Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): Pandora’s Box of Corporate Power | Mickey Z.

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Photo credit: Mickey Z.

Mickey Z. -- World News Trust

Aug. 15, 2014

The story of Pandora’s Box (which was really a jar) -- much like the Biblical tale of “forbidden fruit” -- is meant as a warning that once the evils of the world are released, it’s virtually impossible for them to be recalled. Sticking with the Greek mythology vibe, I guess you could say Adam Weissman has been playing the role of Cassandra in the struggle to inform others about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Weissman organizes against TPP and other free trade agreements with TradeJustice New York Metro, a coalition of groups from diverse social movements resisting the NAFTA neoliberal free trade model. He also works with Global Justice for Animals and the Environment, an organization addressing the threat posed by free trade agreements to animals; the environment; safe and sustainable food; and the human rights of environmentalists.

Put simply, Adam has become my go-to person when it comes to TPP and related issues so I figured it was long overdue we did an interview. It went a little something like this…

Mickey Z.: Let’s start with the essentials. What exactly is TPP and why are you working so hard to stop it?

Adam Weissman: TPP is a 12-nation agreement currently being negotiated between the governments of the United States and 11 other countries (Canada, Mexico, Peru , Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Japan). TPP is being pushed by corporate interests seeking to enact a wide variety of policies into law that undermine the public interest on behalf of their profits, policies that would be vigorously opposed if presented as individual pieces of legislation rather than being lumped into a massive, obscure international trade agreement.

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