Weblog
06/02/01 10:34 AM: World Bank in Barcelona
In an attempt to insulate itself from disruptive mass protests akin to those that took place against the WTO in Seattle and against the FTAA in Quebec, the World Bank has canceled its meeting scheduled to take place later this month in Barcelona. Well, the meeting has not been canceled per se, but Barcelona’s hotel industry is going to be very disappointed. The real-life meeting has been scrapped in favor of an internet conference. A World Bank official said that the switch was made because “it is time to take a stand against this kind of threat to free expression.” By “threat to free expression,” he seems to mean large groups of peaceful demonstrators advocating such things as the release of the text of the FTAA agreement to the public which it is supposed to help. Norman Solomon brings up a good point in his column. Some who take it for granted that ‘the revolution will not be televised’ seem to hope that their revolution will be digitized.” There is, to a large extent, a feeling that the internet is the realm of enlightenment and that it is populated mostly by those of a progressive bent. Maybe we are the online majority. Probably not. In any case, it is foolhardy to discount the fact that there might be “other” people out there. The World Bank knows how to use computers, too.
