"In late November and early December 1999, the World Trade Organization convened in Seattle for a round of conferences and negotiations. Tens of thousands of protesters hit the streets to meet them, including labor activists alarmed by the post-NAFTA landscape of the US, as well as environmentalists dismayed at eroding standards of ecological care under the kinds of agreements the WTO was arranging. They in turn encountered a police response more vicious than many anticipated, particularly once the protests threatened to shut down the conference."
"What came to be known as the "Battle in Seattle" was a touchstone for the brief era that we now think of as the "End of History." The derisive media reaction- The New York Times falsely reported that protestors threw Molotov cocktails at the police, spurring the crackdown-was characteristic of the time. What did anyone have to really be angry at? All the numbers showed that the economy was doing great! The best emblem of the response to the WTO protests comes from an episode of The West Wing that came out a little more than a year after the events."
"It's activist vacation, is what it is. Spring break for anarchist wannabes. The black T-shirts, the gas masks as fashion accessories ... You want the benefits of free trade? Food is cheaper ... Food is cheaper, clothes are cheaper, steel is cheaper, cars are cheaper, phone service is cheaper. You feel me building a rhythm here? That's because I'm a speechwriter, and I know how to make a point ... It lowers prices, it raises income."
In late 1999 the World Trade Organization met in Seattle while tens of thousands of protesters gathered, including labor activists worried about post-NAFTA effects and environmentalists alarmed at declining ecological safeguards linked to trade agreements. Protesters encountered a more vicious police response than many expected, especially when demonstrations threatened to shut down the conference. Major media outlets inaccurately reported violent provocations such as Molotov cocktails, which intensified the crackdown. The episode became emblematic of a broader mood in which strong macroeconomic indicators and complacent elite narratives minimized or derided popular resistance to globalization.
Read at Defector
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]