TPP has taken on symbolic importance for a lot of people and as a result they treat it as a much more important issue than it is I was typing that last post while scratching my head tryna figure out why people, at the DNC especially, would care about it, and then I was like:
-Nafta being framed negatively over the past 20 years
-post great recession 99% rhetoric
-Bernie's 'political revolution' and calls for democratizing the public sphere
-the lack of transparency in the TPP's drafting
and it all made sense. This exercise also nicely put into perspective how Bernie's 'movement' has been bubbling for a while. How many of the Bernie bros yelling lock her up in 2016 were occupying Wall Street in 2010? It also reminded me of this:
VIDEO I can see it from a few perspectives. There are those who simply oppose any trade deal on protectionist, anti-globalization terms; naturally that would include TPP. Then there are those who may or may not support free trade but are mainly upset about TPP's corporate framework, for instance the ability for corporations to sue governments who pass laws that are perceived to undermine/hurt the deal. From what I've read, it's an open question to what extent TPP actually does break down trade barriers, and if so, whether that's actually needed. It's also important to remember that TPP and TTIP have huge, if not predominant, geopolitical purposes. TPP is as much about rounding up China's neighbors (and therefore, China) to play by US/EU rules as it is trade liberalization. As for ISDS, that's an arbitration process, not a court of law, although it certainly can indirectly affect legislation.
