[mobglob-discuss] CounterPunch: DC Anti-Globalization Actions

[Macdonald Stainsby]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mato Ska" <m_zehr at hotmail.com>

October 2, 2002

"Capitalism now has the black eye they tried so hard to give it."
Converging Against Capitalism
by JENNIFER BERKSHIRE

No topic divides the globo protest movement like the diversity of tactics 
question. Anarchist snake marches or well-marshaled parades of opinion? A 
brick through a window or a seat at the table?

And while the better-coifed protesters nearly always prefer the second set 
of options, even they'll concede that it's the first set--tactics intended 
to disrupt and piss off the cops--that gets the headlines. The 
demonstrations against the IMF and World Bank last month were no exception. 
By the time DC rush hour was over on Friday, the first projectile had been 
lobbed through the window of a Citibank office. By mid-afternoon, some 650 
protesters, most part of the loosely organized Anti-Capitalist Convergence, 
would be in jail. The US anti-globalization movement was back in the 
headlines.

Whose Streets?

"I'm so sick of these protests," a journalist friend complained to me as we 
walked through Adams Morgan, a formerly diverse DC neighborhood that is now 
home to interns from a diverse array of non-profits. "I feel like I'm under 
siege," he said. To protect the neighborhood from marauding globo-kids, city 
workers had removed all of the trashcans for blocks; urban detritus was 
already piling up. Minutes later, a caravan of police cars sped by, 
providing a shrill, high-speed escort service to someone important. "That 
must be one of delegates," my friend said, referring to the IMF/World Bank 
meeting invitees who now merit as much security as Dick Cheney. "They don't 
like to go outside without their taxpayer-financed escorts."

Their Streets

While the globalization protesters did succeed in getting back in the 
news--no small feat for a movement that seemed all but washed up after 
September 11--they didn't rack up many points with the locals this time. 
With posters wheat-pasted all over downtown, the Anti-Capitalist Convergence 
called on demonstrators to "shut down DC." The ACC even had an image of what 
the ensuing chaos would look like: a fist choking off the metro roadway 
system. A powerful symbol, certainly, but perhaps not the best way to grow 
the movement, as they say. "Peaceful demonstration is fine, but if people 
can't get to their jobs, its disruptive," a DC construction superintendent 
told the Washington Post. "They should lock them all up." Elsewhere in the 
city, another group of demonstrators was handing out leaflets to passing 
motorists, apologizing for any disruption. The massive police force brought 
in from as far as Chicago wasn't charmed by such niceties. The friendly kids 
ended up in jail too.

Knowing they were outnumbered, the Friday protesters had a strategy to bite 
back at the cops: fake 911 calls intended to divert the men and women in 
blue to mock emergencies all over the city. A victory of sorts for those who 
lamented the heavy-handed tactics of the police, but also a concession to 
charges that the demonstrators are from elsewhere, "invaders," as my 
journalist friend might say. Who else would intentionally divert emergency 
services away from Southeastern DC, one of the most notoriously under-served 
communities in the country? When Public Enemy rapped that "911 is a joke," 
and "Now I dialed 911 along time ago. Don't you see how late they're 
reactin'?" I don't think Chuck D. and Flava Flav were complaining about fake 
calls from globo-kids.

By Saturday, cooler heads were prevailing. There were few of what the press 
terms "black-clad protesters" in the crowd; most were cooling their heels in 
the central DC lock up. The afternoon march from the Ellipse felt more like 
a parade or a pageant than a political protest. Somewhere near 17th and K 
streets, the procession stalled and the crowd began chanting that perennial 
favorite: "Whose streets? Our streets!" "I feel a little embarrassed 
chanting this," my marching partner confided. "They're so clearly not our 
streets."

All Capitalists Converge

Despite smaller than predicted crowds -- organizers estimated 20,000 
participated in Saturday's march and rally; cops put the number at closer to 
5,000 -- the protesters no longer represent a fringe element within 
political discourse. A majority of Americans would now seem to agree with 
the sentiment espoused by one popular poster: "Capitalism Sux."

Ralph Nader, the rally's star speaker, summed up the oddity of this 
particular American moment best. "It doesn't matter whether you're listening 
to Rush Limbaugh or Amy Goodman," Nader told the screaming crowd on the 
lawns of the Ellipse. "Right now everyone is saying the same thing: 'send 
the corporate crooks to jail.'"

While Nader maybe right, this particular crowd was all Goodman fans. The 
only likely Limbaugh listeners were corralled into a tiny counter protest 
encircled by police protectors. They stood stone-faced, holding up signs 
that read "Daddy Wants His Credit Card Back," "Fry Mumia," and "All 
Capitalists Converge," and "Hold the Tear Gas - I'm a Conservative."

"I'm more of a pro-capitalist myself," a well-dressed bystander told me. In 
town from Florida, he was wearing an oxford cloth shirt in pink, a favorite 
color among the moneyed. But when pressed, the gentleman, who makes his 
living as an investment manager, launched into a tirade against capitalism 
to rival that espoused by any of the marchers-by. "What's happened in this 
country with corporate corruption is a disgrace," he told me. "These CEO's 
have stolen more money than they could ever spend. It's really bad." When I 
broached the subject of his personal money, he became glummer still. "I've 
lost a fortune. Everyone I know has lost money."

What Next?

The months since September 11 have not been kind to the US 
anti-globalization movement. Unlike Europe, where protests against 
mondialisation neo-liberal, have continued to attract hundreds of thousands, 
the ranks of the US demonstrators have thinned considerably. The war is a 
big reason: much of the activist crowd that once denounced genetically 
modified food and structural adjustment has since moved onto Bush's wars. 
And the labor movement, nervous about the easy camaraderie between said war 
protesters and the globo forces, has pulled much of its support too.

But despite the absence of density on the streets, the US movement now 
exerts more influence on the debate about globalization than ever. The 
famously leaderless protests have spawned a generation of savvy movement 
leaders who, if they don't yet have a seat at the table, are now standing 
close to the door. To put it bluntly, we've won, something that no-less a 
capitalist tool than the Wall Street Journal now freely admits. "This 
weekend, the protesters returned," Alan Murray wrote in a recent column. 
"Their zeal is undiminished. But to a degree many of them still don't 
recognize, they have won the argument. Capitalism now has the black eye they 
tried so hard to give it."

The procession through the streets of DC did not have the feel of a victory 
march, though. And few of the protesters seem to have any idea of the depth 
of the despair felt by real capitalists right now. "People are shocked," the 
investment manager from Florida told me. "They're holding on to stocks that 
are close to worthless with no end in site. What can I tell them? Get into 
cash? The fact that greedy and corrupt CEO's are to blame just makes it 
worse. They should have a protest about that," he said, pointing to the 
demonstrators winding slowly by.

Maybe next time they will.

Jennifer Bershire can be reached at: jenniferberkshire at attbi.com

-------------------------------------------
Macdonald Stainsby
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green
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--
In the contradiction lies the hope.
                                     --Bertholt Brecht