Break the World Bank street party - Monday 12th November

by . Wed Oct 31, 2007 19:16

Grassroots Dissent Principles

What kind of world do we want?

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We want a society where:

- People have control over their own lives

- People have control over their own activities

- People work as equals

and we reject whatever systems and actions impede this.

We want how we work together to reflect what we are working towards.

We argue for a sustainable environmental, economic and social

system, agreed by the people of the planet.

Methods of struggle

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We affirm direct democracy in opposition to lobbying and parliamentary

politics.

We advocate forms of resistance which maximise respect for life and

oppressed people's rights, as well as the construction of bottom-up

alternatives to global capitalism.

We advocate direct action, solidarity, civil disobedience and creative

resistance.

How we work together

-----------------------------

Grassroots Dissent is a decentralised network of diverse groups and

individuals, which respects different ways of organising, in keeping with

the principles of direct democracy and bottom-up organisation.

We will strive to be as open, inclusive and accessible as possible,

respecting the different capacities, skills and creativity that people

bring to the struggle for real equality, justice and sustainability.

In line with these principles, we will not tolerate aggression,

discrimination or disempowerment within the network.

We commit to learning from all those struggling for equality and against oppression to strengthen our understanding of the world and our own activities.

by get out of jail free card Wed Oct 31, 2007 22:34

I'm sure the different anti-capitalist groups, parties, assemblies & so forth as well as the human rights, human development, faith based & ecology types aren't going to pass up this opportunity to articulate opposition to the current global capitalist & banking system.

But I don't know any lists people can join to share info, ideas, tactics, experiences of previous anti-World Bank gigs. = where are they?

by William Wed Oct 31, 2007 23:55

The poster further up the page was a work-in-progress. This is the updated version of the poster. Click through to see a high-res JPEG (750k), which should be good enough for printing, possibly even at A3.
Break the World Bank!
Trivia: the official mascot of Monopoly (the fatcat banker in this poster) is Rich Uncle Pennybags. He was renamed Mr. Monopoly in 1998.

A4 JPEG version of poster

by old timer Fri Nov 02, 2007 00:07

In previous years the commentariat on this site would usually treat the relaunch of various fronts like Globalise Resistance or Another Europe is Possible with the well deserved and justified criticism, that such organisations had absolutely no serious foundation whatsoever beyond their name or "brand" being wheeled out at opportune moments by individuals involved in other groups, who used these fronts merely as a vehicle to get people involved in other things. A prime example of this was GR suddenly springing back to life in the wake of the Mayday 2004 happenings with a meeting in the Tap Pub on North King St, and vanishing as suddenly as it had reappeared, never to be seen again.

So - can you see where this comment is going? in relation to the above event, coinciding with the arrival of a Three (or Two) Letter Acronym bad guy coming into town... an organisation which doesnt exist beyond an old name or hold meetings or do anything whatsoever suddenly reappearing from the mist? Its difficult not to be cynical.

(aside from the argument that people's time and resources go into organising things like this, when there are other struggles unfinished here that will still be going on long after the wb have left, incl. shannon and rossport. And no its not as simple as "we can fight them all", when there is limited amounts of people involved and committed, it is better to stay focused on struggles that can have an impact, rather than trying to resurrect the "anti-globalisation" summit spectaculars for brief periods of time and then disappear into smoke. This protest is a spectacular waste of time and energy, e.g. designing posters like the above instead of for rossport on the 9th, or holding organising meetings when shannon is still happening, etc etc...)

by soundmigration Fri Nov 02, 2007 14:31

eerrm its not one or the other my friend and most of those pulling this together will be at rossport this wknd too. i'd even go as far to say that there are tremdous overlaps in poster design too...multi taskin eh? sorry dont have longer to respond but cheers for the cynical advice....next time your organsing a meeting bout rossport or shannon let us know!!

by Wednesday Thu Nov 08, 2007 13:53

Yes there are limited numbers to protest and organise for the multitude of campaigns and issues going on in Ireland and on a global level. These issues do not stand alone they are all interconnected. Many of the people putting time and effort into this event are involved in Shannon and Rossport among other campaigns. Most of them were at the film last night about Shannon etc. A number fo them are getting on that bus to Ropssport this evening. They are members of many groups etc. and attend a multitude of meetings and events going on in Dublin, often running from one to the other. It is unfortunate that this is the case but there is not a very large group of people out there willing to give that sort of time a dedication.

As for the comment that such an event is taking away form campaigns such as Shanon and Rossport I am sure some may suggest that Rossport took a huge nuber of people, public support and the public eye away from Shannon and became the new flavour of the month. This is in no way a criticism of the campaign in Rossport. It is something many of us are guilty of. I heard this referred to as 'campaign surfing'. That is what is more damaging. It is people forsaking one campaign for another, not joining the dots of the bigger picture and not realising the importance of and the possibility of them working parallel to each other to create the public outcry, to create the mass dissent, the revolution or whatever it is that the people involved in various campiagns or groups are looking for through their involvement.

by picnicker Mon Nov 12, 2007 19:29

Any reports from this, please? Thanks