The corporate consensus is enforced not only by the lack of political choice, but by an assault on democracy itself. Steered by business lobbyists, the European Union and the United States are negotiating a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership(8). If it goes ahead it will suppress the ability of governments to put the public interest ahead of profit. It could expose Britain to cases like El Salvador’s, where an Australian company is now suing the government before a closed tribunal of corporate lawyers for $300m (nearly half the country’s annual budget) in potential profits foregone(9). Why? Because El Salvador has refused permission for a gold mine that would poison people’s drinking water. ... It’s because of the power of corporations that the minimum wage remains so low, while executives cream off millions. It’s because of this power that most people in poverty are in work(16), and the state must pay billions to supplement their appalling wages. It’s because of this power that, in the midst of a crisis so severe that the world has lost over 50% of its vertebrate wildlife in just 40 years(17), the government is organising a bonfire of environmental protection. It’s because of this power that instead of innovative taxation (such as a financial transactions tax and land value taxation(18)) we have permanent austerity for the poor. It’s because of this power that billions are still pumped into tax havens. It’s because of this power that Britain is becoming a tax haven in its own right(19). And still they want more. Through a lobbying industry and a political funding system successive governments have failed to reform, corporations select and buy and bully the political class to prevent effective challenge to their hegemony. Any politician brave enough to stand up to them is relentlessly hounded by the corporate media. Corporations are the enemy within... Across the world, the oligarchy is trying to strangle democracy and take away what power citizens...
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 22:00:06 +0000
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