The TTIP and TPP are secret trade deals not discussed by mainstream media, which would enable foreign companies to sue national governments - i.e. enable rich stakeholders to sue a government for representing its citizens.
A short video published at the Representative Press YouTube channel breaks down the controversy surrounding the TTIP and TPP for netizens, where previously the secret deals were only criticized in left-wing circles or among students of International Relations. One argument presented holds that foreign investors would gain a greater say than citizens over government policy through such trade deals, turning governments into devices serving foreign commercial interests rather than the people. The hijacking of health and environmental policies to maintain profits of distant actors with little interest in your well-being or your community would quickly follow.
In addition to these concerns, TTIP and TTP also contain the same pernicious legislation as SOPA and PIPA, which sought to censor the Internet. The result has been that online activist movements such as Fight for the Future's Battle for the Net campaign in the US and 38 Degrees in the UK are trying to mobilize netizens against these deals, calling upon Internet users to influence lawmakers to that end.
BREAKING: #FastTrack legislation for #TPP introduced. Take action: it's an Internet emergency. http://t.co/Roha5BWZRA pic.twitter.com/xEzLbD4JOs
— Fight for the Future (@fightfortheftr) April 16, 2015
A petition to the White House recently failed to achieve sufficient signatures, suggesting a need to increase publicity for this cause, but other mechanisms of activism exist to challenge the secret negotiations.In sum, the TTIP and TTP are an assault on the ability of democracy to function, reducing governments to foreign-controlled dictatorships making decisions based on the concerns of foreign stakeholders rather than their own people.
UK and US authority figures dismiss the public as uninformed and unaware of what is best for it, and try to override any form of pressure exerted by the public. In the case of the UK, their attitude is well-demonstrated in this striking recording back in November 2014, in which MPs shout down public concerns over the TTIP, dismissing them for not being "privy" to special information "bought in" by UK politicians to influence their decisions.
