements allow a country like India to provide themselves with clean energy. (And to potentially do so with fewer emissions, as domestically produced solar panels don’t have to be shipped in from overseas — but this story isn’t exactly about what’s right for the environment.)
Alden also quotes a statement from Sam Cossar-Gilbert, a program coordinator at Friends of the Earth International:
“The ink is barely dry on the U.N. Paris Climate Agreement, but clearly trade still trumps real action on climate change”
Ben Beachy of the Sierra Club wrote in the Huffinton Post
Bringing this case is a perverse move for the United States. Nearly half of U.S. states have renewable energy programs that, like India’s solar program, include “buy-local” rules that create local, green jobs and bring new solar entrepreneurs to the economy. The U.S. government should drop this case to avoid undermining jobs and climate protections not just in India, but also at home.
Every country should have the right to set its own clean energy future. “Buy local” rules — a standard policy tool to foster, nurture, and grow new industries — can help push us toward the goal of 100 percent clean energy that our planet needs by cultivating domestic renewable energy firms that promote strong climate policies. “Buy local” policies can also benefit workers and bring in new constituencies to advocate for increased clean energy production. And by bringing more renewable energy goods producers like India to the global market, “buy-local” policies can encourage greater competition and innovation, reducing the cost of renewable energy over time.
What is to stop the Indian solar industry from lodging exactly the complaint that was brought against them against the US?
Does the TPP have a better policy than the WTO? According to Beachy, it replicates them.
Pernicious fact - The trade pacts exist to bend the will of nations to the will of powerful global multi-national industries.
The trade agreements work to provide the ability of FOREIGN commercial entities in any participating country to thwart domestic initiatives if they do not further the profit-driven goals of the industry affected. Additionally, they allow the trade courts to bypass the judicial and legislative arms of the country whose sovereignty is being "free traded" away. It is literally the Death of Nations. All the citizens of the world have two values - either as a source of labor to be exploited or as a consumer to be extracted. We are usually both simultaneously.
Stop the TPP. Renegotiate all the other trade agreements. Stop believing that they bring jobs when they export jobs and depress local employment.
Comments
This is key imo
The main purpose of TPP is to shift the balance of political power from the nation states to the corporations - as predicted by much science fiction and studiously ignored by just about everybody else.
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” -Voltaire
I sometimes wonder if in 20 years we won't have countries
we'll have Trade Regions 1-5 or something.
The need for maintaining the country construct as far as I can see it, is to maintain the powers of taxation, police authority the judiciary and the military. And the judiciary is under threat by arbitration and private courts already.
Public education is being raffled off, the safety nets will be privatized, there's a move afoot to sell off public lands, natural resources like aquifers will be sold to private interests, property rights are being undermined, soon federal mortgage underwriting will cease to be- meaning no more American Dream, and so on and so on.
We are living through The Great Dismantlement.
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
I agree
The nation state is not that old an institution (around 200 years seems to be the consensus) and is far from inevitable as we are led to believe.
I also think that the growth of the internet completely changes things and is likely to shorten the life - makes it much harder to control the flow of information both in and out.
My feelings on this subject are extremely mixed. On one hand I have a very negative view of Nation States but on the other I don't know if any other system would be an improvement.
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” -Voltaire
There has to be some way to coalesce as people
I think nations were an improvement from duchys and/or tribalism. I would prefer to be a citizen of a well-run and benevolent (or at least not malevolent) nation than a corporate asset or a royal subject. Nations were an organizational tool whose time had come in the grand scheme of things. Not to say they couldn't be succeeded by a higher and better construct but I don't think being drones/consumers to serve the 1% is it.
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
It will certainly be interesting to
see what comes next - the arc of history does seem to favor general improvement though. Who knows - we may yet end up with a benign world government of some type. Hard to see where it comes from though.
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” -Voltaire
The Internet also makes it much easier to control info flow
because of the easy choke points. It's a serious threat to the established order. We've seen uprisings stifled by the simple expedient of shutting down Internet-enabled communications.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." --Jiddu Krishnamurti
I sometimes wonder...
I'll throw this into the mix: I think nations, especially warlike nations like the USA, will have to continue to exist to provide the armed muscle to enforce these corporate takeovers. Without overwhelming military force, and the threat to use it, who is going to enforce these job killing, profit-before-people, pacts?
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Blackwater
or whatever they are called now, contractors in general, and other assorted mercenaries will fulfill that role I suspect.
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” -Voltaire
Mercs will always bite the hand that feeds them
if they aren't fed enough, or promptly enough. History shows this from the (13th century) Grand Catalan Company through the 15th-16th century Condottieri, as well as before and after.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
I find the Shadowrun/Cyberpunk theory quite possible
Essentially corporations will get "Extraterritoriality" rights similar to a foreign government. On Corporate soil, they will be the law, which means that as long as it doesn't spill out from their territory, they can do whatever the hell they want.
Slavery (Read: Indentured Servitude), Environmental violations, Murder of trespassers, Etc... all will be legal as long as it is actually claimed to have been done by the corporation. Dismal? Yes, this future also assumes private Mercenary armies under long term contracts, granted immunity from prosecution as long as they're acting in the interest of a Corporation. (I think it's understood that in theory of future, the mercenary company is ALSO a corporation, and therefore not subject to prosecution as long as it stays within its charter.)
I personally like the Shadowrun version better, because at least in that one you get cool elves, dwarves, Orcs, and Trolls. The Cyberpunk one is just... depressing.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
The Great Dismantlement
I've never heard a more apt term for what these bastards are doing.
One of these days, I'm going to do a post about "poisoning the well" on a grand scale. Part of it is going to make an ironic reference to the Alex Jones "New World Order" belief system that was always so excoriated by people as the "mother of Conspiracy Theories". Which was that the UN wants a One World Government and to destroy the US Constitution.
Unpack this and try to apply it to current reality with recent hindsight:
UN--wants to take over the world!! Except if there are no more borders, they'll be...irrelevant. Nobody wants to rule the world from within that august body, do they? Isn't the leader appointed (or voted for) internally? Is so, in theory, it seems to me that the UN could be dissolved tomorrow...
One World Government--evokes the image of Dr. Evil and his cat, directing the WHOLE WORLD from his office chair. Well, here's the thing--you can have a one world government when the borders are made irrelevant and all decisions are being made by Non Government Organizations
destroy the US Constitution--probably by some Other Colored Fake Muslim Non Murikan, right? Except that started before 9/11, but it ramped up in earnest after that date, by BushCo. At some point, a lower court case is going to come along for review, and the subsequent decision will torpedo the whole damn thing--probably when someone sues to try and stop the TPP from overriding our sovereignty and finds out they can't--and which some Einstein SCOTUS judge will look all incredulous as s/he proclaims that our governing documents must going forward contain moot points.
You could almost look at it like Jones poisoned that well, starting in the late 1990s. There was always going to be a 'one world government", except it wasn't the UN--that vicious buncha commies!!--it was by the new Corporate State.
I hope I'm dead and gone when they break the news that "making the Constitution moot means we're no longer obligated to honor it". There will be societal bedlam which will make the Battle of Ft. Sumner look like a day at Disney World...
The two events that woke me up involve the 4th Amendment
One was the huge rise in "civil forfeitures" where property is seized even prior to any arrest or trial, usually done under the guise of the drug war. And often, there is NEVER an arrest or trial, but the assets remain seized and or disposed of. There is no frigging way that is Constitutional, even though the practice has been upheld by the Courts. I can see assets being "frozen" pursuant to some judicial outcome, but that's the extant that I think could be legal. Even worse, some of these police seizures directly benefit the department doing the seizing. So this is modern day sanctioned piracy. There have been numerous articles about the practice and how the victims are unsurprisingly often poor and unable to mount defenses.
The second eye opener was the Supreme Court Kelo case which basically said eminent domain could be used by the government to seize and convey property from one citizen to another citizen or corporation if some benefit derived to the state, even something like an increase in the tax base. That gave rise to Sandra Day O'Connor's musing "Nothing is to prevent the state from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton." It also means that your small but cute lakefront cottage that has been in your family for generations no longer has Federal Constitutional protections in place from your corrupt town seizing it to turn over to a large condo developer. The Supremes said eminent domain was now an issue for the STATES to decide. And it was the so-called Liberal part of the Court that passed this travesty!
So, in our country, citizens can be stopped and frisked and robbed by the police with impunity. We can also have our homes taken from us if someone wealthier wants it.
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
The two events...
What you have written is of critical importance. In three generations we have seen the Fourth Amendment lose virtually all of its meaning. As one example, illegally obtained evidence by a police officer was not allowed to be introduced at trial. Now, if the officer acted in "good faith" it is allowed. The Constitution clearly mandates warrants issued by a judicial officer: This guarantee has so may loopholes in it now that we've lost this protection too.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Anti-TPP letter from my Rep., Peter DeFazio
Some good talking points here for letters to other Congress critters and for LTEs [bold added]:
...You will be pleased to know that I have repeatedly spoken out against the TPP and plan to vote against it if it comes to the House floor for a vote. This deal was negotiated in secret by over 600 corporate CEO's and will lead to massive U.S. job losses, undermine U.S. sovereignty, and reward countries that have lax environmental, food safety, and labor laws.
The TPP is the largest FTA to ever be negotiated and would amount to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) for the Pacific Rim. It is being touted as a "21st Century Trade Agreement" and is the first ever "living agreement," which means any country could join in the future after the agreement is finalized. In fact, the ultimate goal of this agreement is to get China to join. An FTA with China would spell the end of our domestic manufacturing sector.
Further, the TPP would impose new binding regulations on the U.S. and other countries that would undermine domestic laws and policies designed to protect the public. Corporate representatives of the copyright and pharmaceutical industries inserted language in the intellectual property chapter of TPP that would censor the internet and undermine drug pricing programs that grant low income people and seniors access to affordable medicines. Additionally, like all other U.S. FTA's, TPP contains investment protections that allow foreign corporations to attack U.S. laws and policies by suing the U.S. government in international tribunals.
Unfortunately the Obama administration has continued the same failed trade policies that originated during the Reagan administration. I have voted against every free trade agreement that has come before Congress. I was a leader in the fight against NAFTA, the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and privileged trading status for China. While supporters of these agreements promised they would benefit workers, farmers, businesses, and the U.S. economy, the reality has been very different. These "free" trade agreements have decimated the U.S. manufacturing capacity. The U.S. has lost over 5 million family wage manufacturing jobs including 52,000 here in Oregon, and closed over 54,000 factories in the past ten years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. trade policy has made it easier for multinational corporations to chase the cheapest wages and lax environmental standards around the world at the expense of U.S. workers.
...For far too long, multinational corporations have dominated the conversation on trade policy to suit their bottom line, which are increased corporate profits not investment in America and its people....
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." --Jiddu Krishnamurti
That is a fantastic letter.
It's like an ivory-billed woodpecker sighting - a "Good Democrat". Hooray for him! I hope his constituents take the time to read it and pass along the information. He touched on all the high points.
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
It was a reply to me directly, not a mass mailing to
constituents. I was not happy that Sen. Ron Wyden, after hotdogging against the TPP, co-authored and voted for the fast track bill. I wanted to see where my congressman stood; we're new to Oregon and have much to learn. This is the unequivocal form letter I rec'd from DeFazio. He's a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Last year Oregon was the #1 relocation destination in the US, with much of the movement going to Portland. But Eugene's getting its share (and a growing homeland security presence, as is the rest of the country, and, I'd assume, known hotbeds of progressive thought and maybe even the dreaded activism--along with the craft micro-brews and foodie places).
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." --Jiddu Krishnamurti
Moved here last year...
Into Portland Proper.
I'm still impressed with how wonderful most of the people here are. Course the GOOD VA and schools help me and my kids respectively.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
We looked at Portland
but, having decompressed from decades in DC to rural VT, we didn't feel up to a major metro area again--traffic, housing market. Eugene seems in some ways like a mini-Portland. Excellent that you and your family have found your new home hospitable!
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." --Jiddu Krishnamurti
and Portland's changing
this used to be a nice place for oddballs. In some ways it still is but it's lost a LOT of that as yuppies and foreign investors have moved in, making it difficult to afford buying or renting. Beautiful old houses, most in good condition, are being knocked down to build monstrosities like mini-McMansions and 30 unit apartments that will soon look as grim as the Soviet housing of the 50s.
I hear it's like this all over. Money talks and city council members love kickbacks.
Well, I live in a duplex that was built in 1944...
Got a great local landlord, and even get a bit of a reduction in my rent for doing the yardwork.
We just kicked out one family that was STUPID about their drugs. (Nothing against pot smokers, >I AM ONE
but when you have scorch marks all over the walls and I can smell potatoes from the door, there's something wrong)
But other than that my neighbors are great. Supposedly I've gotten lucky and found an inlet of calm.
Only down side is that it's a pain in the ass to go grocery shopping without a car, but that's EVERYWHERE.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
PORTLAND, like Seattle
...is TOO DAMNED EXPENSIVE to live in for the most part, and if you're not in a couple where both of you earn hefty six figure incomes, you won't even be able to buy a TINY fixer-upper of a house in the city limits.
::sigh::
******************************
Muerte al fascismo. Muerte a la tiranía. colapso total de los que promueven tampoco. A la pared con el unico porciento%
too true. We couldn't buy in Portland now, could in '90
If we wanted to move to our street now we wouldn't come anywhere close to qualifying for a large enough loan. It's changed the character of our street, of our town.
I watch Portlandia
Does that count?
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
no! Portlandia....grrrr!!!!!
I watched it once. It made me come up with a New York, New York, New York (the city so great you have to say it three times) skit.
$^%$ those New Yorkers and they're snarky trashing of Portland! I never liked Sleatter-Kinney anyway and now Carrie's moved to Los Angeles so $^%& her!
I H8 New York.
For all the attention the entertainment industry gives it, I still remember the one time I was there, with a wife and two small children in tow.
They stole 2 of our bags when we weren't looking. FUCK NY.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
I love it.
I lived in a small liberal New England college town for years where the town meetings voted down any encroachment of the status quo with concerns for the aquifer (triggered by affordable multi-unit housing) and public urination (when any local restaurant wanted outdoor seating.) It was comical. Such is life.
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
"Trade" pacts including TPP
The USA has already given up its Country Of Origin Label (COOL) law because of being part of the WTO. This loss in India of that country's ability to run its affairs as it sees fit is an abomination. Obama signed into law the repeal of COOL and can't wait to sign TPP.
These are not treaties; they do not become part of the Constitution because they don't require Senate ratification. I think President Sanders could declare them against our national security, and by executive order get the USA out from under these pacts that elevate corporations over our judicial and legislative systems.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
This is sort of sad
But I expect US citizens to be uninformed and to believe big lies that are parroted to them enough like free trade brings jobs and increases exports when all it has done is to lose jobs and increase trade deficits, but I honestly expected other countries in the world to be more informed and to fight harder at giving up their national prerogatives and independence.
The European trade pacts being negotiated have the same sovereignty stripping issues as the others. I hope they like paying the same exorbitant amounts we do for drugs and medical supplies when those industries start throwing their weight around and disrupting National Health programs.
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
this is sort of sad
I also expected other countries to resist TPP and the Euro/American version because of its nation-stripping effect and have been surprised that none has. There is significant opposition everywhere but the expressed will of the people is being ignored.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
It is extremely hard
To kill word of mouth. The large corporations are finding it hard to fight here in Willamette Valley of Oregon and Washington. Walmart, Monsanto and their ilk have found it hard to fight now resort to carpet bombing the air waves with advertisements telling us how they are greener than our local farmers. The key is asking how I get more bang for my buck. How can I support my community. Doesn't take long and it becomes a habit. Here me have a million or so doing that. It grows with each passing year.
And Burgerville Burgers just taste better.
Locally sourced, cost a little more, but so much more fun. Especially when they do the Walla Walla Sweet Onion Rings...
Dammit, Now I wish it as Fall Again. (Another nice thing about local sourced. Seasons become SPECIAL again...)
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
I used to live in a small town in New England that we called
The Franchise Killer. Franchised fast food places would come in and then close down about two years later, probably when they saw that year-to-year sales were down. There would be a flurry of business initially to scope it out but then everyone reverted back to their local spots. In theory the franchises should have killed the Mom and Pops but the reverse happened.
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
Both Bernie & Trump oppose these deals
A 25-year old video of Trump on Oprah arguing against these "trade" deals has turned up - there's an article on zerohedge.com . So he's been consistent on that issue. And they're both campaigning against them. A farm country paper I get has started running editorials against them, too. I think there may be hope.
Incidentally, sheep got excepted from the COOL repeal - the producers organized against it.
The problem with the current regime of global trade is
that it is based on the dictates of Neoliberalism. Under this system the financial sector is at the top of the hierarchy. This is what makes the system extractive and exploitative. It seeks to "financialize" international trade demanding ever-increasing profits for what is in essence a parasitical entity (Wall Street, et al). Because of this focus there is nothing more important to corporations engage in trade than to keep raw materials and labor costs as low as possible, which is the reason production is always being shifted to countries with the lowest labor and environmental protection costs. This is also the reason why there is a relentless push to lower labor costs here in the U.S.
In principle, there is nothing wrong with trade. For example, if I manufacture an item for which I have a competitive advantage due to local natural resources and talent, and you likewise manufacture an item in Perú for which you have a competitive advantage, it may make sense for me to buy your product and for you to by mine. But this is only true if the production of both of our products is conducted following certain standards when it comes to labor and environmental protection.
In other words, as long as the production doesn't rely on exploitative market practices, it may make sense to engage in trade.
But once you inject financialization into the equation, then basically what you have is a race to to bottom, which is what we have today.
A sign of a healthy economy is when local talent/labor uses locally-sourced material efficiently. This has the effect of creating local markets that are highly diversified and resilient. It contribute to healthy local culture, income, diversity. This is similar to the importance of biodiversity in healthy ecosystems.
On the other hand, financialization and corporatization pushes for standardization and hegemony which tends to destroy (bio)diversity, making the whole system more susceptible to disruption.
Getting back to the topic of your post, I believe that one of the most important things social justice activists can do is to do everything humanly possible to shift their spending away from corporate chains towards independent, locally-owned businesses. Studies show that there is a multiplier effect where every dollar spend at a locally owned business produces two to four times the benefit than if it were spent at a corporate chain business.
www.RayPensador.com
When you boil it all down, the number one step you can take to get out from under the fascist boot of the oligarchy is to stop subjecting yourself to the the U.S. corporate news media. It is a powerful psyops weapon.
Similar studies show that...
Giving money to poor people as opposed to charities that "help" the poor actually is better for the economy. Poor people don't buy spoiled and near-bad food to give out to people at low cost. They buy at market rate, and improve the economy.
Charities depend on donations and advertising. In fact, more of their money goes to their image than actually helping the poor. Of course, the 1% sees a much higher return on Charity spending, so guess which one is advertised and suggested more to politicians.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Speaking of charity
Even the concept of a charitable family foundation has been turned on its head.
The old model , Rockefeller, Carnegie, Ford, was the means for accumulated vast private wealth to be distributed in ways beneficial to society and also as a means to burnish a family's brand from robber baron oligarchs to charitable do-gooders.
I don't see enough commentary on how the Clintons went from "dead broke" to over a hundred million AFTER setting up the charitable family foundation. I want someone to explain to me how that works because then my family can also set up a foundation and get rich. Why doesn't Bill do an infomercial?
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
helicopter money issued directly to the public?
Eurozone central bank could simply issue currency to the public if other measures fails, says board member Peter Praet: http://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2016/mar/18/markets-2016-highs-...
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." --Jiddu Krishnamurti