TTIP Action at Young FoE Face-to-Face

[Greg Hewitt]

Hi all,

On Saturday it is the TTIP Day of Action and so I think it would be really great if we can perform a small action.

WDM have suggested a list of options for stunts. Please look from the list below and complete this poll as to which one you would like to do.

Corporate courts

• One of the most shocking aspects of TTIP is the plan to allow corporations to sue governments, should government policies reduce profits. It’s simple to highlight this visibly through street theatre. All you need is one person dressed as a judge, a couple of people in suits as corporate executives and a couple of people representing all of us who will lose out from TTIP, for instance people dressed as nurses or farmers.
• Draw up a quick script for a mock trial and act this out in a public location. Try and draw in audience participation – you can even get passers-by to testify against the corporations if they’re up for it.

Corporate puppet show

• If agreed, TTIP would allow big business to pull the strings over our public services and democratic processes. One creative way to illustrate this is a puppet show, in which our schools, hospitals, environment and democracy become puppets in the hands of big business. 
• We could make puppets of politicians and judges to show the undermining of democracy; farmers to demonstrate the risks for food safety standards; or fracking rigs or trees to show the undoing of environmental protection. Then, dress your puppeteers up in suits to make them corporate puppeteers.
• Alternatively, we could do a life-size puppet show. This way, our suited corporate puppeteers are on stilts, pulling the strings of real people dressed up. This obviously requires trained stilt walkers, but could be really visually spectacular if you manage to find people.

TTIP Fire-Sale

• TTIP would see public goods like the food system, schools, hospitals, the justice system and the environment sold off to corporate interests. This could be illustrated with a TTIP fire-sale, a piece of street theatre that sees these public goods sold off to the highest bidder. Dress some people in suits as the corporate-buyers, and dress others as nurses, doctors, judges or politicians as the public goods being sold off. If you gather a crowd at your action, encourage audience participation by inviting onlookers to put in offers. A confident and charismatic performer would be best as the MC administrating the sell-off.
  

TTIP football

• The day of action is the day before the World Cup final, so the country will be gripped with football fever! You could take advantage of this with a fun, football-themed action. One option here is a people vs corporations match. Dress your ‘people’ team as nurses, doctors, teachers and judges, with your 'corporate’ team in suits. You can demonstrate how TTIP stacks the odds in the corporations’ favour by giving their team double the amount of players, or a bigger goal. 
• Another option is to set up just one goal with a line of suited corporate goalkeepers. Members of the public are then encouraged to try and score past the many goalkeepers, demonstrating how difficult it will be for people to win against big business if TTIP is agreed. These actions can be accompanied with props including red cards and giant foam football hands with slogans e.g. ‘Corporate hands off!’ or ‘Give TTIP the red card!’

I really like the last option because football fever will be high.

What do you think?

Greg

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Greg Hewitt | Local and National Campaigner

• Transition Sherwood & Sharing Sherwood
• Nottingham Friends of the Earth
• Frack Free Nottinghamshire
• Young Friends of the Earth
• UK Youth Climate Coalition