It strikes me as increasingly incredible that when the G20 or the WTO get together, they need to barricade themselves behind hundreds of riot police, chemical weapons and the attempt to starve out the protesters, as in the above video. I wonder if they wonder, inside their fortress, why people outside are so restless, given the good deeds the world money ministers so generously do for us.
One thing that’s encouraging is that over the past decade since this has been going on — we are coming up on the 10th anniversary of the “Battle in Seattle” WTO protests that started off this round of history — is that protesters have figured out that the corporate system as well as the government needs to be a target. For many years writers and thinkers on the left side of the bird were saying: this isn’t just about the government; it’s about the multinationals and their partnerships with the government.
This message has finally come through and now it’s getting out to the public.
At the last G20 meeting here in London, UK (April 2009), there was (and remains) very considerable disquiet (and not just in the usual places) about the police tactics that were used to combat the protesters…
As a Seattlite I remember the “Battle in Seattle” WTO protests all too well. The ironic thing is if I remember correctly (I was in high school and not as aware of the news as I am now) they were mostly led by people who weren’t from Seattle and they weren’t as dramatic as people make them out to be. For Seattle, they were a huge deal because nothing remotely that passionate or wild has happened here in a long time. Seattle likes to think of itself as a progressive, uber-environmental city, but people don’t generally get up-in-arms around here about what they believe in and as far as progressive ideas, things are moving a bit slow. I definitely agree they were important in continue to raise issues about multinationals.
I don’t think the UN was a focal point. Nobody organized it. These WTO type protests are highly organized, for months in advance, with real leadership. I think the next UN session in Copenhagen will be a target, however. This was more of a “work meeting” (which is a stretch, it was really just a lot of speeches).
so do you think all the other cool kids (other than the yes men, that is) were too busy gearing up for pittsburgh to bother with the UN?