Think Left have poised the question, “Are we in the post-democratic era?”

Now, document details of the trans-pacific agreement leaked, and thanks to WikiLeaks, we see just how bad TPP trade deal is for ordinary people.. (Download pdf here)

(YouTube)

Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, a partial draft of which WikiLeaks has just released. This treaty has been negotiated in secret meetings dominated by governments and corporations. As the implications become clearer, we are hearing of growing opposition to this agreement. The people can defeat this. (Truth-out)

• Wikileaks have  published the full text of the intellectual property chapter; the leaked document included the positions of all the parties.  It will take time for all the corporate rigging in this lengthy document to be understood, but already it is evident that Internet freedom will be curtailed, access to health care will become more expensive and access to information will be undermined.
• Members of the U.S. House of Representatives have written several letters to President Obama opposing Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority.
• In the United States, cities and counties are beginning to pass TPP Free Zones, saying they will not obey the TPP if it becomes law. 
•  The draft “confirms fears that the negotiating parties are prepared to expand the reach of intellectual property rights, and shrink consumer rights and safeguards,” writes James Love a longtime watcher of this process.

Copyright is a key part of this draft.  The Electronic Frontier Foundation says TPP has “extensive negative ramifications for users’ freedom of speech, right to privacy and due process, and hinder peoples’ abilities to innovate”. It’s Hollywood’s wish list. The medical industry has a stake in the outcome, too, with credible critics saying it would raise drug prices.

It is vital that ordinary people, union activists and our opposition parties in parliament and everywhere oppose this treaty. Democracy, health, ethics and human decency decry it. We must organise, educate and collectively oppose this treaty for all our sakes, and  future generations.