Original subtitles

Today the job of building this nation geographically

is completed.

There are no new frontiers within or borders.

So to what new horizons can we look now?

Where are tomorrows opportunities?

What's ahead for you for your children?

The frontiers of the future are not on any map.

They�re in the test tubes and laboratories

of the great industries.

The Chakrabarty case is one of the great judicial moments

in world history.

And the public was totally unaware

it was actually happening as a process was being engaged.

General Electric and Professor Chakrabarty

went to the patent office with a little microbe

that eats up oil spills.

They said they had modified this microbe in the laboratory

and therefore it was an invention.

The patent office and the U. S. Government

took a look at this quote invention;

they said no way.

The patent statures don�t cover living things.

This is not an invention.

Turned down.

Then General Electric and Doctor Chakrabarty

appealed to the U. S. Customs Court of Appeal.

And to everyone�s surprise by a three to two decision

they overrode the patent office.

They said this microbe looks more

like a detergent or a reagent

than a horse or a honeybee.

I laugh because they didn�t understand basic biology;

it looked like a chemical to them.

Had it had an antenna or eyes or wings or legs

it would never have crossed their table and been patented.

Then the patent office appealed.

And what the public should realize now

is the patent office was very clear

that you cant patent life.

My organization provided the main amicus curiae brief

if you allow the patent on this microbe we argued

it means that without any congressional guidance

or public discussion

corporations will own the blueprints of life.

When they made the decision we lost by five to four

and Chief Justice Warren said

sure some of these are big issues

but we think this is a small decision.

Seven years later the U. S. Patent office issued

a one sentence decree

you can patent anything in the world that�s alive

except a full birth human being.

We�ve all been hearing about the announcement

that we have mapped the human genome.

But what the public doesn�t know

is now there�s this great race by genomic companies

and biotech companies and life science companies

to find the treasure in the map.

The treasure are the individual genes

that make up the blueprint of the human race.

Every time they capture agene and isolate it

these biotech companies

they claim it as intellectual property.

The breast cancer gene

the cystic fibrosis gene

it goes on and on and on.

If this goes unchallenged in the world community

within less than 10years

a handful of global companies will own

directly or through license

the actual genes that make up the evolution of our species.

And they�re now beginning to patent the genomes

of every other creature on this planet.

In the age of biology the politics is going to sort out

between those who believe life first has intrinsic value

and therefore we should choose technologies

and commercial venues

that honour the intrinsic value...

And then we're going to have people who believe

look life is a simple utility.

It's commercial fare

and they will line up with the idea

to let the marketplace be the ultimate arbiter

of all of the age of biology.

In a world economy where information is filtered

by global media corporations

keenly attuned to their powerful advertisers

who will defend the publics right to know?

And what price must be paid to preserve our ability

to make informed choices?

What Fox Television told us was that we were just the people

to be the investigators.

Do any stories you want

ask tough questions and get answers.

So we thought

this is great this is a dream job.

Fantastic.

The very first thing they had us do

was not to research stories

but to shoot this promo which was...

The Investigators.

Uncovering the truth

getting results protecting you.

and they had a film crew a smoke machine

were silhouetted...

One of the first stories that Jane came up with

was the revelation that most of the milk

in the state of Florida

and throughout much of the country was adulterated

with the effects of bovine growth hormone

with Monsanto I didn�t realize how effectively a corporation

could work to get something on the marketplace.

The levels of coordination they had to have.

They had to get university professors into the fold.

They had to get experts into the fold.

They had to get reporters into the fold

They had to get the public into the fold

and of course the FDA lets not leave them out.

They had to get the federal regulators convinced

that this was a fine and safe product

to get it onto the marketplace.

And they did that;

they did that very very well.

Posilac is a single most tested product in history

and is now available to you specifically.

so you can increase your profit potential.

The federal government basically rubber stamped it

before they put it on the marketplace.

The longest test they did for human toxicity

was 90 days on thirty rats.

And then either Monsanto misreported the results

to the FDA

or the FDA didn�t bother to look in depth

at Monsanto�s own studies.

The scientists within Health Canada looked very carefully

at bovine growth hormone

and came to very different conclusions

than the Food and Drug Administration in the U. S. Did

Monsanto's engineered growth hormone did not comply

with safety requirements.

it could be absorbed by the body

and therefore did have implications for human health.

Mysteriously that conclusion was deleted

from the final published version of their report...

I personally was very concerned

that there�s a very serious problem of secrecy

conspiracy and things of that nature.

We have been pressured and coerced

to pass drugs of questionable safety

including RB ST.

We wrote the story.

We had it ready a week beforehand.

They bought ads

...farmers in the milk industry say it's safe

but studies suggest a link to cancer.

Don�t miss this special report from The Investigators...

That Friday night before the Monday the series was to begin

the fax machine spit out a letter

from this very high priced lawyer in New York

that Monsanto had hired.

It contained a lot of things that were just

off-the-wall false

Just demonstrably false

but if you didn�t know the story

and you didn�t know how wed gone about producing

it would have scared you as a broadcaster

or as a manager.

And they decided that they would pull the story

and they would just check it one more time.

But the bottom line was that there was no factual errors

in that story.

Both sides had been heard from

both sides had had an opportunity to speak.

One week later

Monsanto sent the second letter

and this was even more strongly worded.

And it said there will be dire consequences for Fox News

if the story airs in Florida.

And this time they freaked.

They were afraid of being sued

and losing advertising dollars.

And all of the stations owned by Rupert Murdoch.

And he owned more television stations than any

other group in America.

That�s 22 television stations.

That�s a lot of advertising dollars.

For Round Up Aspartame Nutra Sweet

and other products.

So we got into a battle.

And uh the first deal was the new general manager

his name's Dave and Dave is a salesman.

And you know he�d pump your hand

how ya doin how ya doin?

Called us upstairs to his office and he said

what would you say if I killed this piece?

what if it never ran?

And we said well you know

we wouldn�t be very happy about that.

And he said well I could kill it you know

and we said yes of course you�re the manager

you could kill it it would never air.

And he hemming and he showing.

He�s back and he�s forth.

And we couldn�t figure out what is this all about

and finally he blurted out

look would you tell anybody?

You know I said I�m not going to lie for you.

And about a week later he calls us back to the office

and says okay wed like you to make these changes.

In fact you will make these changes.

We said well look let us show you the research

that we have that shows that this information

you want us to broadcast isn�t true.

To which he replies.

I don�t care about that.

I said pardon me?

And he said well that�s what I have lawyers for

just write it the way the lawyers want it written.

I said you know this is news

this is important.

This is stuff people wanted to know.

And I�ll never forget he didn�t pause a beat

and he said

we just paid three billion dollars

for these television stations

Well tell you what the news is.

The news is what we say it is.

I said I�m not doing that.

and and he said

Well he said if you refuse to present this story

the way we think it should be presented

you�ll be fired for insubordination.

I said I will go to the Federal Communications Commissions

and I will report that I was fired from my job by you

the licensee of these public airwaves

because I refused to lie to people on the air.

And it's thank you very much you�ll hear from us right away.

Well 24 hours came and went and we didn�t hear a thing.

And about a week later he calls us back

and now we�ve changed strategies.

How about if we pay you some money

and you just go away?

And I said how much money?

because when somebody offers to bribe you like that

I always want to know if it might be worth it.

He was going to offer us the rest of our years salary

if we agreed not to talk about what Monsanto had done

To not talk about the Fox corporate response

in suppressing the story.

And to not talk about the story.

Not talk about B G H again anywhere.

Not take this story to another new organization.

Zip up.

I said you mean if I want to go to my daughter's PTA meetings

and explain what�s in the school milk

at the school lunch program I cant?

No you can never speak about this anywhere.

Steve says okay write it up.

And I�m like what are you talking about write it up?

And I didn�t say anything.

And Dave he wrote it up and he FedEx it to us

a couple of days later.

And he said are you going to sign?

And we said nah Dave we're not going to sign that.

And he said well send it back okay?

We said no Dave were not going to send that back.

It was okay we cant buy you out

we cant shut you up

lets get the story on the air in a way that we can all agree

it will go on the air.

And we started rewriting and editing with their lawyers.

During this eight month re-review process

I say jokingly they did things like for example they wanted

to take out the word cancer.

You don�t have to identify what the potential problem is

just say human health implications.

Any criticism of Monsanto or its product

they either removed it or minimized it.

And it was very very clear I would say

almost every edit they made to the piece

that was the aim.

And we changed this and this and this.

And then that wasn�t good enough

okay now change this and this.

Now change this and this.

Version after version after version.

83 times.

83 times is unheard of it doesn�t happen

you shouldn�t have to rewrite something 83 times

Obviously they didn�t want to put the thing on the air

and they were trying to drive us crazy and get us to quit

or wait until the first window in our contract

so that they could fire us.

They in effect announced that they were going to fire us

for no cause.

Well this was a little much.

And Steve wrote a letter to the lawyer in Atlanta

whose name is Caroline Forest the Fox corporate lawyer.

And I said you know this isn�t about being fired for no cause.

You're firing us because we refused to put on the air

something that we knew and demonstrated to be false

and misleading.

That�s what this is about.

And because we put up a fight

because we stood up to this big corporation

and we stood up to your editors

and we stood up to your lawyers.

And we said to you

look there ought to be a principle higher

than just making money.

And she wrote a letter back and said

you are right that�s exactly what it was.

You stood up to us on this story

and that�s why we're letting you go.

Big mistake

Big mistake

That says retaliation.

You cant retaliate against employees

if they�re standing up for something

that they believe is illegal

that they don�t want to participate in.

So that gave us

the whistleblower stats that wanted

in the state of Florida to file a whistleblower claim

against our employer.

Two or three years later we got the trial.

Five weeks of testimony led to a jury verdict of $425000

in which the jury determined

that the story they pressured us to broadcast

the story we resisted telling was in fact false

distorted or slanted.

Fox News appealed the verdict.

Five major news media corporations filed briefs

with the court in support of Fox appeal.

You may recall that Jane Akre a former reporter here

sued Fox 13 in a whistleblower lawsuit

claiming that she was fired

for refusing to distort her report;

the Appeals Court today threw that case out

saying Ms. Akre had no whistleblower claim

against the station based on news distortion.

Fox 13vice president and general manager Bob Linger

says the station has been completely

vindicated by the ruling...

What Fox neglected to report is this

Jane sued Fox under Florida�s whistleblower statute

which protects those who try to prevent others

from breaking the law.

Buther Appeal Court judges found that falsifying news

isn�t actually against the law.

So they denied Jane her whistleblower stats

overturned the case and withdrew her $425000 award.

Canada and Europe have upheld the ban on RB G H.

But it remains hidden in the milk supply

of the United States

The prospect that two thirds of the worlds population

will have no access to fresh drinking water by 2025

has provoked the initial confrontations

in a world wide battle

for control over the planets most basic resource.

When Bolivia sought to refinance

the public water services of its third largest city

the World Bank required privatization

which is how the Bechtel Corporation of San Francisco

gained control over all of Cochabamba's water

even that which fell from the sky.

The price this beleaguered country paid

for World Bank loans

was the privatization of the state oil industry

and its airline railroad electric and phone companies.

But the government failed to convince Bolivians

that water is a commodity like any other.

Bolivia was determined

to defend the corporations right

to charge families living on $ 2 a day

as much as one quarter of their income for water.

The greater the popular resistance

to the water privatization scheme

the more violent became the standoff.

Translational corporations have a long and dark history

of condoning tyrannical governments.

I s it narcissism that compels them to seek their reflection

in the regimented structures of fascist regimes?

There was an interesting connection

between the rise of fascism in Europe

and the consciousness of politically radical people

about corporate power.

Because there was are cognition

that fascism rose in Europe

with the help of enormous corporations.

Mussolini was greatly admired all across the spectrum

business loved him investment shot up.

Incidentally when Hitler came in

in Germany the same thing happened there

investment shot up in Germany.

He had the work force under control.

He was getting rid of dangerous left wing elements.

Investment opportunities were improving.

There was no problems.

These are wonderful countries.

I think one of the greatest untold stories

of the twentieth century

is the collusion between corporations

especially in America and Nazi Germany.

First in terms of how the corporations from America

helped to essentially rebuild Germany

and support the early Nazi regime.

And then when the war broke out

figured out a way to keep everything going.

So General Motors was able to keep Opal going

Ford was able to keep their thing going

and companies like Coca Cola they couldn�t keep

the Coca Cola going

so what they did was they invented Fanta Orange

for the Germans

and that show Coke was able to keep

their profits coming in

to Coca Cola.

So when you drink Fanta Orange

that�s the Nazi drink

that was created so that Coke could continue making money

while millions of people died.

When Hitler came to power in 1933

his goal was to dismantle

and destroy the Jewish community.

This was an enterprise so vast

that it required the resources of a computer.

But in 1933 there was no computer

What there was

was the IBM punch card system

which controlled and stored information

based upon the holes that were punched

in various rows and columns.

Naturally there was no off the shelf software

as there is today.

Each applicant was custom designed and an engineer

had to personally configure it.

Millions of people of all religions nationalities

and characteristics went through

the concentration camp system.

That�s an extraordinary traffic management program

that required an IBM system

in every railroad direction

and an IBM system in every concentration camp.

Now this is a typical prisoner card.

There are little boxes

where all the information is to be punched in.

We compare this information to the code sheet

for concentration camps.

And here you see Auschwitz is one

Buchenwald is two

and Dachau is three.

Now what kinds of prisoners were they?

They could be a Jehovah�s witness for two

a homosexual for three a communist for six

or a Jew for eight.

Now what was their stats?

One was released two was transferred

four was executed

five was suicide

and six. Code six

Sonderbahandlung

special treatment

meant the gas chamber or sometimes a bullet.

They would punch that number in

the material was tabulated

and the machines were set.

And of course the punch cards by the millions

had to be printed.

And they were printed exclusively by IBM

and the profits were recovered just after the war

I really do believe that particular accusation

has been fairly discredited as a serious accusation.

They used equipment

that is a fact but how they got it

how much co operation they got

and any kind of collusion

trying to connect dots that are not connected

I think that�s the part that is discredited.

Generally you sell computers

and they are used in a variety of ways

and you always hope they are

using the more positive ways possible.

If you ever found out they�re used in ways

that are not positive

then you would hope you would stop supporting that

but you know do you always know?

Can you always tell?

Can you always find out?

IBM would of course say

they had no control over its German subsidiaries.

But here on October 9th 1941

a letter is being written directly

to Thomas J. Watson with all sorts of detail

of the activity of the German subsidiary

none of these machines were sold

they were all leased by IBM.

They had to be serviced on site once a month

even if that was at a concentration camp.

This is a typical contract with IBM and the Third Reich.

Which was instituted in 1942.

It's not with the Dutch subsidiary

it's not with the German subsidiary.

It is with IBM corporation in New York.

You know as it happens I know that story.

I discussed it more than once with old Mr. Watson

and I was around at the time.

I�m not saying that Watson didn�t know

that the German government used punch cards.

He probably did know

after all he had very few customers.

Watson didn�t want to do it.

It was not because he thought it was immoral or not

but because Watson

with a very keen sense of public relations

thought it was risky.

It should not surprise us that corporate allegiance

to profits will trump their allegiance to any flag.

A recent U. S. Treasury Department report

revealed in one week alone

57 U. S. corporations were fined

for trading with official enemies of the United States

including terrorists tyrants and despotic regimes.

...you can roughly locate any community somewhere along

a scale running all the way from democracy to despotism.

This man makes it his job to study these things....

Well for one thing

avoid the comfortable idea

that the mere form of government can of itself

safeguard a nation against despotism.

For big business despotism was often a useful tool

for securing foreign markets and pursuing profits.

One of the U. S. Marine corps most highly decorated generals

Smedley Darlington Butler by his own account

helped pacify Mexico for American oil companies

Haiti and Cuba for National City Bank

Nicaragua for the Brown Brothers brokerage

the Dominican Republic for sugar interests

Honduras for U. S. Fruit companies

and China for standard oil.

General Butlers services were also in demand

in the United States in the 1930s

as president Franklin Delano Roosevelt

sought to relieve the misery

of the depression through public enterprise

and to offer regulation on corporate exploitation

and misdeeds.

more power to you President Roosevelt

The entire country�s behind you.

thrilled with hope and patriotism...

But the country was not entirely

behind the populist president.

Large parts of the corporate elite

despised what Roosevelt�s new deal stood for.

And so in 1934

a group of conspirators sought to involve

General Butler in a treasonous plan.

..The plan as outlined tome was to form an organization

of veterans to use as a bluff or as a club at least

to intimidate the government...

but the corporate cabal had picked the wrong man.

Butler was fed up being what he called

a gangster for capitalism.

... I appeared before the Congressional Committee

the highest representation of the American people

under subpoena to tell what I knew of activities

which I believed might lead to an attempt to set up

a fascist dictatorship.

The upshot of the whole thing was that I was supposed

to lead an organization of 500000 men which would

be able to take over the functions of government...

A Congressional Committee ultimately found evidence

of a plot to overthrow Roosevelt.

According to Butler the conspiracy included

representatives of some of Americas top corporations

including J. P. Morgan Dupont and Goodyear tire.

As today's chairman of Goodyear knows

for corporations to dominate government

a coup is no longer necessary.

Corporations have gone global and by going global

the governments have lost some control over corporations

regardless of whether the corporation can be trusted

or can not be trusted

governments today do not have

over the corporations the power that they had

and the leverage they had 50 or 60years ago.

And that�s a major change.

So governments have become powerless

compared to what they were before.

Capitalism today commands the towering heights

and has displaced politics and politicians

as the new high priests

and reigning oligarchs of our system.

So capitalism and its principle protagonists and players

corporate CEOs

have been accorded unusual power and access.

This is not to deny the significance of government

and politicians

but these are the new high priests.

I was invited to Washington D. C. to attend

this meeting that was being put together

by the National Security Agency called

the Critical Thinking Consortium.

I remember standing there in this room

and looking over on one side of the room

and we had the C IA N S A D IA FB I

Customs Secret Service

and then on the other side of the room we had

Coca Cola Mobile Oil GTE and Kodak.

And I remember thinking

I am in the epicentre

of the intelligence industry right now.

I mean the line is not just blurring

it just not there any more.

And tome it

it spoke volumes as to how

industry and government were consulting with each other

and working with each other.

As 34 nations of the western hemisphere gathered

to draft a far reaching trade agreement

one that would lay the groundwork

to privatize every resource and service imaginable

thousands of people

from hundreds of grassroots organizations

joined to oppose it.

Canada�s top business lobbyists

and its chief trade representative

discount the dissent in the streets.

For them the Americas 800 million citizens

speak with one voice.

I�m inside and this is all outside.

That�s the way it is.

What do you think when you look at this?

Well I mean I think that it's too bad

that this has this has erupted.

Does the ranted to be some measure of accountability?

Yes

And I think the business community recognizes that.

But that accountability is in the marketplace

it's with their shareholders.

It's with the public perception and the public image

that they are projecting.

If companies don�t do what they should be doing

they�re going to be punished in the marketplace

and that�s not what any company wants.

There�s a new market.

These guys and gals aren�t out there

because governments putting gun to their head.

Or because they�ve suddenly read a book

about transcendental meditation and global morality.

My inner voice says honour my inner child

Mine says love everyone

My inner voice says

ld like a Wendy�s Bacon mushroom melt

They�re there because they understand.

The market requires them to be there.

That�s their competitive advantage to be there.

I�m listening to your concerns.

I worry about climate.

I worry about pollution.

I do not have all the answers to this

but we are prepared to work with you with society

with N G Os with governments to address it.

So you�re build the trust so that you come back to

a new kind of trust

and then the ultimate goal is then

to become the corporation of choice.

He believes that almost half our energy can one day come

from renewable sources.

He�s been called a dreamer and a crank.

and I�ve been called a hippie.

and more recently a project manager for Shell.

I ask myself often times why

so many companies subscribe to

corporate social responsibility.

I�m not sure it's because they necessarily

want to be responsible in an ultimate way

but because they want to be

identified and seen to be responsible.

But who am l to judge?

Who am I to judge?

It's better that they belong than they not belong.

It's better that they make some public profession

than the opposite.

Social responsibility isn�t a deep shift

because its a voluntary tactic.

A tactic

a reaction to a certain market at this point.

And as the corporation reads the market differently

it can go back.

One day you see Bambi

next day you see Godzilla.

How do you define socially responsible?

What business is it of the corporation to decide

what�s socially responsible.

That isn�t their expertise

that isn�t what their stockholders ask them to do.

So I think they�re going out of their range

and its certainly is not democratic.

I don�t really care

what the chairman of General Motors thinks

is an appropriate level of emissions

to come out the tailpipe of General Motors automobiles.

He may have a lot of scientists

he may be a very good person

but I didn�t elect him to do anything.

He doesn�t have any power to speak for me.

These are decisions that must be made by government

and not by corporations.

You take this to its logical conclusion.

One would have an image that we are in fact at this

the end of the world this nigh.

And we are all completely brainwashed

and there is no space left.

And I don�t believe we're there yet.

And l think it's really important

that we don�t overstate the case

and that we admit that there are cracks

and fissures in all of these corporate structures.

And sometimes when a corporation is concentrating

on one particular project they look the other way

and all kinds of interesting things happen in the corner.

It is the case in every period of history where injustice

based on falsehoods

based on taking away the right and freedoms of people

to live and survive with dignity

that eventually when you call a bluff the tables turn.

Ultimately capital puts its foot down somewhere.

And anywhere it puts its foot down

it can be held accountable.

Originally Wal-Mart and Kathy Lee Gifford had said

why should we believe you that children work in this factory?

What we didn�t tell them was that Wendy Dias

in the centre of the picture was on a plane

to the United States.

This is Wendy Dias.

She comes to the United States.

She�s unstoppable.

Congress heard testimony today from children who

testified they were exploited by sweatshops overseas.

Kathy Lee Gifford apologized to Wendy Dias

It was the most amazing thing Id seen.

This powerful celebrity leans over and says

Wendy please believe me

I didn�t know these conditions existed.

And now that I do I�m going to work with you.

I�m going to work with these other people

and it'll never happen again.

And that night we signed an agreement

with Kathy Lee Gifford.

I thought it would be a relatively easy process

and it isn�t.

As for every question I have there seem to be

five questions that come back tome.

As far as Wal-Mart goes and Kathy Lee

pretty much everything returned to sweatshop conditions

but because this was fought out on television for weeks

this incident with Kathy Lee Gifford actually

took the sweatshop issue

took every single part of the country.

And so frankly after that

there�s hardly a single person in this country

who doesn�t know about child labour

or sweatshops or starvation wages.

So what wanted to do is to look at the very roots

of the legal form that created this beast

and wanted to think who can hold them accountable.

They�re not graven in stone.

They can be dismantled.

And in fact most states have laws

which require that they be dismantled.

For too long now

giant corporations have been allowed

to undermine democracy here in the United States

and all over the world.

But today the lnn National Lawyer's Guild

and 29 other groups and individuals

are fighting back.

We are calling upon State Attorney General Dan Lungren

to comply with California law

and to revoke the corporate charter

of the Union Oil Company of California

for its repeated and grievous offences.

This is the statute that is well-known.

It has been used.

It can be used.

What this will mean is the dissolution

of the Union Oil Company of California

the sale of its assets under careful court orders

to others who will carry on in the public interest.

This is nothing more than a smear campaign.

This company has been part of California�s economy

for over 100years thousands of jobs.

Doesn�t mean it's never made any mistakes

paid for those mistakes

but this demonizing of accompany

I think I am in a time warp or something

that I fell asleep and woke up 50years ago

and we heard that kind of rhetoric.

Well we have a very very broad set of people angry

very angry at this corporation

well people from the left of the spectrum

who don�t produce anything except hot air.

From its complicity in unspeakable

human rights violations overseas

against women gays labourers and indigenous peoples

to its efforts to subvert U. S. foreign policy

and deceive the courts

the public and its own stockholders

Unocal is emblematic of corporate abuse

and corporate power run amok

... is immoral.

Unocal cannot do business in Burma

without supporting that hopeless regime...

The curse for me has been the fact that in making these

you know documentary films

I�ve seen that they actually can impact change

so I�m just compelled to just keep making them.

Yep that�s me doing what l do

All year long I give big companies a hard time

but at Christmas time I like to set aside my differences

and reach out to big business like cigarette companies.

Deck the Halls with boughs of holly...

fa la la la la la la la

I went to Littleton Colorado

where the Columbine shooting took place

and I didn�t know this

but when I arrived I learned what the primary job is

of the parents of the kids who go to Columbine High School.

The number one job in Littleton Colorado

They work for Lockheed Martin

building weapons of mass destruction.

But they don�t see the connect

between what they do for a living

and what their kids do at school

or did at school

And so I�m kind of you know up on my high horse

thinking about this and I thought you know

I said to my wife

we both are sons and daughters of auto workers

in Flint Michigan.

There isn�t a single one of us back in Flint

any of us including us

who ever stopped to think

this thing we do for a living

the building of automobiles

is probably the single biggest reason

why the polar ice caps are going to melt

and end civilization as we know it.

There�s no connect between

I�m just an assembler on an assembly line building a car

which is good for people and society

and it moves them around.

But never stop to think about the larger picture

and the larger responsibility of what were doing.

Ultimately we have to as individuals

accept responsibility for our collective action

and the larger harm that it causes you know in our world.

Today the first of two historic town hall meetings

will get underway in Arcata California

61 percent of Arcatans voted in favour

of publicly discussing

whether democracy is even possible with large corporations

... so much wealth and power under law.

They also voted to form a committee

to ensure democratic control over corporations in Arcata.

Corporations are not accountable

to the democratic process.

That is what this is about.

I don�t want to make decisions

about everything that goes on in their corporation.

But l do have a strong belief

that they don't need to be held accountable to us.

If we don�t like certain products

if we don�t like Pepsi-Cola Bank of America

well if you don�t like what they do

don�t use them.

That�s the way I see the peoples power is.

You have a lot more money than me

You have more votes than l do

If we use the model of boycott and voting with your dollars

that�s an undemocratic situation.

What are we afraid of?

I mean are all the businesses going to leave Arcata?

I don�t think so.

And if they did

wed deal with it or wed figure it out

or wed do something different.

We're creative people.

I just don�t see why we are afraid.

If you think it's tough making a decision

where to buy your stuff today

how tough do you think it is when there�s only

one provider and it's the state.

And by the way

you don�t get to have this little democracy forum

in those communities either.

People that say that they fear their govern meant

I really hope that they understand

that they�re allowed to participate in their government

they�re not allowed to participate in anything

the corporations do.

So don�t fear the government.

Help it be the government that you wont fear.

If this many people around the country would do this

instead of watching Super bowl Sunday

our nation would be controlled by the people

not by the corporations.

... no more chain restaurants in Arcata after

a long awaited decision...

Over the past decade

we have been gaining ground.

And when I say we

I mean ordinary people committed

to the welfare of all humanity.

All people irrespective of gender and class

and race and religion.

All species on the planet.

We managed to take the biggest government

and one of the largest chemical companies to court

on the case of Neemand win a case against them.

W. R. Grace and the U. S. governments patent on Neem

was revoked by a case we brought

along with the greens of European parliament

and the international organic agriculture movement.

We won because we worked together.

We have overturned nearly 99 percent

of the basmati patent of Ricetek.

Again because we worked as a world wide coalition

old women in Texas scientists in India

activists sitting in Vancouver

a little basmati action group.

We stopped the third world being viewed as the pirate

and we showed the corporations were the pirate.

Look how little it took for Gandhi

to work against the salt laws of the British

where the British decided

the way they would make their armies

and police forces bigger

is just tax the salt.

And all that Gandhi did was walk to the beach

pick up the salt and say

nature gives it for free.

Wanted it. We�ve always made it.

We will violate your laws.

We will continue to make salt.

We�ve had a similar commitment for

the last decade in India.

That any law that makes it illegal to save seed

is a law not worth following.

We will violate it because saving seed is a duty

to the earth and to future generations.

We thought it would really be symbolic

It is more than symbolic.

It is becoming a survival option.

Farmers who grow their own seeds

save their own seeds

don�t buy pesticides

have threefold more incomes

than farmers who are locked into the chemical treadmill

depending on Monsanto and Cargill

We have managed to create alternatives

that work for people.

There are many tools for bringing back community.

But the importance is not the tools

I mean there�s litigation there�s legislation

there�s direct action there�s education boycotts

social investment...

There�s many many ways to address issues

of corporate power.

But in the final analysis

what�s really important is the vision.

You have to have abetter story

Do I know you well enough to call you fellow plunderers?

There is not an industrial company on earth

not an institution of any kind

not mine not yours not anyone�s

that is sustainable.

I stand convicted by me myself alone

not by anyone else

as a plunderer of the earth

but not by our civilizations definition.

By our civilization�s definition

I'm a captain of industry.

In the eyes of many a kind of modern-day hero.

But really really

the first industrial revolution is flawed

it is not working.

It is unsustainable.

It is the mistake

and we must move on to another

and better industrial revolution

and get it right this time.

When I think of what could be

I visualize an organization of people

committed to a purpose

and the purpose is doing no harm.

I see accompany

that has severed the umbilical cord to earth

for its raw materials

taking raw materials that have already been extracted

and using them over and over again

driving that process with renewable energy.

It is our plan

it remains our plan to climb Mount Sustainability

that mountain that is higher than Everest

infinitely higher than Everest

far more difficult to scale.

That point at the top symbolizing zero footprint...

So we�ve got to undo a lot of things

in order to be smart enough

to do this really dangerous and risky and difficult work

you know the best way that we possibly can.

And that means people coming together and learning

a whole lot of stuff that we just don�t know

that has been driven out of the culture

driven out of the society driven out of our minds.

That tome is the most exciting thing.

That is happening

it's happening all over the world now.

Sometimes it surprises me how effective you can actually be.

After we beat the Gap

I walked past these Gap stores

and I looked at them and I think

my God there�s like 2000 of these stores across the country.

Look at all that concrete look at the glass

look at all the staff people look at all the clothing.

Look at that power

You can still reach these companies.

You can still have an effect.

We can change the government.

That�s the only way were going tore design re think

re-constitute what capital and property can do

Fifteen corporations would like to control the conditions

of our life

and millions of people are saying not only do

we not need you

we can do it better.

We are going to create systems that nourish the earth

and nourish human beings.

And these are not marginal experiments

they are the mainstay of large numbers of

communities across the world.

That is where the future lies.

You know I've always thought it's very ironic

that I�m able to do all this and yet what am I on?

I�m on networks.

I�m distributed by studios

that are owned by large corporate entities.

Now why would they put me out there when I am opposed

to everything that they stand for?

And I spend my time on their dime opposing

what they believe in.

Okay?

Well it's because they don�t believe in anything.

They put me on there because they know that there�s millions

of people that want to see my film or watch the TV show

and so they�re going to make money.

And I�ve been able to get my stuff out there

because I�m driving my truck through

this incredible flaw in capitalism

the greed flaw.

The thing that says the rich man will sell you the rope

to hand himself with

if he think she can make a buck off it

well I�m the rope.

I hope.

I�m part of the rope.

And they also believe that when people watch my stuff

or maybe watch this film or whatever

they think that you know

well you know well you know what

they�ll watch this and they wont do anything

because we�ve done such a good job of numbing

their minds and dumbing them down

you know they�ll never affect...

People aren�t going to leave the church

and go and do something political.

They�re convinced of that.

I�m convinced of the opposite.

I�m convinced that a few people

are going to leave this movie theatre

or get up off the couch

and go and do something

anything and get this world back in our hands.

# Spellchecked : lyliakar #