New World Notes - Imperialism Old and New (Part 2 of 2)

This week on New World Notes: radio program #320, April 22, 2014, from 12:00 to 12:30 p.m. (and on Wednesday from 8:30 to 9:00 p.m.), host Kenneth Dowst reprises a classic talk from 1999 by political scientist Michael Parenti. It's just as illuminating today as it was then--and often funny, too. Parenti titled his talk, Globalization: the New Imperialism.

Last week, Parenti showed that the purpose of imperialism is not national glory but corporate profits.

This week (in Part 2) he shows that imperialism's current form is "multilateral free-trade agreements" such as NAFTA and GATT. These draconian, anti-democratic treaties give corporations the power to veto any national laws that might interfere with their profits.

Even as we speak, the Obama administration and its corporate sponsors are hard at work--in secrecy--hatching yet another such agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP.

Parenti's brilliant, passionate, and funny talk is as relevant today as it was in 1999.

With an introduction by K.D.

Parenti spoke in Raleigh, NC, in November 1999. Recording courtesy of Sally Soriano and People's Video-Audio. This week I have slightly condensed Parenti's talk to fit our radio timeslot.

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "radar") of WWUH-FM, a community service of the University of Hartford.

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Series overview: Political and social commentary in a variety of genres. Exploring the gap between what we want--and what they're trying to make us settle for.

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