Global protests against capitalism The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, June 22nd, 1999. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. Email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.peg.apc.org/~guardian Subscription rates on request. ****************************** By Rohan Gowland Last Friday, June 18, saw the global launch of a bold new campaign that specifically targets capitalism as the cause of so many social justice issues that we now face. The launch was timed to coincide with the start of the G7 summit in Cologne on June 18, hence the name J18. (G7 is a grouping of the major western capitalist countries.) The J18 campaign says these governments exist solely to promote the globalisation of economic rationalism, "free" trade and corporate dominance. The J18 campaign targets "the excesses of global capital" and is being coordinated with simultaneous actions around the world. In Sydney, J18 organised a large and colourful rally in Martin Place in the city centre. The J18 day of action went under different slogans in each country. Some called it a "carnival against corporate tyranny", others a "global protest against capitalism", but all had the same aim. Global capital "leads to an extreme volatility in global financial markets and great vulnerability for all nations and people", says the J18 campaign material. This volatility, says J18, "is bringing massive economic breakdown in some nations, insecurity in all countries, unprecedented hardships for millions of people, growing unemployment and dislocation in all regions, threats to democracy, direct assaults on environmental and labour conditions, loss of wilderness and biodiversity, massive population shifts, increased ethnic and racial tensions and other disastrous results." The economic policies of the Australian Government are dictated by the the forces of global capital represented at the G7 summit. Common link, common enemy The J18 complements and unites the many individual struggles taking place around workers' rights, environmental protection, against war and for democratic rights. In those struggles the target is usually the immediate enemy: and employer, a logging company, NATO, or the government of the day. Because of this, it can sometimes seem as though the immediate enemy is the be all and end all. J18 aims to bring the public's attention to the common links between these struggles, that the underlying cause of all these issues is capitalism. J18's approach is summarised in its slogan: "let the resistance be as transnational as capital". The Greens told "The Guardian" that J18 draws attention to the fact that the same forces that want to mine Jabiluka are also behind the MAI (Multilateral Agreement on Investment); the forces behind logging company Boral were the same forces behind the MUA dispute. "It is a very interesting development", said The Greens, "It is a positive way to politicise people". The power of global capital was "made real" to people when after the rally they were taken on "The Scum Bag Tour" of the city, stopping outside the buildings of multinationals and organisations like the World Bank. When you see the US consulate and the World Bank office in the one imposing building guarded by a line of police, "you can actually see the power they exercise", said The Greens. J18 is supported and coordinated by a wide range of groups, including unions, students, youth and environment groups and campaigns like Stop MAI. The Guardian 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. 2010 Australia. Email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Website: http://www.peg.apc.org/~guardian -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
