posted 01-01-2004 10:31 PM            

10 Good Things About a Bad Year
By Medea Benjamin, AlterNet
January 1, 2004

No two ways about it, 2003 was a demoralizing year for those of us working for peace and justice. With George Bush in the White House, Arnold Schwarzenegger in the California State House, and Paul Bremer ruling Iraq, it was a chore just to get out of bed each morning. But get out of bed we did, and we spent our days educating, strategizing, organizing and mobilizing. As we greet the new year, let's remember and celebrate some of our hard-fought victories in a time of adversity.

1. We organized the most massive, global protests against war the world has ever seen. On February 15 alone, over 12 million people came out on the streets in over 700 cities in 60 countries and on every continent. So impressive was this outpouring of anti-war sentiment that the New York Times, not known for hyperbole, claimed there were now two superpowers: the US and global public opinion.

2. Over the last few months, mainstream Americans have been buying progressive books by the millions. Authors such as Michael Moore, Al Franken, Molly Ivins, Paul Krugman and David Corn have seen their books soar to the New York Times bestsellers list. With humor and biting exposes of the Bush administration, these authors helped our movement gain legions of new converts. No more preaching to the choir this year!

3. When the World Trade Organization met in Cancun in September to promote global rules that give even greater power to transnational corporations, they were met by well coordinated opposition from countries in the global south, hundreds of non-governmental organizations and thousands of activists. When our movement's sophisticated inside-outside strategy forced the talks to collapse, there was "gloom in the suites and dancing in the streets." And as a counter to these corporate-dominated global institutions, the fair trade movement had a stellar year.

4. The poorest country in South America, Bolivia, proved that people power is alive and well. Sparked by the Bolivian president's plan to privatize and export the nation's natural gas, an astounding grassroots movement of peasants, miners, workers, and indigenous people poured into the streets to demand his resignation. After five weeks of intense protests and a government crackdown that left 70 dead, Sanchez de Lozada was forced to resign. Now that's regime change!

5. The silver lining in the budget crisis affecting the states throughout this nation is that from Louisiana to Texas to Michigan – and even in Arnold Schwarzenegger's California – state governments are cutting prison budgets by releasing non-violent drug offenders. The year has been marked by a steady move toward treatment instead of incarceration and a greater understanding that drug abuse should be handled in the doctors' office, not the prison cell.

6. For so long, celebrities have put their careers above their beliefs. This year witnessed a "coming out" of all types of celebrities on all manner of progressive issues. Jay-Z and Mariah Carey railed against the racist Rockefeller drug laws, Bono and Beyonce Knowles called for the world to fight AIDS, and a host of celebs such as Sean Penn, Susan Saradon and Laurence Fishbourne courageously took a stand against the invasion of Iraq.

7. Progressives now have a powerful new tool for organizing: the Internet. E-activism through venues such as MoveOn, Working Assets and Meetup.com have allowed ordinary people to challenge big money and powerful institutions. We raised millions of dollars to run ads, we've confronted corporate-dominated institutions like the Federal Communications Commission, and e-activism has allowed an anti-war candidate, Howard Dean, to become a frontrunner in the 2004 elections.

8. In an unprecedented outpouring of local opposition to the assault on our civil liberties, over 200 cities, towns, counties and states across the country have passed resolutions against the Patriot Act. In fact, the outcry has been so profound that plans for a successor act, dubbed Patriot Act II, that would further broaden federal investigatory powers, have been scuttled.

9. While eclipsed by the war in Iraq, the corporate scandals that topped the headlines in 2002 continued in 2003, with indefatigable New York State Attorney-General Eliot Spitzer exposing the trading abuses in the mutual funds industry. The Enron, WorldCom and accounting scandals produced some positive legislation against corporate crime and forced institutional investors like pension funds to become more active. And anti-corporate crusaders joined with peace activists to expose the obscene war profiteering of Halliburton and Bechtel, with more exposes to come in 2004!

10. Despite the conservative takeover of the courts, this year produced several landmark rulings we can be proud of. The Supreme Court upheld affirmative action, giving a sweeping victory to the University of Michigan and colleges all over the country. It struck down sodomy laws criminalizing gay sex, affirming the constitutional right to privacy. The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that gays should be able to marry. The Appeals Court ruled that the US military could not detain American citizen Jose Padilla as an "enemy combatant", and in an even more significant decision, found that all 600 detainees at Guantanamo Bay should be granted access to lawyers.

There are many more – the immigrants' freedom march that crisscrossed the nation to counter the anti-immigrant backlash, the amazing youth movement that is bringing new culture and vibrancy to organizing, the renewed women's activism through groups like Code Pink, the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to an Iranian woman, Shirin Ebadi. And each one of us could add to the list.

posted 01-01-2004 11:51 PM            

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Originally posted by JerseyBluEyz:
1. We organized the most massive, global protests against war the world has ever seen. On February 15 alone, over 12 million people came out on the streets in over 700 cities in 60 countries and on every continent. So impressive was this outpouring of anti-war sentiment that the New York Times, not known for hyperbole, claimed there were now two superpowers: the US and global public opinion.

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12 million people out of 6 billion. 2/10th of a percent. Average turnout per city? 17,100. There was nearly twice that for a Rush Limbaugh rally in Ft. Collins Colorado in 1993.

But I'm sure anti-war activists that have been basically shunned since the 60's are happy they got another 15 minutes of fame.

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2. Over the last few months, mainstream Americans have been buying progressive books by the millions. Authors such as Michael Moore, Al Franken, Molly Ivins, Paul Krugman and David Corn have seen their books soar to the New York Times bestsellers list. With humor and biting exposes of the Bush administration, these authors helped our movement gain legions of new converts. No more preaching to the choir this year!

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Unless the choir was the one buying the books.

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3. When the World Trade Organization met in Cancun in September to promote global rules that give even greater power to transnational corporations, they were met by well coordinated opposition from countries in the global south, hundreds of non-governmental organizations and thousands of activists. When our movement's sophisticated inside-outside strategy forced the talks to collapse, there was "gloom in the suites and dancing in the streets." And as a counter to these corporate-dominated global institutions, the fair trade movement had a stellar year.

---

In Cancun, one Korean even killed himself. They were also safely away from the convention making it even more tragic for some Korean to kill himself without even really being seen by those attending the convention. One less protestor, though.

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4. The poorest country in South America, Bolivia, proved that people power is alive and well. Sparked by the Bolivian president's plan to privatize and export the nation's natural gas, an astounding grassroots movement of peasants, miners, workers, and indigenous people poured into the streets to demand his resignation. After five weeks of intense protests and a government crackdown that left 70 dead, Sanchez de Lozada was forced to resign. Now that's regime change!

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So we should all pour into the street rather than respect the democratic process, and we should hold this up as a good example of how countries should work? Bolivia had a democracy which effectively suffered a coup d'etat by folks that know more about mining, farming, and working than they do about politics, economics, or international affairs. And we're celebrating this?

I presume this is the same kind of person that would complain about "how" Bush won the election in 2000. Yet getting pitchforks and torches and taking to the street to force an elected president to resign is ok. Good thinking. Now their complaints about the 2000 election make more sense.

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5. The silver lining in the budget crisis affecting the states throughout this nation is that from Louisiana to Texas to Michigan – and even in Arnold Schwarzenegger's California – state governments are cutting prison budgets by releasing non-violent drug offenders. The year has been marked by a steady move toward treatment instead of incarceration and a greater understanding that drug abuse should be handled in the doctors' office, not the prison cell.

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So it's not good news that the laws are being changed, but rather it's good news that existing laws simply aren't being enforced for lack of money. Yeah, that's great news.

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6. For so long, celebrities have put their careers above their beliefs. This year witnessed a "coming out" of all types of celebrities on all manner of progressive issues. Jay-Z and Mariah Carey railed against the racist Rockefeller drug laws, Bono and Beyonce Knowles called for the world to fight AIDS, and a host of celebs such as Sean Penn, Susan Saradon and Laurence Fishbourne courageously took a stand against the invasion of Iraq.

---

Raising the question: Why should the opinions of actors and singers be considered more important than any other person or, God forbid, of a politician that deals with public policy for a living? I really don't need a singer telling me what to think. Singers should sing. If they want to get into politics, consider a career change.

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7. Progressives now have a powerful new tool for organizing: the Internet. E-activism through venues such as MoveOn, Working Assets and Meetup.com have allowed ordinary people to challenge big money and powerful institutions. We raised millions of dollars to run ads, we've confronted corporate-dominated institutions like the Federal Communications Commission, and e-activism has allowed an anti-war candidate, Howard Dean, to become a frontrunner in the 2004 elections.

---

No problem there. Glad everyone is using the tools at their disposal.

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8. In an unprecedented outpouring of local opposition to the assault on our civil liberties, over 200 cities, towns, counties and states across the country have passed resolutions against the Patriot Act. In fact, the outcry has been so profound that plans for a successor act, dubbed Patriot Act II, that would further broaden federal investigatory powers, have been scuttled.

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This is good news.

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9. While eclipsed by the war in Iraq, the corporate scandals that topped the headlines in 2002 continued in 2003, with indefatigable New York State Attorney-General Eliot Spitzer exposing the trading abuses in the mutual funds industry. The Enron, WorldCom and accounting scandals produced some positive legislation against corporate crime and forced institutional investors like pension funds to become more active. And anti-corporate crusaders joined with peace activists to expose the obscene war profiteering of Halliburton and Bechtel, with more exposes to come in 2004!

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Whatever. It's ok to be anti-evil or anti-illegal. But anti-corporate? They provide jobs for a lot of people and products most of us use. Do I want to see them more honest? Sure. Do I support "anti-corporation" activists? Nope.

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10. Despite the conservative takeover of the courts, this year produced several landmark rulings we can be proud of. The Supreme Court upheld affirmative action, giving a sweeping victory to the University of Michigan and colleges all over the country. It struck down sodomy laws criminalizing gay sex, affirming the constitutional right to privacy. The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that gays should be able to marry. The Appeals Court ruled that the US military could not detain American citizen Jose Padilla as an "enemy combatant", and in an even more significant decision, found that all 600 detainees at Guantanamo Bay should be granted access to lawyers.

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So basically this was an essay that liberals should not give up hope? Conservatism is bad, liberlism is good. Riots and coup d'etats in third world democracies is good and should be celebrated. Glad we cleared that up.

Out of curiosity, would people here support rioting in the street until Bush steps down? This is an honest curiosity question.

posted 01-02-2004 12:53 PM            

The interpretation of liberal verses conservative in a black and white way is skewed and nuerotic.

This piece recognized the power of citizens and peoples around the world to express their wills over those who would disempower them and the right to demonstrate in democratic countries is respected by all.

Rallies and protests in America are a civil right. They influenced much historical legislation and created great movements to forward social causes from the suffragette movement through civil rights and anti war movements. Nothing is wrong with that at all.
It is part of the democratic process itself. Mobilizing public sentiment and voting power has always been a contributor to change in a democracy. Rebellions, like storming the Bastille in the great French Revolution and the American Revolution battles themselves emerge from the people bonding in unity to create a more just society in protest to the unjust ruling of monarchs and elites. The very foundation of our Constituional principles rely on the participation and active voice of the people.

"Riots" did not and were not the reality in world wide protests this past year. The voice of the people was heard in Bolivia, and that was good. Democratic countries allow for protest and Bush himself even said he valued that. Protests are a part of democracy not a disrespect of it. Fame has nothing to do with it. How weird.

Black and white thinking in interpretation of this piece is wrong thinking.

Not all corporations devalue workers and pollute, but many do, around the world, our corporations. It is not the ethical ones that people complain about. To assume that this writer or those who watch the corporations and hold them to ethical standards, are simply anti-corporation across the board is to interpret from ignorance.

Celebrities have money, money talks. They put their talents and money to political use and further their social causes. Billionaires are doing it, too! She didn't even mention that as a positive step for social and political change!

Millions of books sold are not being bought by the writers of the books. There is a large choir and the statistics prove it.

Treatment for drug abuse is more humane than incarceration that costs the citizens great sums of money. Humane treatment of all citizens is a worthy goal and the side effect to reduce public costs is a plus.

Rush Limbaugh's an idiot! He's an example of the hypocrite's creed -- bash others who do what one himself does. Project ones faults onto others! Always a sensible and valid approach to one's credibility. He was righteously outed. Anyone who follows an idiot after proving himself an annoying sliver in the side of intelligent discourse is an idiot who proves him or herself as similar.

bc