Sunday, April 25, 2004

Unhappy Birthday Party for IMF & World Bank

Saturday's World Bank/IMF protest in DC was a day ahead of the massive March for Women's Lives protest. It was overshadowed, but I still saw quite a few (100?) straggling protesters on the streets of downtown at 5 pm or so. The important thing to realize as a citizen of the United States is that your tax money goes to propping up these institutions, so you should figure out what the heck they're all about. Most network tv only talks about the 'radical and violent protesters', but they don't talk about the radical and violent policies of the World Bank and the IMF.

The job of these institutions, as far as I know, is to promote global trade, a healthy global economy, healthier economies of all countries (presumably to promote democracy and capitalism and decrease extremism and terrorism and communism), and to decrease world poverty. Why, then, would these two institutions hold all of their meetings in secret? Sounds a little odd, don't you think? If you need answers, read The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast. You'll finally realize why these kids/protesters are so pissed-off.