You know, I was just talking to someone around the coffee maker. We both laughed when we heard the protestors stormed a Starbucks. It would be hard not to, I suppose, in Seattle.
The Oregonian is a worthless rag, but it is so foggy on the issues. It obscures the issues. It is hard to understand what the protestors want, why they are protesting. We have one quote from Bill Clinton that says "let's open it up" basically.
So anyway I read a couple stories online to try and figure out what the haps were, what the WTO was doing to merit such a turnout in a rather staid laid back if not downright apathetic town.
Money is a big tranquilizer, our economy is stable and lucrative, people just don't take to the streets typically.
I still didn't get a good gist of why there were so many protestors.
The protestors need some PR, a press conference, a spokesperson to say what the deal is. sad but true. they are protesting about something very real, and they are protesting to educate the people ...but all the we see from the media is a big protest w/o a lot of understanding "why?" why are they protesting?
hb
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mattro replies:
In a nutshell, the protestors want assurances that, as the economy of individual nations is globalized, all the work that has gone into protecting the environment, halting human rights violations, and maintaining worker's rights here and abroad (such as the right to unionize) are also sustained and expanded. "People over Profits" is one of the slogans I saw a lot.
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Okay I gotcha here, I assumed that the WTO must have done SOMETHING to trample these rights though, and it must have been something very big and very ugly...what was it? This is basically at the heart of what I want to know..."What have they done to draw all this negative attention"
hb
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mattro replies:
WTO's been around five years and has settled many trade disputes in that time.
I'm no scholar on the subject, but the three most prominent decisions that come to mind are:
- The European Union must import genetically altered, unlabeled food products from the US (specifically from the Monsanto corporation) or face millions of $ in annual fines. Citizens of the EU are opposed to this.
- The US must import "dirty" gasoline from Venezuela, overturning standards set by the US Congress and signed by the President.
- US law states that no tuna will make it to our store shelves unless it was caught using turtle & dolphin safe nets. A new trade partner (I believe it was Malaysia, but am uncertain) took us to the WTO "court" when we refused their tuna that was in violation of our laws.
When the WTO decides something is "a barrier to free trade" it currently makes no exceptions whatsoever. Not even for child labor in Bangladesh or prison labor in the US and China. The WTO clearly wants Capitalism in its purest form with no restrictions to trade and profit.
