I promise to read this critical article a bit closer before getting
too frothy at the mouth, but a growing number of us are sounding the
cry that we are entering the Age of Corporate "Nations". These mighty
behemoths are so huge and wealthy that they can ignore what we once
called Nations.
The NAFTA and soon the TPP will drive even more nails into nation's coffins.
How's that sweet old song from the Great Depression Days go? "The
rich get rich and the poor get poorer, but in the meantime and in
between time, ain't we got fun".
Carl Jarvis
On 9/12/16, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
'Be Afraid': Largest Corporations Wealthier Than Most Countries
Published on
Monday, September 12, 2016
by
Common Dreams
'Be Afraid': Largest Corporations Wealthier Than Most Countries
'The power of corporations is so great within our society that they have
undermined the idea that there is any other way to run society'
by
Nika Knight, staff writer
Walmart has more money than the entire economy of Australia. (Photo: Mike
Mozart/flickr/cc)
Corporations are running the world, according to new figures released
Monday
from the U.K.-based Global Justice Now.
"As multinationals increasingly dominate areas traditionally considered the
primary domain of the state, we should be afraid."
-Aisha Dodwell, Global Justice Now
The economic and social justice advocacy group discovered (spreadsheet)
that
the ten largest corporations are wealthier than most countries in the world
combined.
"Today, of the 100 wealthiest economic entities in the world, 69 are now
corporations and only 31 countries," wrote Global Justice Now campaigns and
policy officer Aisha Dodwell. "This is up from 63 to 37 a year ago. At this
rate, within a generation we will be living in a world entirely dominated
by
giant corporations."
Indeed, multinational behemoths Shell, Apple, and Walmart each rake in more
revenue than the world's 180 "poorest" countries-a list that includes
Ireland, Greece, Israel, South Africa, Vietnam, and Colombia-combined.
And the top ten largest companies have a whopping combined value of $2.9
trillion, which is larger than China's economy.
"The drive for short-term profits today seems to trump basic human rights
for millions of people on the planet."
-Nick Dearden, Global Justice Now
Walmart, the biggest corporate entity in the world, is valued at over $482
billion, which makes it wealthier than Spain, Australia, and the
Netherlands, individually.
"The vast wealth and power of corporations is at the heart of so many of
the
world's problems-like inequality and climate change," said Nick Dearden,
director of Global Justice Now. "The drive for short-term profits today
seems to trump basic human rights for millions of people on the planet.
These figures show the problem is getting worse."
"As multinationals increasingly dominate areas traditionally considered the
primary domain of the state, we should be afraid," Dodwell continued:
While they privatize everything from education and health to border
controls
and prisons, they stash their profits away in secret offshore accounts. And
while they have unrivaled access to decision makers they avoid democratic
processes by setting up secret courts enabling them to bypass all judicial
systems applicable to people. Meanwhile their raison d'etre of perpetual
growth in a finite world is causing environmental destruction and driving
climate change. From Sports Direct's slave-like working conditions to BP's
oil spill devastating people's homes, stories of corporations violating
rights are all too often seen in our daily papers.
Global Justice Now noted that it "released the figures in order to increase
pressure on the British government ahead of a UN working group, led by
Ecuador, established to draw up a binding treaty to ensure transnational
corporations abide by the full range of human rights responsibilities.
Campaigners are calling for the treaty to be legally enforceable at a
national and global level."
"Britain doesn't support the process, and has repeatedly vetoed and opposed
such proposal in the past," the group added.
"The U.K. government has facilitated this rise in corporate power," Dearden
said, "through tax structures, trade deals, and even aid programs that help
big business. Their wholehearted support for the U.S.-EU trade deal TTIP is
just the latest example of government help to big business. Disgracefully
it
also routinely opposes the call of developing countries to hold
corporations
to account for their human rights impacts at the UN."
"We must fight back."
-Aisha DodwellAlongside the latest figures demonstrating the extent to
which
corporations dominate the world, Global Justice Now released a petition
calling on the British government to support a binding UN treaty that would
force corporations to respect human rights around the world.
The treaty will be delivered to U.K. and European Union leaders in Geneva
on
October 12, the group says.
"Of course, the battle against corporate power has many fronts and the UN
treaty is only one part of it," Dodwell observed. "At the same time, we
need
to continue to develop alternative ways to produce and distribute the goods
and services we need. We need to undermine the notion that only massive
corporations can make the economy and society 'work.'"
"The alternative is that we continue to rush towards the dystopian vision
of
unchallenged corporate power," Dodwell wrote. "We cannot allow this to
happen. We must fight back."
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License
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'Be Afraid': Largest Corporations Wealthier Than Most Countries
Published on
Monday, September 12, 2016
by
Common Dreams
'Be Afraid': Largest Corporations Wealthier Than Most Countries
'The power of corporations is so great within our society that they have
undermined the idea that there is any other way to run society'
by
Nika Knight, staff writer
. 27 Comments
.
. Walmart has more money than the entire economy of Australia. (Photo:
Mike Mozart/flickr/cc)
. Corporations are running the world, according to new figures
released Monday from the U.K.-based Global Justice Now.
. "As multinationals increasingly dominate areas traditionally
considered the primary domain of the state, we should be afraid."
-Aisha Dodwell, Global Justice Now
. The economic and social justice advocacy group discovered
(spreadsheet) that the ten largest corporations are wealthier than most
countries in the world combined.
. "Today, of the 100 wealthiest economic entities in the world, 69 are
now corporations and only 31 countries," wrote Global Justice Now campaigns
and policy officer Aisha Dodwell. "This is up from 63 to 37 a year ago. At
this rate, within a generation we will be living in a world entirely
dominated by giant corporations."
Indeed, multinational behemoths Shell, Apple, and Walmart each rake in more
revenue than the world's 180 "poorest" countries-a list that includes
Ireland, Greece, Israel, South Africa, Vietnam, and Colombia-combined.
And the top ten largest companies have a whopping combined value of $2.9
trillion, which is larger than China's economy.
"The drive for short-term profits today seems to trump basic human rights
for millions of people on the planet."
-Nick Dearden, Global Justice Now
Walmart, the biggest corporate entity in the world, is valued at over $482
billion, which makes it wealthier than Spain, Australia, and the
Netherlands, individually.
"The vast wealth and power of corporations is at the heart of so many of
the
world's problems-like inequality and climate change," said Nick Dearden,
director of Global Justice Now. "The drive for short-term profits today
seems to trump basic human rights for millions of people on the planet.
These figures show the problem is getting worse."
"As multinationals increasingly dominate areas traditionally considered the
primary domain of the state, we should be afraid," Dodwell continued:
While they privatize everything from education and health to border
controls
and prisons, they stash their profits away in secret offshore accounts. And
while they have unrivaled access to decision makers they avoid democratic
processes by setting up secret courts enabling them to bypass all judicial
systems applicable to people. Meanwhile their raison d'etre of perpetual
growth in a finite world is causing environmental destruction and driving
climate change. From Sports Direct's slave-like working conditions to BP's
oil spill devastating people's homes, stories of corporations violating
rights are all too often seen in our daily papers.
Global Justice Now noted that it "released the figures in order to increase
pressure on the British government ahead of a UN working group, led by
Ecuador, established to draw up a binding treaty to ensure transnational
corporations abide by the full range of human rights responsibilities.
Campaigners are calling for the treaty to be legally enforceable at a
national and global level."
"Britain doesn't support the process, and has repeatedly vetoed and opposed
such proposal in the past," the group added.
"The U.K. government has facilitated this rise in corporate power," Dearden
said, "through tax structures, trade deals, and even aid programs that help
big business. Their wholehearted support for the U.S.-EU trade deal TTIP is
just the latest example of government help to big business. Disgracefully
it
also routinely opposes the call of developing countries to hold
corporations
to account for their human rights impacts at the UN."
"We must fight back."
-Aisha DodwellAlongside the latest figures demonstrating the extent to
which
corporations dominate the world, Global Justice Now released a petition
calling on the British government to support a binding UN treaty that would
force corporations to respect human rights around the world.
The treaty will be delivered to U.K. and European Union leaders in Geneva
on
October 12, the group says.
"Of course, the battle against corporate power has many fronts and the UN
treaty is only one part of it," Dodwell observed. "At the same time, we
need
to continue to develop alternative ways to produce and distribute the goods
and services we need. We need to undermine the notion that only massive
corporations can make the economy and society 'work.'"
"The alternative is that we continue to rush towards the dystopian vision
of
unchallenged corporate power," Dodwell wrote. "We cannot allow this to
happen. We must fight back."
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License
