"We don't work for" consumers in Argentina or Africa, and we "don't care" about public health issues there. That was how the deputy assistant U.S. Trade Representative for intellectual property responded almost two years ago to a suggestion that the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) should approach other countries' pharmaceutical patent policies as a public health issue rather than as a trade issue. This cruel and callous comment remains official U.S. policy, which subordinates the health interests of people all over the globe to the narrow demands of U.S. pharmaceutical companies. [continues 694 words]
THE MOST powerful organization in our society is the corporation. Corporations have become more powerful than governments, or religious institutions, or labor unions. So how is it possible for a group of highly educated, well-intentioned citizens to spend millions of dollars and more than 18 months studying citizenship and civic action, and yet barely touch on the issue of corporate power? This was the question raised last week when William Bennett and Sam Nunn, co-chairs of the National Commission on Civic Renewal, appeared together at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington to release the commission's final report -- ``A Nation of Spectators: How Civic Disengagement Weakens America and What We Can Do About It.'' [continues 655 words]
