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by thedaveoflife 4001 days ago
The reason it is kept secret is presumably because the general public has difficulty seeing the ancillary benefits (reduction of trade barriers) and pays close attention to the obvious drawbacks (IP rights for "evil" corporations). This contention is fairly well supported by a cursory read through this or any other internet thread about a trade agreement.

Whether the good in the TPP outweighs the bad is an open question that I don't have an answer to. I am just trying to provide some counter arguments to an otherwise one-sided discussion on here.
2 comments
stephengillie 4001 days ago
That's an incredibly weak justification, and it comes off as patronizing. You're telling me that they have to hide when they do trade deals, because people might object to the concessions?

So you're going to commit is to something we didn't agree to? That's exactly why we need transparency.

And who decides who gets to make these deals? "Oh let us decide for you." No, you'll make a decision I don't want.

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lugg 4001 days ago
They must be some pretty weak and nuanced ancillary benefits if you're unable to explain them in such a way this "dumb" populace can understand the trade offs.

> Whether the good in the TPP outweighs the bad is an open question that I don't have an answer to. I am just trying to provide some counter arguments to an otherwise one-sided discussion on here.

Its not an open question, its a closed, hidden question we don't get access to, let alone any answers to.

This is a one-sided discussion because it is a one-sided situation.

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