Right now the US is negotiating to get Canada, the Pacific countries and the EU to join a new type of free trade agreement which is really a type of capitulation of democracy to today's big corporations. They are called i.a. TPP, TTIP and CETA. CETA between Canada and the EU is the closest to being successfully realized and would indirectly connect us to TTIP. But people's e-protests can and are close to stopping these dirty trade deals. Add your voice to the defense of democracy! The people own the power.
Investor protection in TTIP, CETA and TPP locks us into the status quo in terms of democracy, environmental law, consumer law, labor protection and other welfare issues. Any improvement can be argued to reduce foreign investors' increased opportunities for profit. For that reason, the big companies must have the right to sue the states that reduce potential profit opportunities. Any deterioration risks being unrecoverable for the same reason.
The British left-wing historian Hobsbawm correctly predicted that the fall of the Soviet Union would lead to attempts to abolish welfare democracies when there was no longer a political welfare alternative.
So we have also seen Greece and Italy in recent times governed by non-democratically elected officials to ensure the EU's financial elite get value for their money.
There have been several agreements similar to TTIP in recent years that want to attack the climate, democracy or welfare. In 2012, the draft ACTA trade agreement was defeated in the EU. It had been drawn up under secrecy and was criticized by the people for curtailing freedom of speech, the right to free communication, giving customs authorities far-reaching powers to search for copyright infringement if the author requested it, criminalizing generic drugs which were essential for especially developing countries to get drugs they had afford.
For example, those who want to sell pesticides that kill bees are fighting tooth and nail to do so. Bees are nevertheless the basis for most of the continuation of life on earth. Kate Parminter, Liberal Democrat member of the British House of Commons, wrote about this in a critical article against the British government in The Guardian on July 23, 2015.
Several attacks on the free and equal internet have been made. Only thanks to massive popular opposition have these bills failed. The Independent wrote about this on December 11, 2014.
Even the political power in the EU does not believe that its policies will create more welfare for the masses. In the EU, they are creating military forces and resources to put down the civil protests they think will come against the alarmingly increasing poverty in Europe. Jon Weman wrote about this on Aftonbladet's culture page on September 2, 2014.
Dagens arena's editorial blog claims in the post "Austerity has destroyed Europe's welfare" (2014-06-03) that the austerity policy of recent years in the EU led to the fact that in 2014 there were 800 children in poverty in Europe. They base the post on a UN report. It is the destruction of Europe's social model from after the Second World War that created poverty. The austerity has led and leads to higher unemployment, lower wages and increased poverty and social exclusion.
But there are an infinite number of small and large attacks that are stopped via e-protests sent via online organizations in defense of welfare, the environment and democracy. Even TTIP and perhaps CETA are close to being stopped by the people's protests. But it is important that we continue to be able to protest. You don't have to participate in every protest, but sending in your voice once in a while helps tremendously in the defense of people's international interests. If you want to become a monthly donor to one of the sites of SEK 10-50 a month, that also helps a lot. The people must never give up!
Avaaz
The shift
Friends of the Earth
sum of us
Good parties in Sweden are
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Getting active in them and following your ethical conscience in the party also helps a lot. Sometimes you need to go against the party line for the party's and the people's own good. Vote for democracy, welfare, equality, freedom and the environment! Every vote makes a difference.