CORPORATE
GLOBALISATION
Trying to Silence
Legitimate Protest
The experiences of Seattle underline once more the difference between those who confront one another in the street (Protestors / Police) and those who set up the conditions whereby the street is the only forum for confrontation. This is a society where all significant differences (that is, differences which could offer a serious challenge to the status quo of the organisational powers) are excluded. It is a society where there is a clear strategy to delimit and constrain the context of confrontation - as in Seattle where SOMEONE decided to define as off-limits a 'NO PROTEST ZONE' covering an area of 25 city blocks.
Within these conditions where the CONTEXT for giving FEEDBACK to the dominant powers is so controlled and constrained, there is nothing left to do except to engage in the dance of Repelling - Expelling operations, where the police confront legitimate protestors with the results that we saw last week.
This is a symptom of how capitalism triumphs over democracy.
It is useful for everyone to recall that 'capitalism' is NOT the same as 'democracy'.
In fact, most business organisations are modelled on a military hierarchy of sending 'orders' from the 'top down' and expecting them to be 'executed'. Last week the WTO revealed its true constitution as a NON-DEMOCRATIC organisation. Its own form of autocratic process helped, fortunately, in its own collapse, due to the fact of creating - in its interior - another autocratic hierarchy.
It did this because 25 countries (of the 130 member countries) held separate and secret meetings among themselves to which the other 105 countries - obviously LOWER DOWN THE HIERARCHY - were not allowed attend or participate. The outcry about this LACK OF DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION helped to bring the whole WTO circus to a standstill.
So what can we learn from all this?
To notice how the CONTEXTS for FEEDBACK are being constrained in an increasingly undemocratic form of society, and to refuse to accept these increasing constraints, increasing deafness and increasing blindness. Therefore to insist on opening up new channels of communications and feedback making.
ARTICLES & DOCUMENTS
WHY CONCERNS ARE BEING RAISED ABOUT WTO IN SEATTLE [12.10.99]
DENDRITE ALERT: Protest Seattle police human rights violations! [12.06.99]
Last Stop for Corporate Globalization: Seattle '99 by Mark Weisbrot [12.06.99]
Seattle '99 - The Difference Makers by Vincent Kenny [12.05.99]
The WTO, ICANN and the End of the Republic by Jay Fenello [12.05.99]
IN SEATTLE, FREE TRADE'S HAPPY FACE PEELS OFF by Norman Solomon [12.04.99]
A Brief Comment—What’s Happening in Seattle and Why by Michael Albert [12.04.99]
Preliminary report from actions against the WTO in India [12.04.99]
SEATTLE - EYWITNESS ACCOUNTS
Interview with Seattle MD: "This is the beginning of a police state" [12.05.99] Jay F. reports on the official corporate-controlled media [12.05.99]
Greg R. from the streets of Seattle [12.04.99]
Police State in Seattle [12.04.99]
Independent Media Center Under Siege by David Murphy and David Potter [12.04.99]
Report on the first days of demonstrations [12.04.99]
LINKS
Z-NET Global economic crisis News from Seattle and rich collection of additional documents.
Field reports, analyses and reflections concerning the happenings in Seattle.
The Seattle Indy Media Center offers live coverage of the WTO protests ignored by the corporate media. Audio and Video documentation
AlterNet is showcasing up-to-the-minute independent journalism about the WTO, free trade and economic activism.