The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
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On the topic of globalisation, and 'free trade', you'll notice the politicians and businessmen don't really believe in free trade, they just use the phrase as camoflage for selfish and exploitative practices. For example, a free market would allow free movement of workers as well as goods. A true free market would mean removal of border controls, and it would allow asylum seekers and those searching for a better life to work in Britain without restriction. A true Free Market would mean freedom to choose between fair produce and exploited produce - at the moment it is impossible to find out if your clothes are made in a sweatshop, or by a decent business. A free market would need good labelling, and freely available information about companies like Nestle, Nike etc. And what I think is a really sad indictment of Britain is the fact that such a fuss has been made over the GM debate. Everyone is talking about how 'consumer power' led to the supermarkets banning GM produce. These consumer pressure groups have spouted all sorts of stuff about health risks TO THE BRITISH PUBLIC, a selfish concern when you take into account other GM concerns (such as the effect on the Third World). And where is consumer power against Nike or Nestle or Shell? They're a hell of a lot more of a hate symbol to me than GM. GM foods are a nice safe outlet for anti-capitalists to vent their frustration at without upsetting the status quo too much, which is why the media have focussed on it. Anyway, i dunno if this concerns Iraq much (if at all), so sorry to anyone who didn't want this in their mailbox. Ronan Anne Der wrote: > > Hello: A few weeks ago I attended a seminar, on social mobilisation, with a > guest from Medecins Sans Frontieres--Toronto Canada office. Tommi had been > in Rwanda when General Romeo Dallaire--a member of the Canadian > military--was supervising the failed UN peace keeping effort. General > Dallaire, toward his own healing process, has spoken publically about the > depression and trauma he suffered following his failed 'mission' in Rwanda. > This is very significant because he is a high-ranking solider. > > A topic I wanted to raise at this seminar, but did not have the chance to, > was the idea of 'humanitarian values in a globalizing world'. What would be > the form and substance of these values? Comments and discussion on this > topic are very welcome. > > There is a link here with the Iraqi crisis because it seems to me Rwanda, > Iraq, Sierra Leonne, Palestinian-Israeli land issues--all fall within the > purview of the question formulated. > > Thanks. I look forward to responses from members on the discussion list. > > Anne Ying Der > Vancouver, BC, Canada > > ________________________________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com > > -- > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq > For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk > Full details of CASI's various lists can be found on the CASI website: > http://welcome.to/casi -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk Full details of CASI's various lists can be found on the CASI website: http://welcome.to/casi