Free Republic

Elizabeth Day visits the European Social Forum, a global gathering for Left-wing activists, and discovers a world full of alarming contradictionsJon is standing in front of a large, shiny poster calling for the abolition of tax havens. "Generating money for social justice and development," the poster screams in heavy black type. Jon is ardent about anti-capitalism. The words "participatory budgeting" make his eyes shine as if describing the first flush of passion with a nubile young lover. "We are looking at economic alternatives to the destructive capitalist forces," says Jon happily, pausing to take a drag on a roll-up cigarette....