Week 4 - Charles Miin

The Trans-Pacific Partnership has been a heated issue for quite some time now, finally acting as the catalyst that ignites the American public into caring about public policy. Gurtov makes very strong arguments towards the heinous nature of the deal that carries a multitude of additions and hidden items that elevate it above the status of a mere economic agreement. Aside from linking nearly half of the GDP in the world together, it caters to the efforts of globalization that seems to benefit the world while secretly bleeding it dry. The lifting of restrictions and oversight on business and venture falls in line with the American conservative argument of deregulating a free market economy to work itself out and prosper. When such happens, the powers that already control the financial means and systems will not compete with one another for better results, but rather short one another in trying to get the most resources into their coffers. One of the paths to this involves the towering capitalist Western corporations leaving American workers behind in favor of unprotected Asian laborers that had no collective voice to fight for their rights. The proponents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership say that the immense deregulation and collaboration will benefit all parties involved as is usually said when large trade deals are brokered. Consider the average income of these workers, the usage of 'suicide nets' to prevent worker loss in some factories, and the large surge in wealth for the business owners and framers that leaves nothing for the workers themselves. The carving out of the Asian states in Western favor has persisted well into today, and the TPP is only sinking the blade deeper.
What would happen if all of the average citizens on both sides of the Pacific rose up against an issue for once?

Gurtov, M. "The Trans-Pacific Partnership: A Deeply Flawed Partnership" Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, Vol. 13,  May 13, 2015.