Why Chris Trotter + Real Choice are both right and why you MUST protest on Thursday
The TPPA is the largest single threat to our democracy. It is NOT a free trade deal, it is a forced trade deal. It is a geopolitical leash used by America to counter Chinese influence in the Pacific. It creates a de facto upper house to our Parliament that is run by American Corporations.
It will increase medicine costs.
It will be detrimental to Maori.
It weakens our environmental law and makes it incredibly difficult to pass legislation to counter climate change.
It won’t make any of the economic gains promised.
It threatens our very sovereignty.
So you must, must, must protest in Auckland on the 4th of February as they attempt to sign this atrocity.
There has been much debate about about how that protest should occur.
On this front I find myself agreeing with direct action protestors Real Choice and Chris Trotter.
I agree with Real Choice when they argue that something this huge requires people who are prepared to commit civil disobedience to fight this abomination. A sit in and arrest is not violence!
But I also agree with Trotter when he argues that Key will use protest to warp the issue into a law and order issue.
The cops training for riots, turning up armed at Key’s state of the nation and their knocking on activists doors shows that they are keen to manufacture violence and there are certainly lots of new faces in the protest movement who are suddenly advocating for a rumble.
We can not allow ourselves to get played, but we must also refuse to be intimidated by these thug tactics!
However you wish to protest on the 4th, directly from 9am or officially from midday, you simply must, but we also need to be cognitive of how this protest will be spun by the mainstream media and the Government.
We must watch the Police action and record it immediately.
We come to prevent this madness and civil disobedience must be part of that response. Violence can not be part of that response and allowing the Police and Government to turn this into a law and order issue would be playing int their hands.
TDB will be reporting on all protests. Hashtags to highlight police abuse on the day will be #TPPabuse.
Well said.
The liars and criminals that comprise the government will have their way, and in doing so will bring further ruination to NZ.
That said, the liars and criminal that comprise the government need to hear very clearly that we recognise them as liars and criminals bringing about further ruination of NZ.
What utter tripe. Preach to the converted minority all you like, Martyn, but don’t lie. The Americans were dragged kicking and screaming into the TPPA – it’s not some ‘geopolitical leash’ that they dreamed up, you con artist.
And who dragged them? Whose idea was it? Helen Clark and Phil Goff’s. That’s right – the New Zealand Left’s political party is solely responsible for the TPPA. Not that you guys will ever admit it.
I think you don’t understand James.
The initial free trade deal begun by Labour were similar to previous free trade deals. It changed dramatically when America realised the power they could wield and counter Chinese influence in the Pacific. Domestic politicians in America are against the TPPA, but corporate influence is winning. They have managed to make their profit margins part of the national security agenda. You seem angry and uninformed James
Where does that guy get his info?
Is it from primary school texts?
Or the play ground.?
Sam, James got it from the lying National party handbook.
Ok. So not through conventional wisdom then.
“That’s how we forged a Trans-Pacific Partnership to open markets, and protect workers and the environment, and advance American leadership in Asia. It cuts 18,000 taxes on products made in America, which will then support more good jobs here in America. With TPP, China does not set the rules in that region; we do. You want to show our strength in this new century? Approve this agreement. Give us the tools to enforce it. It’s the right thing to do. (Applause.)”
President Barack Obama: State of the union address
January 13 2016.
Martin is correct, and you are completely wrong James.
The left seems to have some sort of pathological loathing of the US but what would you rather have rules set by the Communist party of China!?
@ awanderer –
Um .. aren’t we already? Or just about.
How is quoting the very words of President Obama showing pathological loathing of the US?
Communist China is already one of John key’s bed mates.
“Dragged kicking and screaming”? Don’t be daft. They just refused to play ball until the rulebook was changed to suit them. If they didn’t want to be a part of it, they wouldn’t be. To imply that they were a reluctant victim of Labour’s agenda is farcical.
“Dr. King’s policy was that nonviolence would achieve the gains for black people in the United States. His major assumption was that if you are nonviolent, if you suffer, your opponent will see your suffering and will be moved to change his heart. That’s very good. He only made one fallacious assumption: In order for nonviolence to work, your opponent must have a conscience.”
― Stokely Carmichael
the leadership of IOF is trying to have a buck each way: to get a big turnout on Thurs and appease the more activist protest group
that approach inadvertently perhaps, looks like hanging out some of the younger and more militant TPPA opponents to dry
the tactics on Thursday should be decided on the spot by the numbers, anything over 5000 and it should be straight to Sky City for a rev up before marching down Queen St and a blockade will take care of itself
anything over 10,000 and the streets are ours for the afternoon and most anything goes, please organisers revisit the crazy split demo scenario or else the cops are just going to pummel a smaller group while a larger group blithely pass on down Queen St
People, you be the news broadcasters !! Anyone that can, please bring a camera, recording devices etc and record the TPPA protests to be uploaded online later, with your own commentary if you wish, because mainstream media are not going to show much of anything, except highly edited bits, accompanied with a lying and misleading narrative, especially if there are any skirmishes. Keeping it clean and legal takes away their powers, and puts it in our hands.