What are your opinions of the recent protests in Seattle by AFL-CIO members and environmental activists against the actions of the World Trade Organization?

Would a worldwide laissez-faire economy contribute to the economic and political development of third-world countries, or...not?

What do you think the American public's reaction to these protests will be - "Damn hippie protesters" or "Gee, maybe we should be concerned about economic deregulation" ?

-- Jennifer Bishop (jmb19@cornell.edu), December 13, 1999

Answers

I have a friend who got back from the protests all fired up, feeling like he'd been part of a group that accomplished great things, and while it was refreshing to some other sides to the story I've got to admit I'm still undecided.

I should be an easy push-over, I'm convinced that the environmental protections in the U.S. are laughable at best, and the rest of the world lags far behind that.

But in hearing people talk about the protests I'm getting reports of how exciting it was to be on the lines, how out of control the cops were, how righteously non-violent the protesters (aside from the Zerzan folks) were, how the talks were a complete bust (although even the independent media report that the real discussion were going on over at UW while everyone was distracted)...

Everything but proposals for viable solutions.

Given the rhetoric on both sides, quite frankly I'm leaning toward the WTO. Until someone's willing to step forward with some real alternative proposals for helping to stop deforestation and removing the blocks to personal freedoms around the world, giving the world the luxuries that the U.S. market has afforded us seems to be a good start.

So before the WTO meetings I was concerned about economic deregulation and the scare stories. Afterwards I'm remembering just how seriously the U.S. takes its treaty obligations anyway [snicker] and thinking "damn hippie protesters".

-- Dan Lyke (danlyke@flutterby.com), December 14, 1999.

Anyone who uses violence as part of a protest is no longer protesting. Violence is more indicative of a riot than of a protest. The punks who went into Quebec City ought to have to serve 5 years in prison. More to the point, someone ought to kick the living shit out of th

-- Robert Adcox (radcox@runet.edu), April 20, 2001.