Thursday 4 February 2016

TPP opposition: it’s not about democracy

Funny, the noisier opponents of the TPP argue against the semi-free-trade agreement being signed because, they say, it represents a "threat to our democracy" -- that it threatens our sovereignty -- that its measures "constrain domestic law and limit our [government's] regulatory freedom."

And yet the same objections can be made about every single international agreement ever signed.

And the very same protestors can be heard just as noisily on every other day demanding that the govt sign up immediately to international agreements on labour standards, and climate change, and "indigenous rights," and whatever else social injustic campaigners dream up..

So consistency is not their strong suit.

But neither is "democracy" their aim.

And in any case, what’s wrong with constraining governments to protect contracts, and to prevent them enacting wilful regulatory changes?

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