{"article":{"id":10438,"heading":"Work for peace at home, not DC","author":"Matt Olson","created":"2001-09-20 02:37:16","modified":"2005-08-15 00:38:57","last_modified":"Mon, 15 Aug 2005 07:38:57","article":"

When W. described America's seething anger, he may have been more right than he knew. Most Americans are angry at the perpetrators of September 11th's disasters. But many are also angry at our government for its reaction and the media for its interpretation. By and large, they are the same people who beat the drum of dissent against corporate power.

Many of them are the actors in the street theater that has followed leaders to summits across the globe and, in so doing, fostered a spreading skepticism of free trade. Participants in this movement (variously tagged as the anti-globalization, anti-corporate power, fair trade or global justice movement) looked forward to a massive mobilization against the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank later this month. 100,000 were expected to manifest their discontent, and people on both sides of the debate were waiting to see what the fallout would be.

That was before September 11. The United States is in disarray. The IMF and WB have postponed their meetings, and their activist antagonists find themselves in a precarious position. Whether they realize it, how the activists comport themselves over the next few weeks will have a profound influence on their long-term viability and the credibility of this movement.

There is no doubt that much has been gained in the last several years through protests and actions. People who had never heard of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization are now aware of them and at least a little dubious of their agenda. Those who didn't give NAFTA a second thought in 1994 are speaking out against the Free Trade Area of the Americas.

This is a tremendous gain for global justice activists. But it must be noted that this gain been met by skepticism and overt attempts smear them as terrorists in their own right. The day after the disaster conservative New York Post columnist Steven Schwartz wrote that \"the antiglobalist rioters seek to intimidate world capitalism into shutting down altogether, and the distance between breaking the windows of McDonald's to achieve that end and blowing up the World Trade Center is pretty damned narrow.\" Herein lies the dilemma.

The violence of some activists-who got their first martyr in slain Italian demonstrator Carlo Giuliani-has drawn international attention to trade issues. But as media pundits are fond of saying, things are different now. President Bush says we are at war (despite the absence of a formal declaration by the Congress), and activists moving to oppose him risk being tarred with the same brush he uses to vilify the perpetrators of the attacks and whip the body populace into a militaristic fervor.

Many groups who were organizing protests to coincide with the IMF\/WB summit have called them off to avoid bad press. The Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club, Rukus Society and Friends of the Earth and the AFL-CIO are a few of the groups that have cancelled protests because of the events of September 11. These groups have drawn the ire of other activists and liberal commentators who accuse them of lacking the courage of their convictions. \"What good is a Bill of Rights,\" asks Rick Giombetti in CounterPunch \"when influential organizations aren't willing to stand up for their constitutional rights during a time of crisis and danger.\"

Groups like the International Action Center (founded by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark) have \"refocused the call for our demonstration to address the immediate danger.\" They argue that given that the nation is rushing into an armed conflict, we should use the planned mobilizations to express our opposition to the coming police action.



But such an action could inspire a painful backlash. Perception can be more powerful than reality, and if these activists are ultimately working towards substantive change in the systems and policies of the world that promote hate, suffering and injustice, then they will have to draw in a broader base than the one they currently enjoy. Under these circumstances, timing is as important as action.

To move forward with a major organized protest at this moment, while the country's wounds are still fresh could create an immutable prejudice against the movement by the 90% of the populace that favored a quick retaliation following in the wake of the attacks. Imagine the uproar if a group of demonstrators is filmed in downtown DC at the end of the month clashing with police so soon after last weeks massive destruction, then this movement-a movement with the most important of goals-will be find itself linked with the recent violence. This will be a difficult connection to live down.

The threat is quite real. Police violence seemingly escalates with each successive summit. And Bush, who has made his disdain for those who oppose free trade apparent, can be counted on to spin any incident of violence associated with demonstrations as a violation of American unity. This is a weapon that activists would do well to keep out of Bush's hands.

Dante wrote that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who retain their neutrality in times of crisis. And these activists should not be criticized for trying to avert the long and deadly police action favored by Bush and his gang of cold war retreads. But if in promoting a message of peace activists allow themselves to be painted as unpatriotic extremists, then they will concede what the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO have been unable to wrest from them-the mantle of populist legitimacy.

If these activists are people of conscience, they should not equate strategic thinking with retreat. They need not be on the White House lawn to raise their voice in support of peace and justice. Injustice is not going anywhere, and there promises to be no lack of opportunity for people to speak their minds, be it in Washington or elsewhere.

<\/p>\n","contact":"mattolson@finalanalysis.org","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"Converting the S29 protests to a peace march could backfire. If it does we'll all be the worse for it.","numcomment":6,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2001\/09\/work_for_p.txt","filesize":"5.8 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2001\/09\/10438.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":10457,"heading":"Do you really believe corporate media?","article":"If it wasn't obvious already, it should be now: The corporate media can be counted on to engage in egregious\r\ndistortions and at times outright lies to shore up the\r\nlegitimacy and defend the prerogatives of the powerful.\r\n\r\nDo you really believe these \"90% of Americans favor war\"\r\nfactoids now being brandished by the corporate overlords?\r\nMy admittedly limited experience hearing from hundreds\r\nof ordinary Americans -- here in reputedly rightwing \r\nSan Diego -- utterly belies such claims.\r\n\r\nNow is perhaps a better time than ever to point out the\r\nillegitimacy of the current unelected de facto dictatorship\r\nrunning this country, its incompetence, venality, and \r\ndownright treasonous betrayal of American democracy through\r\nthe sham elections of last year, and its current mendacious\r\nand opportunistic war-mongering. The innocent Americans who died in New York City and Washington DC will be ill served by our timidity at this time. \r\n\r\nWe have abundant material to point out the hypocrisy, incompetence, and insanity of our current leadership.\r\nLeaving aside the fact that Washington's current bogeyman\r\nwas a CIA stoodge for decades, we could point out that\r\nas recently as April or May, the US gave the \r\nTaliban -- that other group of only recently anointed bogeymen -- $43 million to fight \"wars on drugs,\" \r\ndespite a chorus of protests from critics.\r\n\r\nIf we point out such blatant facts, I don't think the \r\ncurrent crop of miscreants running the country will really\r\nbe able to prevail in the court of public opinion.","author":"Guy Berliner","parent_id":10438,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2001-09-20 15:08:18","modified":"2001-09-20 15:38:58","fileurl":""},{"id":10458,"heading":"response","article":"I think you miss the point. The question is not whether we should stand in opposition, but what tone our opposition should take. Many on the left have pointed out the US\/Taliban connection, and this is thouroughly appropriate. But if we self-consciously put ourselves in a position where we can be blamed for inciting violence and tagged as anti-american (remember you are an American--think of Mark Twain: \"loyalty to the country always, loyalty to the government when it deserves it.\") then we will likely lose a major battle in the theater of public opinion. The harsh reality of our current situation is that we are not in a left leaning country, we are in an undecided country. And many of our brothers and sisters could well turn on us if we are not careful.\r\n\r\nAnd to answer your first question, yes, I believe that 90% of the 606 people polled by ABC\/Washington Post the morning after the attacks favored swift retaliation. Peace was not their first impulse.","author":"Matt Olson","parent_id":10438,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2001-09-20 15:38:57","modified":"2001-09-20 15:56:54","fileurl":""},{"id":10459,"heading":"The Idiot Boy King","article":"The point is this: \r\nWe should lose no opportunity to point out the\r\nobvious: that the current Idiot Boy King and his\r\nband of merry ex-Raygoons and Watergate leftovers\r\nare not fit for dogcatchers, let alone to lead the\r\ncountry in \"wars against terrorism.\" In fact, this\r\nmessage WILL RESONATE, especially in view of the\r\n$43 million gift they just gave not four months ago to \r\nthe supposed current bogeymen, courtesy you and me,\r\nthe American taxpayer.","author":"Guy Berliner","parent_id":10438,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2001-09-20 15:56:53","modified":"2001-09-20 16:10:22","fileurl":""},{"id":10483,"heading":"Into the Closet for You","article":"Matt: Please do us a favor and go hide in the basement until you've found some backbone. I'm not sure if you are an activist or not, but if you are, your fear-mongering does the movements a vast disservice. I've been through situations like this before (well, pretty close). This isn't the time for retreat. Perhaps a change in tactis for one event, but *not* doing anything in the streets is suicide.\r\n\r\nBy the way, the Anti-Capitalist Convergence in Washington is now organizing an anti-war march on S29. If you want to come out to our event, you are welcome. If you choose to stay home, that's cool with us.","author":"Chuck0","parent_id":10438,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2001-09-20 21:29:08","modified":"2001-09-20 22:00:03","fileurl":""},{"id":10488,"heading":"Smash the State","article":"Matt, Your logic is in disarray and you sputter syllogisms.\r\n\r\nI'm not sure how old you are, but I'm nearly 50 and there has not been a day of my life in which Clemens' saw could be applied:\r\n\r\nMark Twain: \"loyalty to the country always, loyalty to the government when it deserves it.\"","author":"a non-elected select elitist Goatboy","parent_id":10438,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2001-09-20 23:15:27","modified":"2001-09-20 23:31:06","fileurl":""},{"id":10510,"heading":"wow, goatboy..... and Olse\/on... take a..","article":"marketing class..... You need to study the media and marketing to understand opinion polls\/advertising campaigns.\r\n re: your: \"if we self-consciously put ourselves in a position where we can be blamed for inciting violence\"... I honestly didn't read much of these posts... a bit of guys... but Matt, what do you mean about \"inciting violence\"????\r\n re: goatboy.... great, now I've got to look up syllogismmmmm!!!!!!!!\r\n ' }","author":"analyzer","parent_id":10438,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2001-09-21 04:37:33","modified":"2001-09-21 05:00:02","fileurl":""}]}