Inequality for All

This excellent documentary by Robert Reich is based on what is happening with economic policy and the distribution of wealth in the USA, but is unfortunately a global phenomena spreading like a cancer on steroids.



Another good video on the effects of current economic policy on growth and inequality is by Nick Hanauer, who speaks just plain common sense in my opinion.



Economic Policy has become the only policy of Government!  Now, Foreign Policy is based around Military Sales, Trade Agreements and Petro-Dollars, Domestic Policy is based on how much you can charge for public services and Education Policy aspires to producing working clones that don't inquire!   The Bottom Line has become that which no one can (or will) question, the Dollar has become a religion and the people have become just an asset for Big Business.  Corporations, having gained the rights of "Natural Persons", are now morphing into Gods!
 
Democracy for the people, by the people has been replaced by "Corporatocracy" for the wealthy by the wealthy.  Big money now controls Government policy, regardless of the party holding power, be it right or left.  Campaign donations are in effect bribes and not so transparent to the public.  Corporate CEO's, their senior staff and lobbyists, sit on Government Committees and NGO boards, where their voting and management policy are in favor of their company interests and not that of the people for which they are supposedly helping and protecting.  The placement of Corporate Directors as Government "Officials" and vice-versa is so rife in the USA, that it has become known as the " Revolving Door Policy".

An example of non transparent Corporate and Government collusion, and close to home for me, is the privatization of  "The
Department of Agriculture and Food WA"; and its morphing into a company called Intergrain; with Monsanto having a 26% share holding.  Together with the WA Government and the Grain Research and Development Corporation, the other partners, this company is responsible for the grain R&D in the state...with Monsanto, for God's sake!


Democratic voting is becoming a sham, wherein the two major parties in the system pretend to be adversaries, when in fact they are both sitting within a whisker of each other on the political spectrum, and then govern according to the Corporate Zeitgeist.   Alternative or minor parties find it difficult or impossible to form and run for election; because of the cost to those running and the restrictions placed on political party formation by the current ruling party.

It is time that Democracy be for the people again, with Big Corpa and Big Money being removed from the whole political system and where every one running for office should have equal resources and opportunities for their campaigns.

Corporatocracy is hidden Fascism

..and they call it the ‪#‎PatriotAct‬, ‪#‎NationalSecurityLegislation‬, ‪#‎FreeTradeAgreements‬ (‪#‎TPP‬), ‪#‎Austerity‬ programs or "‪#‎TeamAustralia‬". ‪#‎Corporatocracy‬ is hidden ‪#‎Fascim‬.

Fear, by a thousand imperceptible cuts, is being perpetrated on a dumbed down society by Governments (Govern = Control, Mentis = Mind) all over the world.

Please take time and watch this informative video on how #BigCorpa affects and motivates our politicians.  This bloke has spunk as a Main Stream Media (#MSM) anchor man.  What he says, in my opinion, does not apply to the US alone.  UK and Oz are definitely front runners...

Government Corporatocracy Hypocrisy

"When corporations, particularly foreign, have the power to influence a nation's policy for its own profit , it is tantamount to terrorism. Terrorism being that act of removing the rights and freedoms of a society to self govern, create its own laws and choose their own destiny. If it were a state attempting the same thing, we would consider it an act of war."

I wrote this on my Facebook wall as a response to the below mentioned petitions and whilst it may appear to be a little extreme, I stick by its sentiments.

The two faced actions of the Australian Government's (and others) regarding ISDS and the TPP can be seen in our current relationship with Indonesia.  As a result of the Australian Government spying on Indonesian officials for the American Government, the Indonesian Government has accused the Ozzies of breaching their sovereignty, too which I would agree.  I won't even mention the "illegal" boat people fiasco.  It is OK, however, for Indonesian Corporations to sue Australia for the effects of its cigarette packaging laws; and this is not a breach of Australia's sovereignty?  And now with the TPP and the the reversing of the ISDS provisions, Abbot is opening up the flood gates for further Big Corpa influence.

Hypocrisy after hypocrisy after hypocrisy...

Government is no longer "by the people and for the people" but is being manipulated by Big Corpa which in turn is motivated by profit only and has no social conscience.  In the words of Chris Hedges:-

“We have to grasp, as Marx and Adam Smith did, that corporations are not concerned with the common good. They exploit, pollute, impoverish, repress, kill, and lie to make money. They throw poor people out of homes, let the uninsured die, wage useless wars for profit, poison and pollute the ecosystem, slash social assistance programs, gut public education, trash the global economy, plunder the U.S. Treasury and crush all popular movements that seek justice for working men and women. They worship money and power.”
― Chris Hedges, The Death of the Liberal Class 

Be Informed, Enquire, Act

Please read the below protests for their informative analysis of the situation and sign their petitions:-

Why this is important

The decision by Prime Minister Abbott to reverse the blanket prohibition on ‘investor-state dispute settlement’ (ISDS) provisions in Australia’s upcoming trade negotiations has the potential to irreversibly damage Australia’s national interests by limiting Australia’s ability to set its own policies when it comes to health, the environment, social policies and more.

This is because this new policy will give foreign corporations the right to sue the Australian Government if they believe our policies will damage their corporate interests.

This means that biotechnology corporations could sue Tasmania and South Australia over their respective moratoriums / bans on Genetically Engineered (GE) crops. New South Wales could be sued over their environmental guidelines on coal seam gas extraction and any communities choosing to enact a moratorium on coal seam gas extraction could be sued as well. Pharmaceutical companies could sue Australia over our Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS). We could also be sued if we ever wanted to ban harmful pesticides or institute stricter environmental standards in any area of our economy that might impact the interests of a foreign corporation. And that’s just to name a few…

And if you think this all sounds so totally outrageous that it couldn’t possibly happen to us here in Australia, then its well worth considering the impact of what ISDS provisions are currently doing in Canada - Quebec province had a US$250 million lawsuit launched against them after they called a moratorium on shale gas extraction (fracking) as they need time to assess the potential environmental impacts of fracking on their water supply. That’s not to mention the US$500 million case being bought against Canada under ISDS provisions by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly over patent decisions made by the Canadian Federal Courts.

In fact, here in Australia even though tobacco companies lost their case on our plain packaging laws in the Australian High Court, one tobacco company – Philip Morris – is now suing Australia in an international tribunal using an ISDS provision that Australia signed with Hong Kong back in the 1990s.

While it’s bad enough that this change of policy by Prime Minister Abbott will potentially transfer millions (or possibly even billions!) of taxpayer dollars to foreign corporations through preposterous lawsuits, this is nothing compared to the total and irreversible loss of national sovereignty this policy would bring to Australia.

If you believe that Australians should get to choose their own policies and have their basic democratic rights honoured and protected, without fear of legal retribution by foreign corporations then please sign this petition!  AAVAZ

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a highly secretive and expansive free trade agreement between the United States and eleven Pacific Rim countries, including Canada, Mexico, New Zealand and Australia. Leaked text reveals that the TPP would empower corporations to directly sue governments in private and non-transparent trade tribunals over laws and policies that corporations allege reduce their profits.

Legislation designed to address climate change, curb fossil fuel expansion and reduce air pollution could all be subject to attack by corporations as a result of TPP. Additionally, the deal could criminalize internet use, undermine workers’ and human rights, manipulate copyright laws, restrict government regulation of food labeling and adversely impact subsidized healthcare.

The movement we are building locally, nationally and globally to wind back fossil fuels and reign in a safe climate future is growing by the day and the fossil fuel industry is getting scared of the uncertainty ahead. The TPP is a symptom of this fear – a massive bid to overthrow any restrictions we might throw at them. But we can stop this. The might of our movement is greater than their money or manipulation.

Sign this petition to show our governments that we won’t stand for foreign corporations disabling our sovereignty, democratic processes or the right to a safe future.  350 Campaigns