Info, news & debate

The ‘democracy problem’


To all environmental groups: lifestyle change isn’t going to be enough to avert ecological catastrophe

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Someone said to me the other day that he associated ‘low-impact’ with lifestyle but not with politics or economics. Someone else asked why we blogged about TTIP, economic growth or system change when we were ‘just’ an environmental organisation.

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we-the-corporations

Corporations suing elected governments for introducing laws that reduce their profits isn’t new, but TTIP will make it much worse

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It’s called Investor-state Dispute Settlement (ISDS), and it’s a mechanism whereby corporations can sue governments that introduce legislation that they claim reduce their potential to make profit – for example, requiring plain packaging for cigarettes (Australia and Uruguay sued)

Read more about Corporations suing elected governments for introducing laws that reduce their profits isn’t new, but TTIP will make it much worse

nhs

Why does Jeremy Hunt want to give junior doctors more work for less money, and can we stop the corporate takeover of the NHS?

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The planned strike is off, but we all know that the assault on the NHS will continue. The corporate incursions into the NHS that Hunt and his ilk are encouraging are because of neoliberal ideology, not a desire to provide the best healthcare. Can there be anyone on the left or right who doesn’t appreciate this,

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Review: Julius Nyerere’s ‘Ujamaa’, why a beautiful idea went wrong and how it can be adapted for the 21st century

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This is a book that I discovered in my twenties, and it impressed me so much that I ended up making my way to Tanzania in 1991, and staying for a couple of months on two ujamaa villages. Ujamaa means ‘familyhood’, a concept that Nyerere wanted to extend to encompass the whole of humanity,

Read more about Review: Julius Nyerere’s ‘Ujamaa’, why a beautiful idea went wrong and how it can be adapted for the 21st century

deregulation-act

How TTIP fits perfectly with the Deregulation Act, which can overrule all other laws if they affect growth or corporate interests

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The Deregulation Bill, proposed by Tory privatiser Oliver Letwin, slipped into law at the end of the last Parliament. It can change all other law, according to criteria of ‘growth’ i.e. business interests. It fits perfectly with the EU’s deregulatory agenda, and that of TTIP and the other new ‘trade’ agreements, which have largely come

Read more about How TTIP fits perfectly with the Deregulation Act, which can overrule all other laws if they affect growth or corporate interests

historyofoil

What do you think about about this video by Rob Newman, and what does that say about you?

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This is ‘the History of Oil’ by comedian Rob Newman. You might have seen it already, but if not, have a look – it’s very funny, as well as spot-on. He mentions the Radio 4 news item – that there was ‘an American plan to bring democracy to the Middle East’, and marvels at the

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orfc

Join the people who are fighting back against corporate control of global food production

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There’s something seriously wrong with the way most of our food is produced and sold. The corporate sector is gaining control of more and more of global food production, shifting the focus from nutrition, flavour and nature towards profit and profit only.

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uber

Beware the ‘sharing’ economy – back door for a more rapacious form of capitalism

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Something that’s been troubling me for a while. The ‘sharing’ economy must be a good thing, right? I’ve been trying to see the good in it for a while. Sharing anything must mean that fewer resources are used, less waste produced, people get to know each other in their communities. All sounds great, doesn’t it?

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tpp

TPP is not secret any more; we can now see the text of the deal, and it’s worse than we thought

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The text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (deal similar to TTIP, but for Pacific Rim countries) has been agreed. However, there are some US politicians who are already calling for it to be re-negotiated, because big pharmaceutical corporations don’t think they get enough.

Read more about TPP is not secret any more; we can now see the text of the deal, and it’s worse than we thought



foiact

There are plans to water down the Freedom of Information Act; here’s what you can do

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In the great state/corporate battle against you, the latest round is an attempt to water down the Freedom of Information Act (other major assaults are TTIP and the Global Redesign Initiative). This is the act that brought you the MPs’ expenses scandal, and the fact that the UK government worked with chemical corporations to block

Read more about There are plans to water down the Freedom of Information Act; here’s what you can do



which

‘Why?’ does consumer organisation ‘Which?’ support TTIP? (and what you can do about it)

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Although the UK consumer organisation ‘Which?’ expresses some concerns about TTIP (the US/EU free trade agreement)  the organisation’s main message is that TTIP is likely to be good for consumers as it may possibly mean some lower prices.

Read more about ‘Why?’ does consumer organisation ‘Which?’ support TTIP? (and what you can do about it)