Socio-Political Rants
Fergus is a student from Manchester studying Architecture, he’s a member of Britain’s Socialist Party and an experienced activist. Glutter’s invited him as one of the 10,000 foreign protesters to arrive in HK over the WTO protests this week. His thoughts and politics does not necessarily reflect mine, but he represents an alternative voice to these negotiations.
Photos: sgrah
Yan
—
Two days ago, the WTO opened for the delegates of over one hundred countries to discuss how better to squeeze the rest of the population so much that the pips will squeak. Outside and in the ordinary people of the world resisted this arm of Imperialist globalization. Radicals from Korea jumped into the harbor to show that nothing will stop them in their task to stop the WTO and the other institutions which seek to end their way of life did so in a peaceful yet defiant way. Much has been written about the violence at the demonstration, yet the photos only show maybe twenty demonstrators and hundreds of police, this is because for all the media hype, the reality was that the protests were peaceful, loud and forceful.
The police have been trying to disrupt the protests. On Tuesday they held back five of the Korean comrades causing a long sit down protest demanding their release. Yesterday on the anti GATS protest they split the march in two again causing and angry confrontation which was peacefully resolved by a sit down protest. The media have portrayed us as an angry mob hell bent on causing destruction; whilst inside sit peaceful, freedom loving people representing the world. Is this really the case?
Why are the peasant farmers across the world angry at the WTO? Firstly when the Asian market collapsed a few years ago the Korean economy was given advise by another institution aligned to the WTO, the International Monetary Fund. They advised that Korean agriculture be upgraded to industrialized methods in order to be competitive in the global market. This industrialization coupled with cheap subsidized rice from abroad coming into their country has impoverished many peasant farmers. They feel that rice and rice growing is a cultural element in their country and that it is being torn from them by this institution. Therefore is it little wonder they want to stop it, we are not talking some do gooders asking for extra aid, we are talking the life or death of thousands of people around the world. We are talking the loss of a culture that goes back thousands of years. This has been a feature of the resistance to globalization internationally. Indigenous groups in Latin America fought back, the landless peasants of Brazil fought back, within industry and services the Bolivian miners fought back and the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions is fighting back. Across the world we have seen huge anti war protests and it is the same people who perpetrated the war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan who sit in the convention center this week discussing how they can best strip the globe in order to make a fast profit.
We must win this battle, we have a simple choice: a world of war, destruction and economic violence raining down on the world poor whilst the rich few sit in a conference sharing out the pickings; or a world where people have economic security, equality and peace. Once we defeat the WTO in Hong Kong the struggle will continue against the IMF, World Bank, G8, and all the other institutions of Imperialist globalization.
Fergus Alexander, Socialist Workers Party
Photos: sgrah
Yan Sham-Shackleton Online 
fergus, they didn’t split the protest. the koreans dashed ahead of everyone and jumped through a thin police line.
they then let everyone join up after the koreans had done their ritualistic protests.
if you read closely in some english media, they are not being portrayed as devils. but thank you for your spin.
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