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A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending People & Planet's Summer Gathering. It's an annual week-long training event for student activists with a bunch of inspiring and empowering workshops, great vegan food (that's high praise coming from a meat-eater) and fantastic company. I'm gong to be helping out with P&P's Corporate Power campaign in the coming year, so it was great to see so much enthusiasm for challenging corporations' influence on education.
Anyway, whilst we were there, P&P (along with Platform and WDM) treated the world to an massively exciting announcement. They are actually attempting to sue the Treasury over the RBS bailout!People & Planet are also asking us to help put pressure on Alistair Darling to manage our investment ethically.
I'll keep you posted on this unprecedented legal challenge. Who knows, if it comes off, we could even remove RBS/NatWest from the Big 8.Pete
After an early summer lull in corporation-free activity, I'm pleased to say that the pledge is going strong again. The great news is that there are now 100 people who trying to live without the Big 8.
100 may not sound like a huge number, but for every person signs the pledge, dozens of others have looked at the website and read about the Big 8. So why haven't they all signed the pledge? It's not really surprising. People find it hard enough to boycott one corporation, so 8 at once seems like too great a leap. Nevertheless, the website has an effect on anyone who sees it by encourages them to question where the stuff they buy comes from and what happens to the profit.
So, thank you to everyone who has signed the pledge and an even bigger thank you to everyone who has told their friends about the website. Let's keep the momentum going!
Pete
When I started choosing the Big 8 a friend asked me “Why are you picking on large corporations?”. The question amused me (David accused of “picking on” Goliath), but it does raise an important point. What’s wrong with being big? Size shouldn’t matter. We all know it’s what you do that counts, right? But there are practical reasons why bigger isn’t better. Get too big and it’s hard to see who you’re stepping on. The distances between decision makers and the people who their decisions effect has never been greater. I sympathise with any corporate employee who’s job it is to ensure ethical and environmental standards down the supply chain. As hard as they try, the pressure from the top to keep costs down is overwhelming. That pressure means real improvement is impossible and ensures that exploitation continues. Suppliers will just go to greater lengths to hide it. So why do corporations get so big? It seems that most business people, economists and politicians believe that “growth is good”. Yet economic growth has done little for human happiness. It might be more accurate to say “growth is greed”. Growing means claiming a larger share of the world’s money and resources. Thus it is impossible for everyone to achieve continuous grow on a finite planet. There are winners and losers. Many of the big winners got there by being ruthless. The biggest losers are future generations that simply won’t have the resources that we currently enjoy.
So, Innocent have sold 20% of themselves to Coca-Cola. That's right, Coca-Cola! One fifth of the profit from each innocent smoothie now belongs to one of the least innocent corporations in the world.
Why? Innocent have a bad case of the growth bug. They are a very successful company, but they are not satisfied. They want to take Europe and they have chosen to use Coca-Cola's dirty money and experience in aggressive marketing to do it.Read this excellent piece by Take the Red Pill, see Mark Thomas' response and leave your comments below.Pete
Poor RBS. They have had a rough time of it lately. The humiliation of the bailout, the biggest loss in UK corporate history, embarrassment over city bonuses and Sir Fred's pension, having windows smashed by 'anarchists', their own shareholders voting against their pay policy and the loss of 9000 valued employees. RBS are so pathetic I almost feel sorry for them. And now what! A bunch of students outside their AGM shouting about their fossil fuel investments. Talk about kicking them while they're down. Whilst this may look like environmentalists jumping on the bank-bashing bandwagon, People & Planet have actually been targeting RBS since long before the term 'credit crunch' entered our vocabulary. The truth is that RBS have for many years been the UK's biggest investor in fossil fuels. That is why RBS/NatWest are in the Big 8. Just as RBS were blind to the sub-prime mortgage time bomb, they are too short-sighted to see that they are investing in the climate crisis.
However, far from kicking RBS, People & Planet are actually offering them a helping hand. Redemption is theirs if they publicly shed their unethical investments and start financing the green new deal. By getting some of their current detractors onside their outlook would improve dramatically, and, as we now own RBS, the government should be making it happen. However, years of dirty banking may have left them too blind to see this opportunity. If that's the case, the public flogging will continue and the boycott begins in September!
Pete
Dozens of non-profit organisations are behind what promises to be an amazing event in London this Saturday. Thousands will be marching to tell the G20 to Put People First, with 12 demands relating to Jobs, Justice and the Climate.This is the start of several days intensive campaigning around the G20 followed by a national People & Planet demonstration at the RBS AGM in Edinburgh on 3 April.You may doubt the value of such protests, which usually seem to be ignored by politicians. But I think they have a cumulative effect. The knowledge that thousands of voters are seriously pissed off about global injustice gets into politicians' heads. If we don't speak out, they will only hear the voices of corporations. I'll let you know how these events go,Pete.
When I began work on corporation-free.org, I had McDonald's in mind for the fast food slot in the Big 8. They are, after all, the model global corporation. Then a friend of mine who really cares about animal rights suggested that I should look into KFC. I’m not big on animal rights myself (cruelty within our own species is shocking enough), but I said I would look into it. Two things changed mind:Firstly, I learned about the way KFC's chickens are bred and drugged to grow to ‘killing weight’ in just 2 months fed on soya that is grown in deforested areas of the Amazon.
Secondly, after years of pressure over workers rights abuses, rainforest clearing, animal cruelty and the dubious nutritional value of their food, McDonald's now appear to be leading the sector away from such bad behaviour.But should we forgive and forget? While I welcome any improvements, I am not ready to forgive. McDonald’s have a lot more to do before they come close to redemption in my eyes. Plus I’m not keen on their food, so I will continue to avoid them. As for forgetting, when it comes to corporations, we must have memories like elephants, rather than goldfish. Whatever their PR people say, their motivation must remain the same: profit. Behaving responsibly rarely increases profit margins, so real change is only comes about when sustained pressure from activists and consumers starts to effect the bottom-line. If we forget, they can revert to old bad habits without anyone noticing.Pete
Those of you who got as far as the 'About' or 'Donate' pages on corporation-free.org will know that I am totally devoted to People & Planet. In fact, I have been a member of Loughborough P&P for six and a half years, including a year as treasurer and a year as chair.
This weekend I will be at the annual P&P decision-making shindig, The Forum. This is not just any forum, and unlike internet forums, it will not dissolve into two people with polar opposite opinions endlessly failing to see each other's point of view. At The Forum, students from all over the country come together to discuss the structure and direction of the network.
Up for grabs this year is the new 'Corporate Power' campaign. Over the years it has become increasingly obvious to our collective conciousness that, where there is injustice, someone is usually making a profit. But how best to tackle the corporate beast? These are the proposals:
Whichever one is chosen, I will be sure to let you know and tell you when it is launched towards the end of the year. Watch this space!
Pete
Here comes my big confession!
I have pledged to avoid E.ON and asked you to do the same, yet I still buy electricity from E.ON! I live in a rented flat and I need to get permission from the landlord before switching supplier, which I have not yet done.
Shameful!
Even now, E.ON are spending my money on greenwash. They say they will “help lead the UK into a new low carbon era”, yet they plan to increase their generation from fossil fuels by nearly 80% between 2007 to 2015. They continue to push the myth of “cleaner coal” despite telling the government not to include Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in its conditions for new coal plants because CCS “has no current reference for viability at any scale”. And you'll have to excuse me for being unimpressed that a new Kingsnorth coal power station will be more efficient than the old one, which was built between 1963 and 1973!
So, like me, E.ON are hypocrites. Unlike me, however, E.ON won't be confessing any time soon. When bad behaviour is profitable, denial and deception are much easier than admission and improvement. As individuals, we have to be careful not go the same way. That's why there is a confessions board in the community. If, like me, you sign the pledge before you're quite ready to live without all of the Big 8, be prepared to own up to it!
Pete
My name is Madalena and I will be blogging alongside Pete for corporation-free.org. First things first… Confessions:
My mum works for McDonald's and my dad for Microsoft. As someone dutifully pointed out, I'm practically sponsored by these guys. I went to Christmas parties with Ronald and I’ve been getting shiny brand new editions of Microsoft Office, free of charge, for years.
So... is this all a shameless hypocrisy? Perhaps but it’s all so very ironic! That money, which allegedly comes from enticing little kids to stuff themselves with junk and wrongly monopolising the software industry, is now paying for me to come to University in the UK. It has paid for my lectures on Marxism and for my People&Planet membership. It allowed me to get where I am now, to be truly involved and devoted to social activism.
The truth is I am still ready to hear both sides of the argument. I think both my parents are responsible people who wouldn’t work for devilish, blood-sucking companies. But maybe they do and then I can understand why anyone else might. The dirt is beautifully wrapped in 100-storey sleek skyscrapers and glossy employee-friendly environments. People find themselves surrounded by Néspresso machines and blueberry muffins that whisper: ‘hey, wages that help you get your kids through to college and save for retirement, wink’ and it becomes easy to find legitimate reasons not to dig it up.
The reason why I support corporation-free.org is because even if I am not sure the answer really is a corporation-free world, I am absolutely positive that if they are to exist, they need to become 100% accountable and as of this moment, they’re clearly not.Madalena
We’re going to be at 6 Billion Ways: Global Meltdown in London this Saturday. The event, which includes debates, speakers, workshops and a party, is… “…a day where the arts meet ideas, discussion and action to explore the causes and find solutions to interlinked global crises.”
The organisers include Friends of the Earth, People & Planet, and War on Want, who all run campaigns against the Big 8. It’s free, but you’ll need to register now because places are going fast. Perhaps we'll meet you there,Pete
The corporation-free pledge is intentionally a bit weak. You are only asked to “try” to live without the Big 8. This is because you may have the occasional slip-up or find yourself in circumstances where you have no choice. This brings me on to three questions that I have been asked:
Q1. If I bank with NatWest or get electricity from E.ON, can I sign the pledge now and switch when I get the chance?
A. Yes. Better to take the pledge and start living without the other 6 or 7.
Q2. If someone gives me some After Eights or Quality Street, can I eat them?
A. Yes. It would be a shame to be wasteful, but be brave and politely tell them why you try to avoid buying Nestlé. They might thank you for it.
Q3. But I love Coca-Cola/KFC! How can I live without it?
A. You probably just love the brand that you have known your whole life. You are capable of developing a taste for the alternatives. Also, people can’t actually tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi, so you could be fooling yourself.
Remember, if you do have a moment of weakness, tell someone about it. You can even confess on in the community message boards. That way, you won’t make a habit of it.
As it’s pancake day, why not sign the pledge today, give up the Big 8 for Lent, then see if you can keep it going for longer.
Pete
I have just launched corporation-free.org (only 30 minutes late) and I feel a mixture of relief and excitement. Relief because creating this website has been an obsession that has caused me many sleepless nights and erased much of my free time in the last few weeks. Excitement because I have a good feeling about it. My efforts, I hope, have been well directed.I will be blogging here along with Madalena, who is kindly helping me to publicise the website. We will add to this blog irregularly, but frequently. As well as sharing our general musings with you, we will try to pick up on news about the Big 8 corporations and what you are talking about in the corporation-free.org communities on Myspace and Facebook. Please follow the blog, join the community and, of course, sign the pledge. With your help, corporation-free.org will flourish.Thank you,Pete
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