NEW YORK "The World Economic Forum is, in a way, a big cocktail party for
the global
corporate elite. As an organisation, it has no power to actually set
policy, but it creates a space in which international "leaders" can hash
out their vision for the rest of us. In their own words, "they are fully
engaged in the process of defining and advancing the global agenda." More
specifically, it's our globe, but it's their agenda."
- NYC Indymedia website. Anti-capitalists will be descending on New York at
the end of the month to
protest against the world's largest gathering of government and business
leaders, the World Economic Forum. (WEF). According to protest groups it
will be the biggest thing to hit New York since Sept 11th. It has switched
to New York from its traditional Swiss home of Davos for the first time in
31 years as a token of support for the City. The invitation-only meeting
last year attracted over 3,000 delegates, including Britain's Chancellor
Gordon Brown and Microsoft's Bill Gates. In fact you'll find a whole host
of SchNEWS' favourite corporations from BP to Boeing and Nestli rubbing
shoulders with media moguls and politicians. The decision to host the
meeting in NYC was announced the day after the
election of Mayor Bloomberg, whose company, Bloomberg L.P., is a member of
the WEF. Politicians and business leaders are hoping that the event will
stimulate NY's lagging economy post Sept 11th - and the plan to divert
badly needed public funds into such an event and its security bill are sure
to benefit NY locals. The police, famous for their zero tolerance attitude,
have been given the green light for military-style tactics, traffic will be
halted around the hotel and a 'frozen zone' created, with the cops
announcing that since Sept 11th they're ready for anything. The WEF - the
club who helped create the notorious World Trade Organisation
and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade - say that their meeting
this year will focus on finding ways to "reverse the global economic
downturn, eradicate poverty, promote security and enhance cultural
understanding." Another World is Possible, one of the groups organising the
protests against the meeting, see it rather differently. "They'll be
looking to rescue failing corporate giants, exploit working people, clamp
down on dissent, and puree the diverse communities of our world into a
single, American-style consumer culture." After Sept 11th the world's media
have been saying that the anti-capitalist
movement is dead - but with 100,000 at Brussels for the EU summit in
December, 50,000 in India during the WTO meeting in Doha - protests, big
and small, have continued around the globe. New York will show that it's
certainly business as usual for global resistance. Another World is
Possible say "The WEF is in for a surprise...the movement for global justice
is alive and well and growing, and ready to stand in the way of their
five-day corporate cocktail party!" * February 2nd will be the universal
day of action against the WEF. To
find out more information see at www.accnyc.org or
www.anotherworldispossible.com
* WEF Counter-Summit and National Student Mobilization, January 31st to
February 3rd at Columbia University in New York City, for more
information see www.studentsforglobaljustice.org/
