Reading about TTIP reminds me of the "Estado Novo" - the Portuguese corporatist dictatorship that lasted for a large chunk of the 20th century.
Corporation rights above people, that is the way forward...
European Citizens’ Initiative against TTIP and CETA
81–90 of 100 posts
Re: European Citizens’ Initiative against TTIP and CETA
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The EU itself is a backdoor for treaties like TTIP and CETA. Without it, such treaties would have to go through the democratic processes of sovereign nations, which, although far from perfect, are most certainly more transparent and democratic than the EU. (At least, that was the case until the EU started including blatantly corrupt nations.) Uhm... no? If there was no EU, we'd now have a lot of bilateral agreement…
what about the democratic process? The UK politicians are being punished over the UK/US extradition policy. Who in the EU are you going to punish if one day we wake up with TTIP on our backs? Nobody, because there is no democratic process in the EU. Are you going to vote EU Commission out? The lack of democracy is no.1 problem with the EU. Any person who believes in democracy really can't say I believe in EU at the s…
Hu? The European Parliament is elected directly by the people (a bit too directly for my taste, in fact, I would have much preferred if the 5% minimum had been kept…). The commission is approved by parliament and suggested by the governments of the individual member states. The “corrupt bureaucracy” is put in place by the various offices (commission, council, parliament, CoJ etc.), just as in any other country.
What sort of democratic process would you prefer?
Re: European Citizens’ Initiative against TTIP and CETA
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
Excuse me, but this is not about "free trade" per se. Trade between Europe and America already is to a large extent free. Why do you think it has the volume it already has today? So free trade rhetoric is misplaced here. What TTIP is about is about regulations, for example concerning food or medicine, patent and copyright laws, etc. And I, for one, abhor US patent laws, or their blatant and complete disregard for the…
I'm from Ireland. Your ranting reminds me of the arguments nationalists make against greater EU integration. However, I have no wish to see the EU revert to being a bunch of mercantilist nations, and I don't support US-EU mercantilism either. The best way to make the US more like the EU is to deal with it, not lie on the ground like a child throwing a tantrum.
Perhaps you'd care to get your facts before you buy into Washington rhetoric then, you grown-up… How big is US-EU trade at the moment? In absolute and relative terms (ie compared to other links)? And how high exactly are the tariff barriers at the moment? And what is the TTIP actually about?
So what exactly does opposition to TTIP in particular and trade negotiations w/o public dialogue or debate in general have to do with mercantilism or Irish nationalism?!
Also, you might also think that after most of the trade barriers have already been removed, what remains probably does so for a reason. European people just do not want GMO food, for example. Many polls in different countries always reach the same conclusion. It doesn't matter if some trade official in the pocket of Monsanto thinks it's okay. Europe is the last bastion of freedom and liberalism since Bush wrecked America's soul. It should isolate and defend itself vigorously from the US, at least until the US remembers what it once stood for in the world.
Re: European Citizens’ Initiative against TTIP and CETA
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm from Ireland. Your ranting reminds me of the arguments nationalists make against greater EU integration. However, I have no wish to see the EU revert to being a bunch of mercantilist nations, and I don't support US-EU mercantilism either. The best way to make the US more like the EU is to deal with it, not lie on the ground like a child throwing a tantrum.
Perhaps you'd care to get your facts before you buy into Washington rhetoric then, you grown-up… How big is US-EU trade at the moment? In absolute and relative terms (ie compared to other links)? And how high exactly are the tariff barriers at the moment? And what is the TTIP actually about? So what exactly does opposition to TTIP in particular and trade negotiations w/o public dialogue or debate in general have to d…
You seem to be arguing with statements I haven't made, by alleging that I don't have my facts straight and then demanding random statistics. I am not going to play word games with you.
Re: European Citizens’ Initiative against TTIP and CETA
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is just a theory. What do we have in practice: - Some years ago, you could (yourself) exchange the battery of your mobile phone -- today, many mobile phones will be thrown away, when the battery is finished or any other part does not work any more. Todays "highest tech" industries are environmental nightmares. And now they even build tablet PCs that way, that should replace normal computers (see MS Surface). - A…
It's actually more likely that your battery will be properly disposed of today than it was a decade ago. Its being integrated into the phone means it is handled in the entire "decommissioning" of the phone (when you recycle it, trade it in or even throw it away where it is fished out by garbage processing companies who make money by salvaging electronics out of garbage and preventing it from going to landfills.
Just theories.
The reality is, that very much (if not most) of our electronics garbage goes to Africa, where it goes to wild garbage dumps and young children are destroying their health by burning the valuable materials out of the garbage without any health or environmental measures.
Even when the phones are decomposed and parts are recycled, we are very far from recycling 100% of electronic gadgets. Maybe you could (with much effort, that is not cost effective) recycle 40% of the materials. The idiotic method of glueing all together makes things even more difficult!
What you tell here, is just science fiction, that is presented as facts from the media to give us better feelings.
I live in a country with very high standards for garbage recycling -- but even here, most of the stuff is either just dumped or burnt, since that is the most cost effective thing -- that is done, of course after the private households took much effort into waste separation -- it is just dumped/burnt together. I know that, because I brought my things separated to official recycling and was advised to dump it together into one big hole.
Don't believe, what media and press tells you, because governments want to shine a bright light on our industries! You are being just brain-washed.
Re: European Citizens’ Initiative against TTIP and CETA
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is just capitalistic propaganda that now runs the last decades over the world. But it does not work any more. The "growth" of the last two decades did go 99% into the pockets of the millionaires and billionaires. Today is the situation, that new jobs in underdeveloped countries are at the existence minimum of that country or below -- meaning, those people work their ass of, just to survive and make the big bosse…
> But it does not work any more. The "growth" of the last two decades did go 99% into the pockets of the millionaires and billionaires. According to the world bank, the number of people in poverty worldwide declined from about 1.9 billion in 1990 to about 1.2 billion in 2010. That is despite an increase in surveyed population of about 1.4 billion over the same period. ( http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.…
I don't know, where you live. But I guess, that you live in a country, where critics of the capitalistic system does not appear in the media.
I don't care, what the world bank says. It is statistics. For example: How do they define "poverty"? By manipulating the definitions, I can prove anything to you.
It is a fact (and in my country, you can see it in the media), that in the developed countries, the rich got far much richer than the other people got.
That maybe some people in lower developed countries are better of now (by the statistics), might be, but their income is so low, that they do not really count against the growth in income in the other countries.
Please, don't tell me about the world bank. I don't trust organisations, that are installed for one main reason: To sell capitalism to the world.
The numbers from independent researchers are different. Read the book from Piketty: http://www.amazon.de/Capital-Twenty-First-Century-Thomas-Pik...
Of course, if you read the right (right-wing) media, they will try to discredit it, but I did not yet read any plausible critic -- only wild tries to protect capitalism from any thinking.
Re: European Citizens’ Initiative against TTIP and CETA
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm in no way defending Karel De Gucht, believe me. The situation you describe raises some questions, though. If he is this unpopular and disliked in Belgium, how on earth did he manage to become Belgium's representative in the Commission, holding a key post (Commissioner for Trade)?
I've been thinking the same thing, i guess he left belgian politics on the right time for the EU. (He was being investigated after he went in the EU)
At least in Ireland, an EU commission post is often a way to remove either someone perceived as a threat, or a sinecure for an old ally who might be better off not interfering with national politics. I imagine Belgian politicians succumb to the same temptations.
Re: European Citizens’ Initiative against TTIP and CETA
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Perhaps you'd care to get your facts before you buy into Washington rhetoric then, you grown-up… How big is US-EU trade at the moment? In absolute and relative terms (ie compared to other links)? And how high exactly are the tariff barriers at the moment? And what is the TTIP actually about? So what exactly does opposition to TTIP in particular and trade negotiations w/o public dialogue or debate in general have to d…
You seem to be arguing with statements I haven't made, by alleging that I don't have my facts straight and then demanding random statistics. I am not going to play word games with you.
US-EU trade is not the issue, it is already huge and it will grow without TTIP. Read what the TTIP is actually about. Implying that being against TTIP, virulently or not, is equivalent or even comparable to being nationalist or mercantilist is beyond the pale. No word games necessary, just read before you talk.
PS: And btw, why would anyone have an interest in making the US more like the EU? Who cares about what the US does to itself? I just don't want the US meddling and diluting laws and ways of life here.
Re: European Citizens’ Initiative against TTIP and CETA
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
You seem to be arguing with statements I haven't made, by alleging that I don't have my facts straight and then demanding random statistics. I am not going to play word games with you.
US-EU trade is not the issue, it is already huge and it will grow without TTIP. Read what the TTIP is actually about. Implying that being against TTIP, virulently or not, is equivalent or even comparable to being nationalist or mercantilist is beyond the pale. No word games necessary, just read before you talk. PS: And btw, why would anyone have an interest in making the US more like the EU? Who cares about what the…
I have read about it. I just don't agree with your interpretation of it.
Re: European Citizens’ Initiative against TTIP and CETA
#90"Public interest" is mostly an excuse for unnecessary statism and senseless regulation of European bureaucrats. European economy is very weak compared to that of US, and proponents of regulations under the guise of "public interest" have zero legitimacy because the results are terrible. Allowing corporations to free themselves from the shackles of regulation will benefit average citizen of both continents by increasi…
"European economy has barely grown for 15 years and these agreements are a welcome development." Good, keep it this way. We don't need more economic growth because the 90% of it goes straight to billionaires and the average worker don't benefit from it anyways. What we really need is an economy that does not rely on growth and mass production of toxic waste.
Yes, youth unemployment riots in Paris are great; let's keep things just the way they are.