Zombies can always be relied on to offer easy
thrills, but what really keeps us up at night are the international
trade agreements constantly being negotiated by the United States and
its partners—each one more terrifying than the last.
How can something as
pleasant-sounding as “free trade” be more threatening than a zombie
apocalypse? The devil’s in the details, and the fine print on some of
these agreements is enough to curdle a bucket of blood.
Whether it’s blocking a ban on chocolate-flavored cigarettes marketed
to kids, or rolling back post-2008 regulations on Wall Street, these
deals have a way of favoring corporations over people. They’re not
popular, as you might imagine, and in some cases people’s movements have been able to stop them in their tracks. In response, proponents of the deals have attempted to slip under the radar by conducting negotiations in secret.
Here are four of the scariest deals—and why they're so abominable.
