Of Heroes and Villians
November 20th 2006 02:58
At the face value, the protesters and activists are the heroes and the G20 finance ministers are the villians hell bent on enriching the rich at the advantage of the poor. The G20 is seen as a neo-liberal economic talkfest aim at protecting the interests of the rich and powerful while paying lip-service to the plight of the world's poor and needy. Hence the birth and persistency of the demonstrations to highlight the latter issue to the world media and also to embarrass the financial honchos. Isn't easy to distinguish the good and the bad?
The G20 is pale in comparison with the WTO and even the demonstrations were miniscule but the point is that every economic talkfests that involves the industrialised, such as the EU and the US are outright condenmed by the anti-globalisation and poverty eradication activists. Is globalisation such a dirty word? or anti-globalisation is the one?
There's always two sides to a coin.
Again, at face value, globalisation have brought economic advancement unprecedented in history. The world needs the world to survive. Even China, one of the last bastion of communist control, embraced globalisation like its own. The country is a living textbook of globalisation in progress lifting up millions of people from poverty to the road of economic progress, acquisition of material wealth and enjoy material fruits that thier comrades in North Korea and Cuba do not have the rights to do so. The Chinese government gave its people a privilege, through economic reform, but globalisation gave the Chinese people the rights to acquire wealth. Think foreign direct investments.
Leave China out or even India, some would say, because they have the resources; big population, natural resources, strategic location and among others, to take on the world. They were poor and weak before but it can't be denied that they are big players with the potential to take on the current rich and big boys. Africa is the posterboy for anti-globalisation movement because its a fact that this gigantic continent is left out from the economic pie. The industrialised, being members of the earth, have the natural responsibilities to rectify the situation but the remedies, it seem, were not enought. More needs to be done, as we are reminded.
Is it fair to say that the industrialised and the powerful are doing nothing or not just simply not enough for the poor? Targeting the economic forums being the answer? One has to remember that the people at the conferences are afterall, ordinary humans, and they, I believe, have a sense of conscience and awareness of the disadvantaged. We cannot expect them to get down to the ground and help the poor and disadvantaged directly. They set the polices for it be implemented. Reality, we must recognise, that policies are policies and in any policies there are bound to be some cons. A fact that can't be denied.
Another fact is that the world is becoming better-off, economically. Yes there are still wars and conflicts but no one can deny that we are indeed well-off and not worse-off. Instead of demonstrating and protesting, begging our leaders to do something, which I believe they are doing something but not enough due to various constraints, why don't we do something by ourselves? Let's join hands and make this world a better place.
Instead of giving them fishes, we teach them to fish. I expect this phrase to be rebutted on one ground: the circumstances are not conducive; ie: no fishes. Now, we must again accept the reality that the world is not perfect and the leaders need to do something about it. There are no easy solutions to the problems and everyone has to work together. Things can't change overnight and conducive environment and circumstances are not works of magic but sheer hard work and progressive but sustainable planning. We can leave the job to the higher ups but of course, with regular consultative exercises with the masses. But what is urgent of us is to start the ball rolling at the individual level; learn to fish, hunt and fight, a fighting spirit we must have in order to survive on this very earth we live on. The best way to learn to fight; education. Use whatever we can, from the internet to backpacking travels and spread the knowledge to the have not. Make it a habit, a good one.
Time to stop labelling who are heroes or villians. We all have the heroes and villians in us. Please wake up and use the heroes in us.
The G20 is pale in comparison with the WTO and even the demonstrations were miniscule but the point is that every economic talkfests that involves the industrialised, such as the EU and the US are outright condenmed by the anti-globalisation and poverty eradication activists. Is globalisation such a dirty word? or anti-globalisation is the one?
There's always two sides to a coin.
Again, at face value, globalisation have brought economic advancement unprecedented in history. The world needs the world to survive. Even China, one of the last bastion of communist control, embraced globalisation like its own. The country is a living textbook of globalisation in progress lifting up millions of people from poverty to the road of economic progress, acquisition of material wealth and enjoy material fruits that thier comrades in North Korea and Cuba do not have the rights to do so. The Chinese government gave its people a privilege, through economic reform, but globalisation gave the Chinese people the rights to acquire wealth. Think foreign direct investments.
Leave China out or even India, some would say, because they have the resources; big population, natural resources, strategic location and among others, to take on the world. They were poor and weak before but it can't be denied that they are big players with the potential to take on the current rich and big boys. Africa is the posterboy for anti-globalisation movement because its a fact that this gigantic continent is left out from the economic pie. The industrialised, being members of the earth, have the natural responsibilities to rectify the situation but the remedies, it seem, were not enought. More needs to be done, as we are reminded.
Is it fair to say that the industrialised and the powerful are doing nothing or not just simply not enough for the poor? Targeting the economic forums being the answer? One has to remember that the people at the conferences are afterall, ordinary humans, and they, I believe, have a sense of conscience and awareness of the disadvantaged. We cannot expect them to get down to the ground and help the poor and disadvantaged directly. They set the polices for it be implemented. Reality, we must recognise, that policies are policies and in any policies there are bound to be some cons. A fact that can't be denied.
Another fact is that the world is becoming better-off, economically. Yes there are still wars and conflicts but no one can deny that we are indeed well-off and not worse-off. Instead of demonstrating and protesting, begging our leaders to do something, which I believe they are doing something but not enough due to various constraints, why don't we do something by ourselves? Let's join hands and make this world a better place.
Instead of giving them fishes, we teach them to fish. I expect this phrase to be rebutted on one ground: the circumstances are not conducive; ie: no fishes. Now, we must again accept the reality that the world is not perfect and the leaders need to do something about it. There are no easy solutions to the problems and everyone has to work together. Things can't change overnight and conducive environment and circumstances are not works of magic but sheer hard work and progressive but sustainable planning. We can leave the job to the higher ups but of course, with regular consultative exercises with the masses. But what is urgent of us is to start the ball rolling at the individual level; learn to fish, hunt and fight, a fighting spirit we must have in order to survive on this very earth we live on. The best way to learn to fight; education. Use whatever we can, from the internet to backpacking travels and spread the knowledge to the have not. Make it a habit, a good one.
Time to stop labelling who are heroes or villians. We all have the heroes and villians in us. Please wake up and use the heroes in us.
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