Public-Private Partnerships, the undermining of free markets

Admin Posts : 75 Join date : 2007-09-18

Public-Private Partnerships, the undermining of free enterprise, and the emergence of soft facism

Quote :: Public-Private Partnerships and Sustainable Development (Agenda 21)

How did the enthusiasm for public-private partnerships begin, and what do they have to do with sustainable development?

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During the 1970s, with the growing realization that explicitly socialist planning was failing on a massive scale, the United Nations gradually turned its attention to the environment. Its advocates picked up on such notions as ‘the limits to growth’ promulgated by elite groups such as the Club of Rome. The UN assembled the Brundtland Commission in 1983 to study the problem; in 1987, this commission released the report that officially defined sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” This definition presumes that we can know the needs of future generations with sufficient specificity to act effectively. At a deeper level, it presumes that economic development cannot be left to the free choices of acting persons but must be managed—that is, controlled (via “governance”). The philosopher-king’s impulse was very much alive—in billionaires such as Maurice Strong or longstanding UN-sponsor David Rockefeller Sr. The UN began to call for the centralization of economic development along with all resources—human as well as natural. It began to assume more and more of a role as emerging megastate, orchestrating the progression regionalizing of the world, policing the centralization process in the name of protecting the environment and safeguarding future generations.

Agenda 21, arguably the “bible” of the sustainable development movement, was unveiled two years later at the Rio Summit, in Rio de Janeiro. An immense, comprehensive document, it had chapters involving business and other nongovernmental organizations (huge foundations, nonprofit groups, sometimes extremely wealthy individuals) in the promotion of sustainable development. The idea of creating and strengthening public-private partnerships could not be clearer:

30.7. Governments, business and industry, including transnational corporations, should strengthen partnerships to implement the principles and criteria for sustainable development. 30.8. Governments should identify and implement an appropriate mix of economic instruments and normative measures such as laws, legislations and standards, in consultation with business and industry, including transnational corporations, that will promote the use of cleaner production, with special consideration for small and medium-sized enterprises. Voluntary private initiatives should also be encouraged….

30.23. Large business and industry, including transnational corporations, should consider establishing partnership schemes with small and medium-sized enterprises to help facilitate the exchange of experience in managerial skills, market development and technological know-how, where appropriate, with the assistance of international organizations. 30.24. Business and industry should establish national councils for sustainable development….

The following summer, 1993, President Bill Clinton signed an executive order creating the President’s Council on Sustainable Development.

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