'RESPECT'
Two weeks ago, 30,000 people took to Melbourne�s streets in a peaceful protest against global warming - their efforts were ignored. A few months ago, over 100,000 workers peacefully marched through Melbourne to protest against the new Workplace �Choices� legislation - they were ignored, denigrated and humiliated in the media. A few years ago, hundreds of thousands peacefully took to the streets to promote reconciliation between indigenous and non indigenous Australians � their efforts have been subverted by the Howard government. During the Commonwealth Games, a few hundred Aboriginal activists and their supporters peacefully occupied a small corner of Kings Domain asking that a permanent memorial be erected to acknowledge Melbourne�s indigenous past - those taking part in the occupation were humiliated, denigrated and evicted.
On Saturday about 5,000 people took to Melbourne�s streets in a lively and good natured protest to protest against an economic system that is trashing the world and threatening the very existence of the human race. A few dozen protestors involvement in skirmishes with the police caused moral indignation, media hysteria, police pandemonium and political posturing and point scoring.
The fourth estate, frothing at the mouth about the �bloody disgrace� on the streets, has gone into overdrive blaming �costumed anarchists� and �interstate and European troublemakers� for the troubles, in accounts that mimic the response of the Victorian authorities 152 years ago that blamed the Eureka rebellion on �foreigners, armed ruffians and anarchists�.
It is a pity that the politicians and the fourth estate�s response to a few dozen demonstrators skirmishing with police and trashing the streets, does not match their response to the concerns of the hundreds of thousands who regularly take to the streets in peaceful and orderly demonstrations.
It is a pity the moral turpitude of the G20 meeting - a gathering that could not even come to an agreement to decrease greenhouse emissions when the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund stated that global warming could be devastating and the time for argument was now past � does not get the political and media coverage as a few dozen troublesome protestors.
Maybe in 150 years time, those protestors who took on the G7, the G8 and the G20 in the streets during the early 21st century, and forced the world to look at itself and begin the necessary economic and political adjustments to prevent 30,000 children dying needlessly every day and the human race tearing itself apart as it tried to survive global warming, the �costumed anarchists� and the �interstate and European troublemakers� will be accorded the same respect the �foreigners, armed ruffians and anarchists� involved in the Eureka rebellion were accorded during the 150th Eureka celebrations held in Australia in 2004.
# PERSONAL OBSERVATION
The G20 participants were happily ensconced in the Grand Hyatt, deciding the economic fate of the world. How many children would live, how many would die? Who would be rich, who would be poor? - Their retinue attending to their every need.
Outside it was a different story � barricades, police with batons, police on horseback, police in riot gear, the Dog Squad and the sons of God (the Special Operations Group) made up the rear. The protestors were noisy, but good natured; they swarmed up to the barricades, some shouted, others howled, some beat drums, some danced, the White brigade taking advantage of the anonymity of their white boiler suits and white masks, assaulted the barricades, 1, 2, gave way, the rest held firm. The White brigade broke up into smaller groups, grouped and regrouped, impotently lashing out at the corporate world.
One young man, iron pipe in hand, surrounded by a sea of cameras, runs towards a bank, hits the window, nothing, he draws back, the cameras part, and runs towards the window one more time, the cameras recording every millisecond of his attack on the physical manifestations of globalisation. He draws back into the crowd, trying to disappear in the receding tide of humanity. The White brigade impotently flails the surface of the social relationship that feeds the corporate world.
Peter Costello needs the White brigade to justify the government�s policies, the police need them to justify their brutality, and the media needs them to justify their promotion of their masters� voice. The people watch them on the TV screen, puzzled, angry, confused, taking their lead from Peter Costello, the police and the fourth estate. The social relationship that underlies the capitalist system is reinforced, the scratches made by the White brigade are painted over, and the spectacle is over for one more day; business as usual on Monday.