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Opinion

The Other Summit

On the day this article is published, I will be leaving for Denver, Colorado. No, I haven't been invited to the economic summit of the G-7 (is it G-8, now that Russia has been admitted?). I'm going to a conference called The Other Economic Summit (TOES).

TOES conferences have been held every year since 1988, always in the city where the G-7 is meeting. (In 1993 it was held in Tokyo.) The first intention of these conferences is to challenge the idea that the leaders of the seven (or eight) richest and most powerful countries have the right to dictate economic policy to the world. The second is to challenge the idea that they have the ability to do so.

The theme of this year's conference is "A World that Works." The implication is that, at present, the world is not working. Of course, this is true. Under the domination of the G-7 we are steadily moving toward cultural destruction, mass starvation and ecocatastrophe. (If you don't know this yet, please learn to read the newspaper more carefully.)

At the alternative conference there will be a different breed of people, people who see things differently, talk differently, look differently, laugh differently and dream differently from the G-7 leaders and the sycophants who surround them. Many will be from the poor countries, or from the poorer classes of the rich countries, or people of color, or indigenous people or people resisting oppression. Many in all these categories will be women.

(Here's an experiment: When you look at the TV and newspaper pictures of the G-7, count how many people there are in any of the above categories, that is, people who are not rich white men.)

When I say these people dream differently, I mean they are dreaming of a world different from the G-7 world, a world held together by something sturdier than sales, soldiers and cynicism.

As the conference title indicates, this year's meeting is not aimed at appealing to the G-7 leaders to do things differently (they won't anyway) but will consist of reports from people who are already doing things differently, people carrying out projects different from those demanded by the G-7 leaders: projects that work, can work or must work.

The two panels that I have organized are on the theme of alternatives to war. The first will include Charles Overby, founder of the Article Nine Society, which seeks to promote the principle of Japan's Peace Constitution around the world. The second will be on antibase movements and will feature reports from representatives of the anti-U.S.-base movements of Okinawa, South Korea, Panama and the Philippines (remember that the Philippine antibase movement "worked" and the U.S. bases were actually kicked out of the country).

I write about these things here because you will never read about them in the mainstream press.

Shukan ST: June 20, 1997

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Opinion The Other Summit By DOUGLAS LUMMIS On the day this article is published, I will be leaving for Denver, Colorado. No, I haven't been invited to the economic summit of the G-7 (is it G-8, now that Russia has been admitted?). I'm going to a conference called The Other Economic Summit (TOES). TOES conferences have been held every year since 1988, always in the city where the G-7 is meeting. (In 1993 it was held in Tokyo.) The first intention of these conferences is to challenge the idea that the leaders of the seven (or eight) richest and most powerful countries have the right to dictate economic policy to the world. The second is to challenge the idea that they have the ability to do so. The theme of this year's conference is "A World that Works." The implication is that, at present, the world is not working. Of course, this is true. Under the domination of the G-7 we are steadily moving toward cultural destruction, mass starvation and ecocatastrophe. (If you don't know this yet, please learn to read the newspaper more carefully.) At the alternative conference there will be a different breed of people, people who see things differently, talk differently, look differently, laugh differently and dream differently from the G-7 leaders and the sycophants who surround them. Many will be from the poor countries, or from the poorer classes of the rich countries, or people of color, or indigenous people or people resisting oppression. Many in all these categories will be women. (Here's an experiment: When you look at the TV and newspaper pictures of the G-7, count how many people there are in any of the above categories, that is, people who are not rich white men.) When I say these people dream differently, I mean they are dreaming of a world different from the G-7 world, a world held together by something sturdier than sales, soldiers and cynicism. As the conference title indicates, this year's meeting is not aimed at appealing to the G-7 leaders to do things differently (they won't anyway) but will consist of reports from people who are already doing things differently, people carrying out projects different from those demanded by the G-7 leaders: projects that work, can work or must work. The two panels that I have organized are on the theme of alternatives to war. The first will include Charles Overby, founder of the Article Nine Society, which seeks to promote the principle of Japan's Peace Constitution around the world. The second will be on antibase movements and will feature reports from representatives of the anti-U.S.-base movements of Okinawa, South Korea, Panama and the Philippines (remember that the Philippine antibase movement "worked" and the U.S. bases were actually kicked out of the country). I write about these things here because you will never read about them in the mainstream press. Shukan ST: June 20, 1997 (C) All rights reserved