Sinister: World trade? Give me Albert Square melons any day.

[Alan Singfield]

[ For people not interested in WTO stuff, there's less heavy stuff at the
bottom ]

PROTESTERS

I think that the concerns of the peaceful protesters are genuinely held,
although this is only a gut feeling since the TV coverage has (predicably)
covered the violence, rather than the actual message the protesters were
trying to deliver. Unless (and this is where the real cynicism comes in)
there is no real message, more a whining "We don't like global capitalism so
we're not going to play - when's my next giro due?"

Capitalism *can* be a force of global democracy; look at what the boycott of
South African apples helped achieve in the 80s and early 90s. We don't need
to force the World Trade Organization to ban the use of child labour in
trainer manufacture, you can find out where your next pair of shoes were
made and choose accordingly.

Perhaps its a middle-class luxury to be able to do so; some people have to
buy the cheapest trainers because they're the only ones they can afford.
This is where the argument for global trade control comes in. But to take a
pragmatic view, even if only those people who could comfortably afford to
bought more ethical goods, the overall amount of suffering would decrease.

VERBOSITY AND PRETENTIOUSNESS ARE LONG WORDS

I'm not like this in real life you know. I only speak in words of less than
one syllable.

VIDEO

To all of you people with those extra tv channels, I hope your eyes go
square and I can get my video fixed for B&S's new year extravaganza. The
tape sticks every few seconds for a minute or so; this meant that when I
recorded Withnail & I  I got the "Reduced Shakespeare Company" version.
Laugh...? I nearly gassed myself.

Lots of love to everyone on the list, you keep me just on the cusp of
sanity.

Spanners.


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