Posted on 01/20/2007 10:01:02 AM PST by NormsRevenge
NAIROBI, Kenya - More than 80,000 people gathered for an annual anti-capitalist conference in Kenya's capital on Saturday, marching on Nairobi's largest slum to protest global policies they say hurt the poor.
The World Social Forum will be a chance to showcase "Africa and her unbroken history of struggle against foreign domination, colonialism and neocolonialism," according to a statement on the event Web site.
To begin the forum, thousands of protesters marched from Kenya's sprawling Kibera slum to downtown Nairobi. About a third of Nairobi's total population, at least 700,000 people, is crammed into a single square mile in Kibera, with little access to running water and other basic services.
The slum stands in sharp contrast to Nairobi's many elegant homes and hotels. Kibera residents are mostly squatters, with no legal claim on the land even though many families have lived there for generations.
Former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda flagged off the march, telling the crowd: "We must fight poverty together."
Among the participants in the march was Philip Kimani, an 18-year-old homeless man.
"I was working at a car wash and I was told to come here today, I was told I would learn something," he said, wearing a new World Social Forum T-shirt and a New York Yankees cap.
Demonstrators waved placards, many with a portrait of President Bush and the words, "World's Number One Terrorist." Other signs read, "Another world is possible, even for slum dwellers," and "Women are not property."
There also were reminders of Nairobi's serious social problems; dozens of children were seen sniffing glue on the streets and beggars were out looking for money and food.
"I think it's important to show the world that there is a very dynamic world movement that has players in Africa," said Paul Van Wyke, who works for the British charity Oxfam.
The World Social Forum was first held in Brazil in 2001 and coincides each year with the market-friendly World Economic Forum of political and business leaders in Davos, Switzerland.
People dance during the opening of the World Social Forum, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2007 in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. More than 80,000 people gathered for an annual anti-capitalist conference in Kenya's capital on Saturday, hoping to network with other activists and protest global policies they say hurt the poor.(AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)
On the Net:
http://wsf2007.org
http://wsf2007.org/info/about
..
“an open meeting place where groups and movements of civil society opposed to neo-liberalism and a world dominated by capital or by any form of imperialism, but engaged in building a planetary society centred on the human person, come together to pursue their thinking, to debate ideas democratically, formulate proposals, share their experiences freely and network for effective action.”
They're doing exactly what their leaders want, putting the blame elsewhere instead of putting it squarely on them, where it belongs.
Who are their leaders? Does this forum get funding from $oro$?
Africa needs capitalism to solve its economic problems.
"I was working at a car wash and I was told to come here today, I was told I would learn something," he said
Working? Hell, boy, that's fer idjits. Go learn how you can get free stuff.
Well there's the thanks you get when you send $15 billion to fight AIDS and other billions to Africa to spur development.
Screw it, pull the plug on Africa and let them wallow in their misery.
Socialism has always been a populist movement largely because it appeals to envy and greed. Telling someone he's poor because he didn't work hard enough is never a welcome message especially when it's the truth. Telling someone he's poor because someone else stole what is rightfully his and that "social justice" consists of stealing it "back" is a very welcome message. Theft is easier than work. Theft coupled with self-righteousness and the thrill of sanctioned violence is a toxic combination that appeals to the very worst in people, and does it ever appeal!
All this anti-capitalism, anti-American sentiment and I can
just about guarantee that most of those "thousands" haven't got a clue what they are talking about or even why. They are being used and it's sad. But at this point let them sink in the mire of their own making.
Where's Obama?
He needs some Air Jordans and a Che coffee mug to complete his outfit.
'Theft coupled with self-righteousness...'
An excellent summing up. The 'raider' mentality.
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