Background: Elected officials of local government, like most people, are not well informed about corporate globalization and are largely unaware of how the World Trade Organization and NAFTA have usurped their power. It is critical for local elected officials to become educated about the processes of "globalization" that are affecting us on a daily basis so that they can become advocates of fair trade.

Activists that would like to help get their governments and communities to begin "thinking globally and acting locally" may want to start by passing resolutions against the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the free trade agreements that are actively transferring power away from local governments and into the hands of unelected trade bureaucrats. The Seattle WTO protests set the stage for public debate on who is writing the rules of the global economy. Activists all over the world are demanding an end to the corporate driven policies of deregulation, privatization and free trade at any cost to the environment, human rights, jobs and working conditions.

Historical Context: In the past 50 years, the power to regulate business activities both locally and throughout the world has been stripped away by international treaties such as GATT/WTO and NAFTA. These free trade agreements have worked in tandem with the policies advanced by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the US Department of Commerce to create a global economy that pits workers against each other worldwide in the race to the bottom in working standards and environmental protection. Communities sacrifice sound policies such as corporate regulation and taxation, minimum wage increases and strong environmental protections in order to attract foreign investment. Governments have also been advised that they are inefficient and should privatize and outsource any service that can be handed over to the private sector. Free trade policies such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), eliminated tariffs, resulting in the greatest corporate tax reform ever! Corporate profits are soaring because of their ability to pass off the costs of doing business to the surrounding communities due to systematic policies of deregulation and privatization, tax breaks and generous corporate welfare packages.

Reclaim Democracy! Rebuild Community! This packet includes proposals and sample resolutions that will hopefully help to spark a discussion in your community on ways to reclaim the power that is being lost to the global economy. You may want to organize a series of town hall meetings in which people could bring proposals to set the ground rules for living in a global economy in harmony with "fair trade values." Many communities are already fighting for living wage ordinances that would address the growing income disparity. The initiatives that we suggest starting off with include: a resolution calling for assessment, not expansion of the WTO, a fair trade coffee ordinance, a socialy responsible investment ordinance that would include a Boycott of World Bank bonds. Sample resolutions on supporting efforts such as the Tobin Tax to curtail the instability in the global economy that put whole countries at risk of financial collapse by currency speculators (as in the Asian financial crisis).

In order to reverse the negative impacts of corporate globalization, communities need to adopt policies that encourage socially and environmentally responsible, long-term investment. With every major ecosytem in decline, wages stagnating, more people working harder for less and overall quality of life declining, we have no choice. We as citizens of a global economy have a responsibiity to chart a more equitable and sustainable course than the course currently being driven by U.S. multinational corporations. The power to change and create a better world lies within all of us!