APEC Essay Research Paper The question is — страница 2

There’s no democracy in APEC Although it’s only been sice 1989 that APEC has been around, most people have probably only heard about it recently due to it’s arrival in Vancouver. This is not surprising as APEC functions through closed door meetings of politicians, big business representatives, bureaucrats, and academics. The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), is the only institutional presence in APEC, that is not apart of the government. ABAC is made up of CEOs. Those who are affected most by APEC’s policies have no say in APEC deliberations and policies. APEC does not function in isolation unlike some other organizations. Fundamental resolutions about our lives are made on an every day basis by economists and bureaucrats that represent establishments such as the

International Monetary Fund (IMF), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Bank and World Trade Organization (WTO). According to the Director General of the WTO, Renato Rugiero,”We are writing the constitution of a single global economy.” (1) Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) and other treaties like it termed “a bill of rights for investors,” are secretly being drafted. These issues will transform the way society lives dramatically and there are no public debates on these issues. (1) APEC Cultivates a Society of Consumption Many trade agreements including APEC don’t just concentrate on commodities, they are all for turning our existence into a commodity. In the eyes of APEC, all the aspects of peoples lives are looked upon in

terms of profit. . Assumptions of APEC Small Businesses will Prosper Small businesses will actually end up weakening due to APEC. Without the benifit to large-scale government subsidies that are handed over out to big corporations every day and without cheap resources and cheap labour, small businesses simply cannot compete with the big ones. We are approaching an period of monopolistic capitalism, where a few major corporations can afford to play the game and because of that they can set the rules. There are more and more companies merging together and being bought out, it’s common for this to happen now a days. Today, 51 corporations and 49 countries make up the 100 biggest economies, not 1oo countries not even 50% are countries. On top of that, 70% of international trade is

controled by 500 transnationals. (1) It’s inevitable Endeavours to make any positive modifications to the agreement are fruitless, since the entire founding of APEC is defective from the outset. It is therefore no surprise that Canadian participation, thus far, hasvdone nothing but serve to promote APEC’s corporate agenda. Canadian, Australian and US business interests are encouraging other APEC involved countries to liberalize their economies rapidly, more rapidly than these other countries would like. The Canadian government has declared that it does not have a will to take on critical social issues within APEC. Canada is even becoming worse then America inregard to overlooking the abuse to human rights within countries such as China. What if APEC decided to take positive

stand on these imperative issues, would we as canadians really want corporations to be sharing the responsibility of making decisions about certain issues, for example, environmental protection? Great Opportunity for Cultural Exchange and Dialogue In order to defend their corporate agenda, the supporters and leaders of APEC have had the tendency to drag out the corpse of “cultural exchange”, APEC is strickly about business and that has been made distinct from the beginning, “APEC has been business driven from the start, a feature that sets it apart from many other regional trade bodies.” This quote can be read in a Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs document entitled An Open Door for Canadian Business, APEC is believed to be an prospect for cultural exchange, but

it’s not. Opportunities for cultural change will continue to exist without APEC as they always have. (1) APEC an informal chit-chat. Although APEC agreements are often described as non-binding, this assumes that everyone comes to the table on equal footing. However, there are huge vested interests and imbalances of power at play. While the rules may remain somewhat flexible for the US and Japan, weaker nations will be forced into compromising positions. In essence APEC is an attempt by the powerful developed nations to pry open the weaker economies in the Asia Pacific region. APEC is a colonialist tool, wielded by wealthy nations to exploit the environment and cheap labour of less prosperous nations. APEC will Result in Increased Prosperity for Everyone APEC means prosperity