HNH: Well yes, what has happened is this Film "Economics of Happiness" is being used as a sort of conference, but we are also organizing conferences when we manage to raise enough funding in various places, so we've had them in several countries and Economics of Happiness conferences and this November 08 just a one day symposium we are calling it, at Cooper Union in New York City we are organizing a one day "Economics of Happiness" event essentially.
We are calling it Voices of hope in a time of crisis, because I am finding that so many are people are quite depressed and are sort of giving up, and we do have as I say not only very hopeful vision and paradigm to offer but real practical examples and strategies.
I am also very happy that Chris Hedges who as a left voice for occupy, hasn't been talking so much about localization but he is embracing that and he will be speaking and the leading people in the whole organization movement, like Michael Schuman who is an expert on local finance, Judy Wicks who started BALLE, the business alliance for local living economies will be speaking and very importantly in our organization we are finding that a more global view and more global collaboration is essential for greater clarity and stronger united coalitions for change. And so we are bringing voices from Brazil, Africa, India and so this global view really strengthens the localization Movement. We are not aware of the amount of propaganda that's been put out there, that is essentially coming from corporation but many people sort of fall for it and now the same assumptions that are really wrong like-- if you buy local organic food in America that is because you are just a greedy and privileged middle class person who just doesn't care about poor people and if you don't buy things from India and Africa and so on, you are condemning them to poverty. Well that is a total mess. As we make very clear and as our international alliance makes clear, it is in every country's, it is in every region's interest to make sure that farmers are providing food for their own people first and only exporting when it makes sense and when there is surplus. But this is sort of the essence what is happened with globalization and this is been turned upside down and that our Governments are subsidizing about import and export, basically subsidizing global trade, in so doing they are subsidizing global corporations and most countries are importing and exporting ever larger quantities of the same product and that brings profit to giant corporations and big time speculators and creates poverty for the majority.
Rob: Let me just get that straight, two things you are saying 1. That we are subsidizing Global Trade, how we are doing that?
HNH: We are doing that you know that our Tax moneys are used, literally, to help Global Corporations e to advertise abroad, so the Giants get funds from our Governments to advertise their products, even Coca-Cola and McDonalds. But it is much more endemic than that -- it's in a whole range of ways that include a Global infrastructure that neglects the local infrastructures and in the mean while builds up faster and faster, straighter and straighter super highways, Giant ports even concentrating the population in Giant Megalopolis sprawl is part of an essentially enormous subsidy for Giant Corporations. You know McDonalds can't put a restaurant in every middle village of the world, what is a small town. For them it's in their interest of where populations concentrated, in these giant centers that are linked to the Global Infrastructure. We have to remember, if people tomorrow sat out around the world and ate food from their region, no multinational would make money. But millions of farmers and smaller businesses would make money. So this dependence on import and export is what allows them to become so wealthy and so powerful. I just so hope that people listen to this because it is this trade addiction where Government believes that so called Pre-Trade, through Pre-Trade Treaties so called is the way to grow the economy and there are many good people actually in Government, who believe this and who believe they are creating jobs and this is the only way to go and because of that they have created a situation where they are not only subsidizing these giants but they are also regulating in a way that favors them. The main way of the trade treaties are about de-regulation trade and finance de-regulation Globally. So for us that means that the Giants are more free adopt to move in and out of every region in country, as they like and they are then in a position which is what's happening to say to Government if you don't do as I say am going to go elsewhere because we have the freedom to go in and out and we know we are free to go and produce in China or Vietnam and sell in America. There are no tarriffs, there are no barriers and so if you don't do as we say, we are going to go elsewhere. This is the main reason why we are now losing democracy. This is the main reason why the media as well as academia, as well as virtually every avenue of knowledge has been colonized by Corporations.
Rob: Wait I just want you to focus on this, this is the main reason why we are losing democracy, what is the main reason?
HNH: The main reason that we haven't focused on is Trade Treaties and one very clear way of expressing this is to point out that these Trade Treaties which now, the more recent ones pushed by Obama, are the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). And these treaties are making it possible and in effect turning in to law situations where Corporations will sue Government if they in any way inhibit their profit. Now that means that you have ,for instance, Swedish Corporation called Waterfall suing Germany because they decided to eliminate Nuclear Power after Fukushima, this Waterfall company is a Nuclear Power company and this is based in a country where we have voted years ago against Nuclear Power in Sweden. But these treaties are leading to a situation where Corporate profit becomes law, becomes a type of Empire. And the Governments are running scared, both in term of Corporations abandoning them but also in terms of what Credit Agencies are saying about them, because all of these are linked to a de-regulation of finance and banking activity as well.
That's how we ended up in this mess in 2008, which was clearly irresponsible behavior on the part of the speculators. What did we get after that? Instead of getting regulation, regulating the Banks and Speculators we get a huge bailout from Tax payers' money and we all know about this. But the thing that we have not been paying attention to is how the situation has come about through Global de-regulation, which is what Globalization is.
Rob: Did I hear that Canada just approved the Trans-Pacific or the Transatlantic Treaty.
HNH: I think you may have but am not certain about that. You know what we specialize in, in my organization is to provide that bigger picture so that activism can really be focused on the real targets, but we are not following and we are not able, because we're providing the big picture, to follow all the details, very good organization we are looking at the later state of the Trade Treaties is Public Citizen. Lori Wallach is the lawyer who is been part of the Forman Globalization previously. And also IATP is good Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
Rob: iatp.org
HNH: Yes I think it is .org, it's a Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, but you can also look at our website we have links to all these organizations and we may even have on our website the latest news I am not sure. So on our website localfutures.org
Rob: Localfutures.org lets keep saying that, now I want to repeat it again there's a conference coming up on the 8th is it right.
HNH: That's right exactly the 8th of November in New York
Rob: How much does it cost, because it's amazingly inexpensive to go to this
HNH: It's so inexpensive, we so want people to come. So if you can't afford anything more please come for nothing, but I think $15 is what we are asking from students and so on, and for those who can afford it we will be very happy for $50 and those really want to support us a $100.
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