Re: [AUT] en):CALL: IV Global Conference of Peoples' Global Action

[benjamin rosenzweig <lumpnboy@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hey all

I know it isn't a terribly engaged response to point
it out, but most of my maoist friends (of whom I have
none) would find the overall 'mass line' of this PGA
piece pretty congenial. To pick an example from, well,
it's the first sentence: "Global capitalism is causing
more exploitation, oppression, destitution and war in
our times than ever before." I don't think this form
of objectivism is a question of translation, though I
would be happy to be proven wrong - a declaration of
the desire for joy that has, admittedly, itself become
something of a rhetorical cliche, but it is a short
step from this grammatical misconstruction to Hitler.

Capitalism doesn't 'cause' exploitation, does it? It
IS exploitation, isn't it?

I can't be the only one to think that much of this is
a little bit horrible, can I (however much active
participation in the advertised event can be
re-deployed secondhand as cultural capital, the real
subsumption of 'resistance' via junkets or just
tourism)? Those evil 'financial interests' must be
stopped? Those multinational corporations taking our
resources? Are we back to this?

OK, I only skimmed it after this stuff so maybe there
is a magical transformation, or this is a parody too
subtle for me to spot, too dead-pan and precise for a
dogmatist such as myself to notice - but I think it is
not only wrong but kind-of creepy.

Benjamin Rosenzweig

--- mcote@xxxxxx wrote:

> imran,
>
> perhaps you have already seen this. if not, it may
> (or perhaps not0 be of
> interest to you. while this one may be too far away
> and too expensive, i
> strongly suggest you start presenting papers at
> conferences. you are going
> to need it for your resume. remember, when it comes
> to academia, think
> instrumentally!
>
> looking forward to friday,
>
> mark
>
> On Wed,  8 Jun 2005 08:40:49 +1000
> aut-op-sy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> >
> >
> > -------- Original Message --------
> > Subject:	CALL: IV Global Conference of Peoples'
> Global Action
> > Date: 	Tue, 7 Jun 2005 10:16:21 +1200
> > From: 	<pga-4globalconf@xxxxxxxxxx>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > IV Global Conference of Peoples?â?? Global Action
> > 27th September to 2nd October 2005
> > Haridwar, Uttaranchal, North India
> >
> >
> > 1.	Background
> > 2.	Why a global conference now? Why in Asia?
> > 3.	Objectives of this conference
> > 4.	Asian convenors and conference hosts
> > 5.	Dates, venue and logistics
> > 6.	Programme and preparation process
> > 7.	Participants
> >
> > Appendixes:
> > I.	Hallmarks of PGA
> > II.	Organizational Principles of PGA
> > III.	A brief history of Peoples?â?? Global Action
> > IV.	Sustained campaigns
> > V.	Application form
> >
> >
> > 1. Background
> >
> > Global capitalism is causing more exploitation,
> oppression, destitution
> and
> > war in our times than ever before. The
> governments, multinational
> > corporations and financial interests that rule
> over the global economy
> > continue concentrating wealth and power. They
> fasten their control over
> our
> > lives and resources on multilateral institutions
> and agreements, such
> > as the
> > World Trade Organisation (WTO), the World Bank,
> the International Monetary
>
> > Fund (IMF), and regional trade agreements like the
> EU, FTAA, APEC, etc.
> > These entities ensure that injustice and
> destruction expand all over the
> > world, increasing the pain and despair of all
> oppressed and discriminated
> > people, such as peasants, indigenous peoples,
> women, workers, the
> > unemployed, slum dwellers, ethnic or religious
> minorities, Dalits and
> other
> > exploited castes, Hijras, etc . The monstrous
> global inequalities have
> > reached an absurd level where almost 1 billion
> people suffer chronic
> hunger
> > and more than 1 billion lack access to safe
> drinking water, while the 3
> > richest men own more wealth than the poorest 48
> countries, and 285
> > individuals posses as much as half of the
> humanity.
> >
> > In addition to the daily economic violence
> engendered by capitalism,
> > imperialist countries are waging more and
> increasingly destructive wars to
>
> > steal resources from the poor. This is why many
> anti-capitalist movements
> > have actively participated in anti-war protests as
> a natural extension of
> > their activity. The atrocious nature of those wars
> is one more consequence
>
> > of capital?â??s expansion, just like the suicides
> of thousands of indebted
> > peasants in South Asia, the displacement of
> indigenous peoples, the
> > exploitation of workers and women, etc. The world
> is full of such examples
>
> > of the destructive and insatiable greed of a
> social and economic
> > system that
> > most humans reject and despise.
> >
> > The people and institutions that rule over this
> system will continue
> > generating abuse, misery and death, and any
> attempt to reform them are a
> > waste of energy and time. For this reason,
> grassroots movements are
> working
> > in all continents to take back collective and
> democratic control over our
> > resources and forms of life, to rebuild our
> autonomy and
> self-organisation.
> > This is the continuation of an ancient
> revolutionary tradition which
> > encompasses slave insurrections and anti-colonial
> liberation struggles,
> > indigenous and feminist uprisings, peasants?â?? and
> workers?â?? revolutions,
>
> > anti-capitalist direct action and environmental
> activism, cultural and
> > sexual self-affirmation, grassroots antagonist
> education and independent
> > media, just to mention some examples.
> >
> > Over the last decades, growing numbers of
> grassroots movements have come
> to
> > the common conclusion that we need to strengthen
> and interconnect this
> > revolutionary tradition. We are all fighting
> against common problems and
> > adversaries, and this struggle requires the
> participation of all people
> who
> > suffer the consequences of discrimination or
> oppression of all kinds.
> Today
> > more than ever, the emancipation of any of us is
> connected to the
> > emancipation of all oppressed people in the world.
> This results in an
> > urgent
> > need to learn from and about each other, in order
> to be able to
> > support each
> > other as much as possible. To achieve that, we
> also need to become aware
> of
> > our own participation in sexism, racism or other
> forms of inequality and
> > exploitation, and fight against them.
> >
> > Another shared conclusion is the need to build
> locally controlled and
> > genuinely democratic and participatory social and
> economic relations as
> > alternatives to capitalism. We don?â??t want to
> repeat past mistakes and
> > replace one form of exploitation and control by
> another. We cannot make
> our
> > freedom depend on the good will of any
> revolutionary vanguard or political
>
> > party. All revolutions of the 20th century have
> confirmed that centralised
>
> > power corrupts and leads to disappointment and
> collapse. Therefore if we
> > want emancipation to last, it should be built and
> maintained by the equal
> > participation of all people in struggle, by local
> autonomy combined with
> > international solidarity and globally coordinated
> action.
> >
> > For these reasons, grassroots movements all over
> the world have built
> tools
> > for non-hierarchical communication and
> coordination on the basis of
> > diversity, autonomy and decentralisation.
> Peoples?â?? Global Action
> > (PGA) was
> > created with this aim in February 1998 by a wide
> range
=== message truncated ===


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