Who's pushing politicians' buttons?

Who’s pushing politicians’ buttons?

What’s Sarah Palin doing on the cover of New Internationalist? Don’t we get to see too much of her already? And what’s the connection with corporate lobbying?

Admittedly, there might be more obvious symbols of the cosy relationship between politics and big business than the bear-hunting darling of the Tea Party.

But that’s the point. Such relationships work best when they’re not obvious. And the covert corporate funding of the Tea Party is a mega-PR coup of recent times. It’s one of the examples highlighted in our awards for The 10 Worst Corporate Lobbyists, compiled for us by Corporate Europe Observatory.

Someone whose name is firmly associated with challenging corporate power is veteran writer and activist Susan George. We interview her as her new book Whose Crisis? Whose Future? hits the shops. This month we are also featuring Hugo Blanco, Peru’s living answer to Che Guevara. Today he is a leading eco-activist, campaigning both for the environment and the indigenous people who are defending it against mining and logging companies.

Our debate this month provides food for thought – literally. We ask ‘Is being vegan the only green option?’ And, for a bit of culture, our reviewers choose their best books, music and films of the past year – a first novel by an African writer hitting the top spot.

Vanessa Baird for the New Internationalist co-operative.
www.newint.org