SHAKE THE HIVE: Protest and Rally Against the TPP, Beverly Hills, CA

On Monday, November 25, 2013, 250 or so free thinking, radical dissenters gathered at the Will Rogers park across from the Beverly Hills Hotel to protest the TPP- which stands for the Trans Pacific Partnership. Many folks don't know what the TPP is, much less why it is a threat to their well being. Now, admittedly, most people don't care about 'abstract threats'. What I mean by abstract threats are any threats that do not affect someone in a personal and/or immediate way. If someone said the internet would be shut down tomorrow- I think the entire globe would gather to protest. This is not an immanent threat under the TPP, although many internet freedoms are affected, were it to go through. (I bet that got someone's interest!)

Shake the Hive's Ashley Dane at the TPP Protest

I will fully confess that I am not one of those people who can read about things like this- from the leaked TPP text on Wikileaks, to the many articles written in the alternative news media, and even some sort of main stream media sources - and remember all of the salient details. As a result, I may not be able to address all the different issues that come up in a conversation, which I know at times might make me seem uninformed to those who, every once in a while, want to debate with me. On the contrary- I have read A LOT about it, assimilated the information, and have come to the conclusion that were the TPP to come to fruition, it would be a giant step forward in the world domination by corporations. We have long heard the term- New World Order. To the point, perhaps, where we don't really think about what it means, its become a rather generic and lackluster term, when it should invoke dread. A New World Order points to a single governing body ruling the entire planet, a handful of people (and its not the elected officials, ultimately, but people behind the scenes, whose names you may know, but most likely don't) calling the shots, and unilateral governing principles applying globally. The TPP is not that, but its pointing to that eventuality. This is only my take on it- there are other versions of what people think, I can only tell you mine. And here is someone else's very informed take on it- this video is Lauren Steiner, the powerhouse behind the TPP Protest, who very eloquently spells out some of the evils that would result from the enactment of this 'trade' agreement-

After Lauren spoke, Marianne Williamson, spiritual activist extraordinaire and best selling author who is running for Congress and also spoke. Her speech was a rousing and eloquent one, which I wish I could have also recorded, but I ran out space on my phone.

Marianne Williamson at the TPP rally

Despite the fact that the pact has been negotiated in near complete secrecy, what has been revealed is deeply troubling. It seems clear that, behind this veil of secrecy, the TPP deals with not only free trade, but bigger government, stricter laws and less accountability. As a result, the land, water and air in these 12 countries, along their borders, and across the oceans will all suffer.

Through a little-known provision called "investor-state dispute settlement," the TPP will elevate foreign corporations to the nation status. This gives corporations the unbridled power to challenge virtually any policy, including environmental protections, which they think will harm their profits. The TPP then allows these businesses to sue governments in private trade tribunals for unlimited compensation.

That greedy corporations will take full advantage of these powers is a no-brainer. ExxonMobil and Chevron have already used similar rules in other trade deals to initiate more than 500 lawsuits against 95 governments. One such case currently under way involves a U.S. oil company suing Canada, under the North American Free Trade Agreement, for $250 million because the province’s reasonable moratorium on fracking might hurt their ability to rake in more profits.- Steven M. Thiese, Salt Lake City Tribune

I have no words, except to say I have no words.

These are troubling times in the world. Its almost too much to keep up with all that needs addressing, all that calls for concern and action. One can get lost in it all, and once you start knowing, you can't unring that bell- and sometimes, for a brief moment, you might want to. But ignorance is not bliss. The ignorance of others creates more work for those who would speak for all human beings that expect the world to keep spinning as it has. The ignorance of others makes the pillaging corporations ever more powerful and nefarious- its those who remain silent and turn a blind eye that allow for these ills to happen. We all have a responsibility to know what is happening, and to speak out against it- from posting articles on your facebook page (click here for Shake the Hive's page) and twitter, talking about it, writing blogs, getting involved in marches or with organizations who are seeking to effect change...and, as I always talk about, making serious alterations (in small, manageable increments, or broad strokes, whatever works for you as long as it something) in your consumer choices. Do what you can, where you are, with what you have. There are more of us than them, so dissent is really the only sane answer. Rise up!

And that's what we did last night- we rose up, we yelled, we banged on pots and drums, we marched up to the intersection where the POTUS was going to be driving by on his way to a fundraiser at Magic Johnson's house. We made new friends and allies in the cause, and fortified our resolve in the knowledge that we are united in a cause, and that's a powerful thing in itself. At every protest, march and rally I join in, I walk away feeling like I am part of something, that there IS a movement, and I am part of it. We have each other, and more and more people join the movement every day, in different ways. That is what Shake the Hive is all about- Dissent! Revolt! Upheaval! Not in a violent or destructive way, but in a critical and constructive sense- upset your own applecart, the one that exists in the illusion of the American Dream and unrelenting consumerism, the illusion in which you took the wooden nickel and still don't realize that it has no value. The illusion that everything you know is true. Rebel against what you think you know, question it all, and find out what has real value and meaning in your own life, and in the big picture of you as an inhabitant on this planet with so many others. Its not a suggestion, really, although I know its best to state it as such. Its a moral imperative. Its what is required of us, if we as a species are to survive. If corporations are allowed to proceed unchecked, then the end is certainly near. The end of many things we take for granted now, and the real and true end of life on this planet- maybe not in our life time, but it should not be something we can predict. It should be something that isn't being discussed as an inevitable future. We need to learn to live sustainably, and as long as capitalistic greed is the driving force- AND WE ALLOW IT TO BE, we don't stand much of chance.

Shake the Hive!!!