"We are the United States of Amnesia" - Gore Vidal -- Ah, the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle — a moment of rare clarity in an age otherwise consumed by the gluttonous appetites of corporate power. The streets, once the province of idealistic chatter, erupted in the righteous indignation of those who saw their livelihoods evaporate under th…
"We are the United States of Amnesia" - Gore Vidal -- Ah, the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle — a moment of rare clarity in an age otherwise consumed by the gluttonous appetites of corporate power. The streets, once the province of idealistic chatter, erupted in the righteous indignation of those who saw their livelihoods evaporate under the glossy promises of globalization. In response to their demands for fair trade, workers' rights, and an end to the endless march of corporate tyranny, they were met with the full force of Clinton’s "goon squads"—riot police as loyal to the capitalists as any feudal knight was to his lord.
It was, of course, no accident that those in power, draped in the fashionable rhetoric of progress, could only respond with the blunt instruments of suppression. The administration, ever faithful to its Wall Street patrons, stood ready to crush any challenge to the sacred dogma of free trade. The protesters, those brave enough to voice the unspeakable truth—that the emperor wears no clothes—were rendered into mere disturbances, their grievances dismissed with the ease of a king swatting at flies.
Seattle became a microcosm of the great American paradox: a democracy where dissent is tolerated, provided it does not stray too far from the narrow confines of acceptable opinion—a democracy, as it were, in the service of commerce, not the common good. The spectacle of rubber bullets and tear gas in the name of "globalization" stood as an unforgiving reminder that in the brave new world of the 90s, power wasn’t just corrupt—it was untouchable, insular, and willing to kill for its comfort. And as always, the little man was left to shoulder the consequence
"We are the United States of Amnesia" - Gore Vidal -- Ah, the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle — a moment of rare clarity in an age otherwise consumed by the gluttonous appetites of corporate power. The streets, once the province of idealistic chatter, erupted in the righteous indignation of those who saw their livelihoods evaporate under the glossy promises of globalization. In response to their demands for fair trade, workers' rights, and an end to the endless march of corporate tyranny, they were met with the full force of Clinton’s "goon squads"—riot police as loyal to the capitalists as any feudal knight was to his lord.
It was, of course, no accident that those in power, draped in the fashionable rhetoric of progress, could only respond with the blunt instruments of suppression. The administration, ever faithful to its Wall Street patrons, stood ready to crush any challenge to the sacred dogma of free trade. The protesters, those brave enough to voice the unspeakable truth—that the emperor wears no clothes—were rendered into mere disturbances, their grievances dismissed with the ease of a king swatting at flies.
Seattle became a microcosm of the great American paradox: a democracy where dissent is tolerated, provided it does not stray too far from the narrow confines of acceptable opinion—a democracy, as it were, in the service of commerce, not the common good. The spectacle of rubber bullets and tear gas in the name of "globalization" stood as an unforgiving reminder that in the brave new world of the 90s, power wasn’t just corrupt—it was untouchable, insular, and willing to kill for its comfort. And as always, the little man was left to shoulder the consequence