Prattle in Seattle: The WTO Quiz
Match your favorite WTO protest pundits with their quotable quips
March-April 2000
by Craig Cox
If the World Trade Organization battle in Seattle proved anything, it clearly separated the namby-pamby politically correct Third World apologist whiners from the progress at any price, free-enterprise-forever, iron-willed, global capitalist tools. See if you can match the astute observers of current affairs (A-H) with their observations (1-8).
RELATED CONTENT
A. William Grieder/The Nation; B. John Vidal (mistakenly issued a delegate pass, in) In These Times; C. From the editors of Storm Warning; D. Matthew Stadler/The Stranger; E. Walter Truett Anderson/Pacific News Service; F. Debra Goldman/Adweek; G. Nancy Drew/The Stranger; H. Charles Krauthammer/Time
1. “The anti-globalism movement now flexing its muscles in Seattle itself represents a form of globalism.”
2. “[Our] ‘I Am a Dangerous Terrorist’ WTO baseball caps are a big hit. . . . However, proud owners of the soon-to-be-collectibles might want to take note of the label: Made in Bangladesh. Yikes.”
3. “In one of those moments that leave you wondering where their heads are, the WTO Director-General Mike Moore said: ‘This city, what a magnificent place. If only the world could be like Seattle.’ We agree. If the rest of the world greets the attempts of the imperialists to push institutions and policies like the WTO, MAI, IMF, etc. like was done in Seattle, the future of the WTO will be very dim to say the least.”
4. “The WTO, I had assumed, was already a doomed institution. It lacks the legal authority to police the domain it grandiosely claims to govern. Nor are its founding sponsors going to allow genuine reform, since accepting the legitimacy of labor and environmental rights, social obligations and national sovereignty would destroy the WTO’s usefulness for global business and finance.”