I agree with your analysis of this, Christine. It's all about economics, wealth, money and who controls it. G8, G20, the World Bank, IMF, they control how public money (ie: tax dollars) are spent.
These organizations are incredibly powerful yet (in the case of the World Bank and IMF) not elected or in any way democratic. They are not answerable to "the people". That's scary. They tell elected governments what to do. That, too, is scary. Since so much of the public purse is spent on the military, NATO is a big piece of the puzzle. I'm sure that it's fair to say that many if not most of the protesters at these conferences worldwide would prefer to see at least some public funds diverted from the military to social and other programmes. Of course another big reason for these protests is that the world is watching; they have a huge platform from which to publicize their causes and the media is only too happy to oblige. Cheers, frank "What can be asserted without proof can be dismissed without proof." -- Christopher Hitchens --- Original Message --- From: Christine Aguila <[email protected]> Sent: May 19, 2012 5/19/12 To: "Pentax-Discuss Mail List" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: NATO Nurses Rally at Daley Plaza Today Thanks, Paul. With respect to your question, Stan and Bob are right, in that, lots of groups will use to advantage historical events that provide a handy--and large--audience for a social, political or economic message, but I wouldn't argue that's the main motivation for protest rallies with respect to NATO/G8. I readily admit I am not deeply read on every group's mission statement and goals, and it's always tricky to speak for someone else, but at yesterday's rally all the speakers and the signage did speak to a single overall position uniting the various groups and organizations. In their view, G8 controls the wealth of the world, and they do so mostly to the advantage of the ruling and corporate elite, thereby creating hardship and disadvantage--and the new buzz word, austerity--for the rest of the world's population. And they view NATO as G8's military instrument to insure that advantage in various direct and indirect ways--war, of course, being the most egregious, direct, and expensive means--in their view. So, in demonstrating against NATO they also demonstrate against the G8; and when they demonstrate against the G8, they demonstrate against NATO. All of what I just said is, of course, my interpretation, and I've probably oversimplified for some, but it is my take on yesterday's event, though it's *not* necessarily my own personal point of view, but I admit to being sympathetic with some of the *economic* message points conveyed at the rally. Cheers, Christine/Chicago On May 19, 2012, at 6:10 AM, Paul Stenquist wrote: > Some nice pics. A bit bewildering though in that it's hard to see what any of > this has to do with NATO. Would the occupants prefer that we not have an > alliance of western democracies? > Paul > On May 19, 2012, at 2:53 AM, Christine Aguila wrote: > >> Hi Everyone: >> >> I flirted with the idea of starting a little memoir blog, if you will, on >> our NATO weekend here in Chicago, but then chucked the idea--for the time >> being at least. I haven't had a full day of photography like today for >> probably 3 months at least, so it was a fun day. >> >> The nurses union had applied for a permit but had a set-to with the mayor, >> but then he relented, so the rally went ahead. John Nichols, the Washington >> D.C. correspondent for the magazine The Nation spoke, as did, Andy Thayer, >> and Tom Hayden, that is, *the* Tom Hayden. Tom Morello sang--he was great! >> Lots of other speakers from various progressive organizations and unions >> spoke as well. >> >> The rally was orderly--quite tame actually--cheerful with lots of shouting >> and singing. Morello sang This Land is Your Land, which was a moving moment >> and will resonate long in my memory. But then it was over, and most folks >> went along their merry way. The media reported some smaller "splinter >> groups" headed into the loop, but it never amounted to much. >> >> The big day is Sunday, and I'm set to head down to the Petrillo Bandshell >> and do the march to McCormick Place. If I get tired, I'll head home. Darrel >> will be home on call if I need to be rescued. I've sought advice from our >> Cotty, so I'll march with greater confidence WRT safety and photographic >> strategy. >> >> There's nothing fancy or greatly artful about the gallery below, but you >> will get a small sense of what the rally was like. The truth is when I get >> to events like this I start shouting and singing with everyone else and >> forget to take pictures. I did take a little video of the speakers and >> performers, but I had the DA* 50-135 on the K-5, and holding that kit up >> high in the Hail Mary position for long periods is not fun. It's a bummer >> being short. >> >> There are captions below the photos. >> >> http://www.caguila.com/natonurses >> >> Cheers, Christine/Chicago >> -- >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> [email protected] >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >> follow the directions. > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
