Trans-Pacific Partnership - Partnership For Good Or Evil?

An invitation: Still a few spots to join me in January in Guatemala! The Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, seems to be nearing completion as leaders from the US and 11 other Asia-Pacific countries work to finalize details of the “free-trade” agreement. Supposedly designed to create a thriving market for American-made products, it is completely skewed to the corporatocracy and Big Business. The small businesses, farmers, peasants, and regular workers in these countries will once again be exploited and potentially destroyed.The countries involved in this partnership are: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chili, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, as well as the US. It is interesting that China and South Korea are not listed among these nations. They are working to form their own trade deal, similar to the BRICS development bank, cutting the US out.The TPP claims to be a transparent, environmentally responsible partnership. But my experience as Chief Economist at a major international consulting firm (“economic hit man”) makes me leery of such high-sounding claims. The far-reaching and ambitious nature of this agreement, which covers everything from agriculture to intellectual property rights, instead promises to curtail individual freedoms and exploit those who are already disadvantaged.We’ve seen that these kinds of agreements have caused untold damage in the past ("Free Trade:" A Death Economy Next Door.) With that knowledge, you and I can stand against TPP with our votes and our calls and emails to our government and business leaders. Sadly, the fact that the US is working to make this agreement a reality in 2015 is a clear indication that our government is: 1. not protecting the interests of We the People, 2. not trying to narrow the gap between rich and poor and 3. not promoting democracy. Rather, it is still allowing multinational corporations, the corporatocracy, to call the shots for economic and foreign policy.NOTE: There are still just a few spots left on my January trip to Guatemala and the Mayan shamans. Please sign up for Guatemala at https://johnperkins.org/a-journey-to-the-lands-of-the-maya-guatemala/