Date: Mon, 15 Apr 1996 21:44:45 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Does this sound good?



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: D Shniad <shniad-AT-sfu.ca>

The CCPA Monitor, April 1996

TIPS ON HOW TO OPPOSE CORPORATE RULE

     By Dr. Jane Kelsey

   The business takeover of Canada's economic and
political systems is generating a buildup of opposition
by progressive organizations and individuals.
   One of the strongest critics of the corporate
agenda is Dr. Jane Kelsey of the University of Auckland
in New Zealand. An excerpt from her book on the
corporate takeover of New Zealand -- "Economic
Fundamentalism" -- was published in the March issue of
The Monitor.
   Dr.  Kelsey has devised what she calls "A Manual
for Counter-Technopols" -- suggestions and ideas for
actions that challenge corporate rule.
   The following is a list of some of her proposed
tactics and strategies that could be adopted by
Canadian "resistance" fighters.

* Be skeptical about fiscal and other "crises."
Examine the real nature of the problem, who defines it
as a crisis, and who stands to gain. Demand to know the
range of possible solutions, and the costs and benefits
of each to whom. If the answers are not forthcoming,
burn the midnight oil to produce the answers for
yourselves.

* Don't cling to a political party that has been
converted to neo-conservatism. Fighting to prevent a
social democratic party's capture by right-wing zealots
is important. But once the party has been taken over,
maintaining solidarity on the outside while seeking
change from within merely gives them more time. When
the spirit of the party is dead, shed the old skin and
create something new.

* Take economics seriously.  Neo-liberal economic
fundamentalism pervades everything. There is no
boundary between economic, social, environmental or
other policies. Those who focus on narrow sectoral
concerns and ignore the pervasive economic agenda will
lose their own battles and weaken the collective
ability to resist. Leaving economics to economists is
fatal.

* Expose the weaknesses of their theory. Neo-liberal
theories are riddled with dubious assumptions and
internal inconsistencies, and often lack empirical
support. These right-wing theories need to be exposed
as self-serving rationalizations which operate in the
interests of the elites whom the policies empower.

* Challenge hypocrisy. Ask who is promoting a strategy
as being in the "national interest," and who stands to
benefit most. Document cases where self-interest is
disguised as public good.

* Expose the masterminds. Name the key corporate
players behind the scenes, document their interlocking
roles and allegiances, and expose the personal and
corporate benefits they receive.

* Maximize every obstacle. Federal systems  of
government,  written constitutions, legal requirements
and regulations, supra-national institutions like the
ILO and the UN, and strong local governments can
provide barriers that slow down the pace of the
corporate takeover.

* Work hard to maintain solidarity.  Avoid the trap of
divide and rule. Sectoral in-fighting is self-indulgent
and everyone risks losing in the end.

* Do not compromise the labour movement. Build
awareness of the corporate agenda at union local and
workplace levels. Resist concessions that tend to
deepen co-optation and weaken the unions' ability to
fight back.

* Maintain the concept of an efficient public service.
Resist attempts to discredit and dismantle the public
sector by admitting deficiencies and promoting
constructive models for change. Build support among
client groups and the public which stresses the need
for public services and the risks of cutting or
privatizing them.

* Encourage community leaders to speak out. Public
criticism from civic and church leaders, folk heroes
and other prominent "names" makes corporate and
political leaders uncomfortable. It also makes people
think. Remind community leaders of their social
obligations, and the need to preserve their own self-
respect.

* Avoid anti-intellectualism. A pool of academics and
other intellectuals who can document and expose the
fallacies and failures of the corporate agenda, and
develop viable alternatives in partnership with
community and sectoral groups, is absolutely vital.
They need to be supported when they come under attack,
and challenged when they fail to speak out or are co-
opted or seduced.

* Establish an alternative think-tank. If one already
exists, make sure it is adequately funded. Neo-liberal
and neo-conservative think-tanks have shown how well-
resourced institutes on the right can rationalize and
legitimize the corporate agenda. The need is obvious
for one or more equally well-supported think-tanks on
the left. Uncoordinated research by isolated critics
will not suffice.

* Invest in the future.  Provide financial, human and
moral support to sustain alternative analysis,
publications, think-tanks, and people's projects that
are working actively to resist the corporate agenda and
work for progressive change.

* Support those who speak out. The harassment and
intimidation of critics of the corporate takeover works
only if those targeted for attacks lack personal,
popular and institutional support. Withdrawing from
public debate leaves those who remain more exposed.

* Promote ethical investment. Support investors who
genuinely respond to social and ecological concerns.
Expose unethical investors who don't. Boycotts have
proved a powerful force in environmental, anti-nuclear
and safe product campaigns. Companies that ignore
social and environmental concerns can be embarrassed
and called to account.

* Think global, act local. Develop an understanding of
the global nature of economic power, and those forces
which are driving current trends. Draw the links
between these  global forces  and local  events. Target
local  representatives, meetings and activities which
feed into the global economic machine.

* Think local, act global.  Actively support
international strategies for change, such as people's
tribunals, non-govern-mental forums and codes of
conduct, and action campaigns against unethical
companies and corporate practices. Recognize that
international action is essential to counter the
collaboration of states and corporations, and to
empower civil society to take back control.

* Develop alternative media out-lets. Once mainstream
media are captured by the right, it is difficult for
critics to enter the debate, and impossible to lead it.
Alternative media and innovative strategies must be put
in place. Effective communication and exchange of
information between sectoral groups and activists are
essential, despite the time and resources involved.

* Raise the levels of popular economic literacy.
Familiarize people with the basic themes, assumptions
and goals of economic fundamentalism. Convince them
that economic policy affects everyone, that everyone
has a right to participate, and that alternatives to
the corporate agenda do exist.

* Resist market-speak.  Maintain control of the
language, challenge its capture by the right, and
refuse to convert your discourse to theirs. Insist on
using hard specific terms that convey the hard
realities of what is going on.

* Be realistic. Recognize that the world has changed,
in some ways irreversibly, and that the past was far
>from perfect. Avoid being trapped solely into reacting
and defending the status quo. Defending the past for
its own sake adds credibility to the claims of the
right and wastes opportunities to work for genuine
change.

* Be pro-active.  Start rethinking visions, strategies
and models of  development for the future. Show that
there are workable, preferable alternatives from the
start. This becomes progressively more difficult the
longer you wait to respond to the corporate agenda.

* Challenge  the TINA  ("there is  no alternative")
claim.  Convince people -- individually and
collectively -- that there are real and workable
alternatives. Present options that combine realism with
the prospect of meaningful change. Actively promote
these alternatives and have them ready to be
implemented when the corporate agenda fails.

* Promote participatory democracy.  Build a
constituency for change through alternative information
networks and media. Use community, workplace, women's,
church, union, First Nations and other outlets to
encourage people to take back control. Empower them
with the knowledge they need to understand the right-
wing forces affecting them and how they can fight back
most effectively.

* Hold the line.  The corporate takeover is not yet
complete. Social programs have not yet been entirely
dismantled. Unions have not yet been destroyed. Not all
environmental protections have been eliminated. There
is still time, through sustained and co-ordinated
action, to hold the line.



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