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4 May, 2002
Why activism?

May 1 was Mayday, the international celebration of the solidarity of labour workers. In that spirit, I will pose a few questions.

Did you know that the American corporation United Parcel Service is suing the Canadian government for $230, claiming that Canada Post has unfair advantage in the Canadian postal market? That incomplete sour gas flaring, banned in places like California, is causing spontaneous abortion, neurological damage, and lung disease, in Albertans? That the USA is trying to get Canada’s support for building a new missile defence system that will start another nuclear arms race? That the G8 summit--a meeting of world leaders which occasions decisions that do damage to the lives billions of people across the planet—is being held in Alberta in June?

The word “activism” has the negative connotation of being naïve, stupid, opinionated, and uncool. The U of A newspaper recently mocked activism in its satire issue. This view of activism is rising in response to a rise in activism. Activism is rising because certain organizations are using their rising power to silence opposition and do things which affect the world very negatively. The power that corporations have over mass-broadcast media is the cause of activism’s “uncool” image.

Activists are people who care very strongly about the world. As globalism (the belief that the world benefits as power over the planet’s affairs becomes concentrated in continually fewer private-interest organizations) increases, some people see their well-being as existing beyond their homes, extending into forests, lakes, oceans, economies, and even other cultures. Indeed, few can be laid off and remain indifferent to today’s rise in class division.

Albertan and Canadian activist communities are in a buzz of activity because of the upcoming G8 summit. G8 countries (Canada, Britian, Japan, Italy, France, Germany, Russia, USA) have been making decisions about the planet’s future with no input at all from other individuals and citizens. Thus, the “race to the bottom” (third world nations competing to have the lowest minimum wage, the most slack environmental legislation, and the least workers’ rights, in order to attract the exploitative business of multinational corporations) is increasing.

The G8 is more than an “us vs. them”, “good vs. evil” conflict. G8 protestors are unhappy that world leaders are denying voices to their own citizens. Last year the G8 was in Genoa, Italy. On the summit’s first day, 200,000 protestors marched. That day police shot 23-year-old Carlo Giuliani shot twice in the head, then ran over his body twice with their vehicle. This news spread so fast that the next day saw 300,000 protestors on Genoa’s streets. That night, police raided a school dormitory and beat and arrested 97 people who were then brutally tortured and eventually released without charge. The next day, banners saying “Assassini” (meaning “assassin”) were hung throughout the city. This year the summit takes place in a remote region of Canada, surrounded by a much sparser population.

Activism is not futile. The Multilateral Agreement on Investments, which gave multinational corporations obscene amounts of power, was defeated by activists using the internet. The next few months, keep your eye on the news.

This column is not a vehicle to further my own personal agenda. It is a series of important facts. It may seem as if the ills of corrupt government and irresponsible corporations have been erased in our new millennium. But things are changing; this is not the old days. We have entered an age of corporate despotism and deceptive media. As Jean Baudrillard wrote, "We live in a world where there is more and more information and less and less meaning."

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