Mark Karlin — The Trans-Pacific Partnership Legalizes Corporate Rights Prevailing Over Human Rights

The basic premise of free trade is to allow global companies to move freely between borders to exploit low wage labor, be free from any but the most minimal environmental standards, not be subject to lawsuits in many areas, and move corporate bank accounts around the world to achieve the lowest taxation possible.

It's ironic that at the same time the TPP is being negotiated in the utmost secrecy, the US is discussing how to further increase an already militarized border with Mexico to stop the free movement of people. So, free trade agreements guarantee the rights of corporations to hop around the world to exploit workers and the environment (among other provisions), but people within those nations are restricted in their movements.

In these sense, when it comes to global trade treaties, corporations have more rights than people.

Corporate rights prevail over human rights. That's the essence of so-called "free trade agreements" -- and the TPP is allegedly a free trade agreement on steroids.

BuzzFlash

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Legalizes Corporate Rights Prevailing Over Human Rights

Mark Karlin, Editor Of Buzzflash At Truthout
(h/t Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism

Neoliberalism (economic liberalism as a political philosophy) holds that free markets, free trade, and free capital flows are the hallmark of democratic states and the non qua non of global prosperity. Without free movement of people (labor), this is a joke. It is recipe for corporate fascism, political repression, economic equality, and social privilege.