Phi wrote on Nov 30
th, 2020 at 3:49pm:
Governments no longer run countries. The TransNational Corporations do.
For proof - take a look who's sitting there at the negotiating tables for so-called free trade agreements that can drag out for a decade: government ministers and corporate representatives. No opposition parties, no media, no unions.
And then when these agreements are foisted onto the national parliaments, it's no surprise that the agreements are full of numerous corporate privileges:
* The privilege of corporations to sue governments in secretive star chamber courts (but no reciprocal powers for governments or citizens to sue those corporations).
* The privilege of corporations to bring in their own workers from foreign countries with no requirement to recruit locals (but no reciprocal powers for workers in those countries to be considered for jobs elsewhere).
* Many other corporate privileges that diminish the ability of governments to control those corporations.
Then, after taking a decade to be negotiated, the agreements are foisted onto the national parliaments, who are expected to ratify the agreements with little time to scrutinise them. Sometimes they are forced into voting for them without even having enough time to read them. And even when they come info force, some of the terms remain a secret from the people.
These are not free trade agreements. These are instruments of abdication for governments.