Posted on 05/29/2002 5:13:31 PM PDT by kattracks
Dallas (CNSNews.com) - Anti-corporate protesters at ExxonMobil Corporation's annual shareholder meeting in Dallas Wednesday packed up and left after finding themselves outnumbered by free market demonstrators.
The anti-corporate protesters began arguing among themselves about how best to deal with the large number of free market demonstrators carrying banners such as "Yankee Rent a Mob Go Home," "Capitalism Rocks" and Greenpeace Hates America." They quickly decided to pack up and leave.
"I think we rattled them. They're packing up their bags and they're leaving," stated Niger Innis of the Congress on Racial Equality, one of the free market groups conducting a counter-demonstration. "Victory is sweet," he added.
After determining that their message was not being heard over the free market promoters, Scott Crow of the group United People Resisting Oppression & Racism (UPROR) decided to call it a day. With a chant of "Gone for now, but never forever," a woman in a "Proud to be a Bohemian" t-shirt retreated and other anti corporate protesters began to leave.
"The [anti-corporate] protesters are anti-American and anti-democracy, they are not just anti-ExxonMobil," stated Peggy Venable, the Texas State Director for the free market group Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE.) "They had anarchist training seminars this past weekend," she added.
Venable said the ExxonMobil protesters are "shipped in from elsewhere," while her group is from Texas. "We're people that work for a living," she said.
Other counter-demonstrators shared the same view. "We don't want environmentalists dictating the way we live," said Jose Muniz. "They want to reestablish socialism, which is what died in Russia. They want to shove it down our throats."
Carol Jones of the Texas branch of CSE carried a sign that read "Hitler Held Mock Trials Too," referring to Tuesday night's mock trial of ExxonMobil in which anti-corporate demonstrators ruled the corporate giant "guilty" for "crimes against humanity" and ordered the company's charter revoked.
The free marketers also held up signs saying the following: "Greens Suck," "Mother Nature Guilty of Climate Change," "Get Back in Your SUV & Drive Home," "Choose Capitalism Over Eco-Socialism," "Stop Global Whining," "Oil Employs, Anarchy Destroys," "No Poor Man Passes Out Jobs," "How Much Does Castro Pay You?" and "Greens are Red at Heart."
One ExxonMobil opponent, who would only give his first name, created a stir when he blamed the U.S. for the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"I understand why [terrorists] did it. America has oppressed the rest of the world for 200 years or even before that when they took the land from the Native Americans and killed them, poisoned them and ran them off their land," Luigi shouted over jeers from the counter-demonstration.
Luigi also explained that "global capitalism is destroying the environment and it's destroying the earth. It's destroying the quality of life for everybody other than the upper crusts who are reaping the benefits."
Socialism is the Answer
Luigi believes America must alter its economic system and convert to socialism.
"America is so deeply ingrained in the capitalist ideal. The greed that comes from the attraction of money is what I have a problem with," he said.
Another anti-ExxonMobil protester agreed, telling CNSNews.com, "Corporate profits can't continue to kill people." Tim Harris said "global capitalism" helps "to keep people brainwashed and working for [the wealthy] as long as they possibly can."
Scott Crow, a protest leader, said they were there to "ensure an end to human rights violations across the world" and to hold "corporations accountable."
ExxonMobil chairman Lee Raymond told CNSNews.com that he was unfazed by the protesters. "We operate in over 200 countries around the world and for some reason that is bad," Raymond explained. He said ExxonMobil is a good corporate citizen throughout the world, hiring citizens from the countries in which it operates to satisfy 95 percent of its labor needs.
"If that is what they mean by globalization, then frankly everybody should support it," Raymond said.
See Earlier Story:
Oil Giant 'Guilty' of Crimes against Humanity, Protesters Say (May 29, 2002)
E-mail a news tip to Marc Morano.
Send a Letter to the Editor about this article.
I guess this means I can't play Mario Brothers anymore.
Fantastic FREEP!
Sign suggestion for future counter-freeps:
"Capitalism is what people do when they're free."
This is garbage.
The truth is that in the richest countries water and air pollution is down, species are being restored to the wild, and forests are increasing in size.
Capitalism actually is better for the environment.
The regions of the world most devasted by pollution and destruction of the environment have been those dominated by non-capitalist, dictatorships, communists etc. such as we've seen in eastern Europe and the Arab states.
As usual these anti-capitalists have their facts backwards, and depend on ignorance in order to promote their misguided causes.
Banana added, "All of our gear though is recycled."
Heheh, couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of flaming lunatics.
Hats Off to all of you
Great find,Freepers never cease to amaze me,a vast pool of knowledge.
Kudos to all those regular folks who stood up to counter-protest these anti-freedom idiots -- it's great for once to see such "special interest" groups take their recycled rhetoric home with their tails between their legs.
And Billions.
One would think if they really walked the walk to match the talk they talk, they would give that money directly to feed the poor.
But then, feeding the poor isn't what they really are about, now is it?
Nope, it is about power, and often times (as in the case of the Pew family trusts) it is about a convenient conflict of interest and hamstringing a competitor.
Ain't Marxism grand?
I'm smiling. How's his dad doing these days?
Yeah, they should. But they'd probably invest the entirity of their 401k in one stock -- Can you say Enron? Then, they'd want the rest of us to bail them out.
Yet with all the billions spent to foster Marxism -- like a poor marksman -- they just keep missing the target.
Only if this victory is widely advertised to the average American.
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