WTO Anarchist News from Ireland
*************************************************
From Ainriail - the Irish Anarchist bulletin list
*************************************************
------
The Workers Solidarity Movement will be taking part
in the anti World Trade Organisation rally tomorrow
(Sat 27th Nov.) at the Central Bank Plaza. Below
is the Anarchist News we will be distributing
-----
Anarchist News No 21 - Nov. 1999
Against the WTO Against Capitalism
The problem with the World Trade Organisation is
not simply a problem of bad decisions, it is a
problem with capitalism itself. The decisions
of the WTO may often seem to be crazy to
ordinary people but to business they make sense.
It represents the continued ascendancy of profit
over people.
With or without the WTO we live in a crazy
world, where people count for nothing while
capital counts for everything. How else can we
explain how according to the UN "the assets of
the 200 richest people are more than the
combined income of 41% of the world's people."
And the poverty of those at the bottom is thrown
into stark relief when you consider that over
one billion live on less then a dollar a day.
The result of this global madness; 17 million
children die every year of easily preventable
diseases. More generally one third of people in
the Third World do not reach the age of 40.
We must be clear that abolishing or reforming
the WTO will not in itself make a significant
change to these figures. The problem is with the
capitalist system itself, a system that can put
a man on the moon but cannot provide clean water
to all of the world's population. This is not
because the system is run by bad people - the
rules of competition and profit which today we
are meant to worship means that if it doesn't
turn a profit it's not worth doing.
It is worth organising against the WTO precisely
because it is a figurehead of world capital.
But lets not fool ourselves that if it can be
reformed or abolished this would make any real
difference. It is the capitalist system itself
that is rotten and that must be got rid of.
What is the World Trade Organisation?
The World Trade Organisation is the
international body that tries to set rules for
trade between countries. It was set up out of
the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(Gatt) in 1995. Its conferences are dominated
by the imperialist powers (the US, Canada, the
EU and Japan) who can afford to send huge
'negotiation' teams and who determine the agenda
each day. In turn the policies these teams
argue for are determined by the wishes of big
business in the form of the multinational based
in these countries.
The WTO has the power to decide that any given
country is erecting barriers to trade. Often
this translates into multinationals objecting to
laws that give some local protection to workers
or the environment. Right now for instance
Canada is taking a case on behalf of its
multinational asbestos industry that seeks to
overturn the ban on the use of asbestos in
construction.
The WTO is a rich man's club. It is integral to
the global nature of modern capitalism. But it
is meeting growing opposition. The Seattle
meeting will see tens of thousands of people
demonstrating against the WTO in Seattle and
hundreds of thousands demonstrating all over the
world.
The WTO only serves the interests of
multinational corporations
The WTO is not a democratic institution, and yet
its policies impact all aspects of society and
the planet. The WTO rules are written by and for
corporations with inside access to the
negotiations as is shown below
The WTO has ruled that it is: 1) illegal for a
government to ban a product based on the way it
is produced (i.e. with child labor); and 2)
governments cannot take into account the
behaviour of companies that do business with
vicious dictatorships such as Burma.
Under the guise of removing "barriers to trade",
corporations are using the WTO to dismantle
hard-won environmental protections. In 1993 the
first WTO panel ruled that a regulation of the
US Clean Air Act, which required domestic and
foreign producers alike to produce cleaner
gasoline, was illegal.
The WTO's fierce defense of intellectual
property rights-patents, copyrights and
trademarks-comes at the expense of health and
human lives. The US government, on behalf of US
drug companies, is trying to block developing
countries' access to less expensive, generic,
life-saving drugs.
During a the most recent period of rapid growth
in global trade and investment-1960 to
1998-inequality worsened both internationally
and within countries.
Why the WTO can't be reformed
Some of those organising the demonstrations
around the World Trade Organisation are not
seeking to get rid of it. Instead they think it
can be reformed so that it becomes a force for
progress, protecting the environment, workers
rights and the poor. Most commonly it is
suggested that if the NGO's (non-governmental
organisations, like voluntary groups and
charities) were represented at the meetings then
the interests of ordinary people would be
protected.
We don't go along with this line of argument.
The WTO will only be taken seriously by global
capitalism if it is useful to it. Just like the
UN any incorporation of a 'human rights' agenda
will be done in such a way that it can be
ignored. The problem with promoting such
reforms is that it promotes the idea that what
is needed is smarter or better leaders to make
these decisions on our behalf.
We must refuse to play the reform game, it only
serves to reinforce the WTO. We must reject the
path that seeks to persuade the Irish government
to fight our battles for us. The scandals here
show that the Irish government is no more on the
side of workers and the poor then any government
anywhere. Allowing them to pretend they are on
the international level just undermines our
message at home.
The anarchist alternative to the WTO
If you believe the problems of the world are
caused by the capitalist system itself then you
need an alternative to it. But for many people
what the left has done in power under Leninism
in the Soviet Union or the Labour parties in the
west seems to prove there is no such
alternative. We believe that lessons are to be
learned from those failures and that these
lessons lead us to anarchism.
Anarchism is the idea that the mass of people,
the working class, can change the world for the
better replacing the exploitation, inequality
and injustice that are all around today with a
new world based on socialism and freedom.
Anarchism is the idea of a world where there are
no classes - the rich having been sent packing.
Where society is run and controlled through
councils by those who produce the wealth in
society, the working class. Where there is
absolute freedom of ideas, of movement and of
the individual. Anarchism is a society built on
the abolition of all tyranny, in society and in
the workplace. In the everyday class struggle
its aim is to build as much working class unity
as possible. It argues for workers to strengthen
their organisations and their capacity to take
control from the bosses. This starts with taking
control of our unions and community
organisations at local level.
The inequality and authoritarianism of
capitalism is neither acceptable nor necessary.
Workers and the poor are constantly being asked
to make sacrifices and to tighten their belts
for the 'good of the country'. The things we
most depend on like housing, health care and
education are the very things that are under
funded by the Government while all the time the
huge wealth and profit of private industry
remains relatively untouched by taxes. We are no
strangers to this in Ireland.
Anarchists argue that this doesn't happen
because we have 'bad' politicians but because it
is the way that capitalism works. In a society
where a small rich class controls things, it is
inevitable that they will exploit and make the
poor pay for as much as possible.
Anarchism is a practical way to bring about a
society of socialism and freedom. The
traditional 'way', in countries like ours, is
through the ballot box. It is here that we are
told that changes can be brought about if we
want to make them. Anarchists don't agree with
this and oppose involvement in the parliament
for two reasons. Firstly, real power in society
doesn't reside there. It is mainly a talking
shop. Even if you did get a socialist party
elected to Government that stood for the
abolition of capitalism (instead of the normal
situation where they stand for simply an
increase in dole payments or a cut of two pence
in the tax rate) they wouldn't be allowed to do
it.
But there is also another reason why socialism
can't be brought about by electing a socialist
government. Anarchists argue that socialism is
about the working class running society through
workplace and community councils - in other
words democracy in all parts of human activity.
It is through this that a real equal
distribution of wealth can take place. But most
socialist parties don't believe in this idea at
all. Rather they see socialism as something
else. For them it is the idea of their Party
which 'represents' the workers interests taking
control of the State and 'making it work for the
people'.
Anarchists say that no one can actually
'represent' workers interests but workers
themselves. Anarchists argue that only all those
who suffer inequality and injustice can and will
at the end of the day see the fight to end it
through to the finish. Anarchists argue that
the means used to build socialism and ends
achieved are connected. Thus a Party which
achieves power believing itself to represent the
working class cannot but end up creating a rigid
hierarchical society all over again.
Finally then, anarchism is the idea of a free
socialist society and how it can be achieved by
the direct action and strength of the working
class. Anarchists stand uncompromisingly for a
new world. It will be organised from the bottom
up and production will be to meet peoples'
needs, not for the private profit of a few.
Every individual will enjoy complete control of
her/his life with no limit on their freedom as
long as they do not encroach on the freedom of
anyone else. That is what the Workers Solidarity
Movement is fighting for. We want you to join
with us in this fight.
-----------------
Visit our web site at
http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/wsm.html
Email us at wsm_ireland@geocities.com
Subscribe to the low volume Irish anarchist
mailing list by mailing lists@tao.ca
with the message subscribe ainriail
*********************************************
From Ainriail - For more info see
http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/inter/email_lists.html
|
