Last Thursday, the FCC cast its historic vote on Net Neutrality guaranteeing a free and open Internet. Simultaneously, as Congress reconvenes after the congressional recess, they are preparing to bring Fast Track of the Trans-Pacific Partnership up for a vote. The Rolling Rebellion for Real Democracy is confronting these two current issues of people power versus corporate power that will have a major impact on people’s lives.
Firstly, the issue of Net Neutrality. A people-powered movement has convinced the FCC to reclassify the Internet to ensure equal access for all without discrimination. Kevin Zeese of Popular Resistance notes that “Net Neutrality is essential for the exercise of Freedom of Speech in the 21st Century. Now the telecom companies are trying to convince their puppets in Congress to undermine the FCC’s decision and once again, the people are fighting back.”
Secondly, TPP and Fast Track. For three years a movement opposed to secretly negotiated corporate trade agreements has stopped Congress from giving President Obama Fast Track trade authority. Fast Track would allow him to sign these secret agreements and then push them through Congress without hearings or amendments, with only brief debate on and an up-or-down vote.
These trade agreements are structured solely in the interest of corporate gain. The TPP and Fast Track are bringing together odd bedfellows like in Spokane, Wash., where Tea Party members and Occupiers are coming together in opposition.
Eleanor Goldfield, a musician with Rooftop Revolutionaries and activist with the Rolling Rebellion, says passage of the TPP and Fast Track would “turn corporate personhood into corporate nationhood by creating international court systems and trade tribunals that allow corporations to challenge laws enacted by countries in the interest of public health, safety and justice.”
With this sovereignty, corporations would hold sway over nearly every facet of our lives, from food to Internet access. As Julian Assange wrote, “If you read, write, publish, think, listen, dance, sing or invent; if you farm or consume food; if you’re ill now or might one day be ill, the TPP has you in its crosshairs.”
In the month of February, people protested at the grassroots level, combining their efforts into a national movement for equal access Internet and against secret trade deals. Years of organizing have brought these issues to a head.
Now, activists have been mobilizing throughout the congressional recess and coordinating high-visibility actions in cities from coast to coast. In Washington and Oregon, a “Fair Trade or BusTour” complete with hand-painted murals and packed with constituents visited undecided members of congress. In San Diego, Calif., community members took to highway overpasses to deliver representatives their message emblazoned on LED light panels.
Across the U.S., activists used guerrilla light projection to illuminate monuments and building facades with slogans like “Don’t Let Comcast Choke Your Freedom,” “No Slow Lanes, Open & Equal Internet For All,” and “TPP Dismantles Democracy – StopFastTrack.com.” Multiple protests occurred at telecom companies like Comcast, AT&T and Time Warner Cable, who are second only to defense industries in the amount that they spend lobbying and buying favors from representatives who are supposed to serve We The People.
On Feb. 25 in Washington, D.C., a new documentary, “Killswitch: The Battle to Control the Internet was screened before members of congress and activists from across the country. Last week, activists unveiled a larger-than-life killswitch to dramatize the stakes of the historic FCC vote.
The FCC’s announcement to vote in favor of Net Neutrality is a complete paradigm shift from less than a year ago, and a true show of the effectiveness of focused, dedicated grassroots action. If we continue to fight and win these battles, they will stand as tremendous victories of people power over corporate power. The people will have stopped some of the most powerful corporate lobbies in the United States including the telecoms and hundreds of transnational corporations.
Using high visibility, creative actions, the Rolling Rebellion continues this fight. For more information and to get involved, visit Rolling Rebellion, Popular Resistance, Backbone Campaign, and stay tuned on Occupy.com where we’re reigniting the fight for real democracy.
– See more at: http://www.occupy.com/article/real-democracy-movement-launches-nationwide-actions-opposing-pacific-trade-deal#sthash.zv7n6yR9.dpuf