World reacts to WTO
Seattle protests reminds America of its rights
i i iiii^_____j
It was likely the last great
American protest of the 20th century.
The tortoise shells, tear gas and
looting that filled the streets of
Seattle last week was a beautiful
thing, in some regards. Your take on
the World Trade Organization makes
little difference.
It’s the U.S. freedom of protest,
picketing and the ability to be arrest
ed, carted off to jail in the paddy
wagon and then be released - not tor
tured or forced to sign a confession -
that makes America what it is.
There was a moment in time,
when, swear to God, the big boys of
the WTO, which would include direc
tor Mike Moore and his more than
500 secretaries, must have lost their
minds. America? Trade summit?
Crazy.
Why not a smaller, more militant
land, one that kills those who dare
protest? Or, at the very least, pending
member China, whose numerous
human rights violations against Tibet
make it a worthy champion for trade.
But no. It seems the WTO, which
is based in, of all places, Geneva and
was founded a little less than five
years ago, couldn’t find credence
until it dropped by the United States.
Until itpasses over our eyes, die
world must think, it can’t be real.
Well, the WTO does exist. Now
most everyone knows that. Kids will,
too. Capital of West Virginia^No—
way. But cops in riot gear? You
betcha.
~ From the looks of it, the protest
will have some positive effects. Trade
talks were ground to a halt as a result.
And a larger number of people
noticed first hand the detrimental
effects of pepper gas, which means it
will be tested on fewer animals.
But most importantly, America
rediscovered the power of protest and,
within it, toe power of toe First
Amendment. Sure, there were some
bad seeds out there in die rainy day
sunshine land. In protests, there r
always will be. But the real message
of Seatde is buried in the impact nor
mal citizens can have through the
right to free speech.
Often, people forget it. There isn’1
formal learning of the Constitution
until high school (at least there wasn’'
forme).
Even when we do know it, free
dom of speech takes on this abstract
form without context, except when
baby does a bad, bad thing and yells
“fire” in a crowded theater.
Seatde reminds us of that. Look
at the power of a few thousand peo
ple. The WTO, a powerful organiza
tion, bigger than America, will not
change all its stripes. But it will
change some, which is secondary to
the notion that we, as citizens, finally
know its power.
And whether trade people like it
or not, they will start being held
accountable for their acts. If they
weren’t self-aware of their own con
sequential acuons
before, they are now.
Seattle was the home
to a classic sit-down
strike early in our 20th
century. It helped shaped
modem unions for raU
car, factory and driving
workers aU over
America. Since that
time, and somewhat
before then, protest has
been one of die everyday
man’s most powerful
vehicles for change.
The image of a burn
ing draft card is indelible
in our minds. So is a pic
ture of an aborted fetus.
~The greatness of free
dom of speech is the
spectrum it spans.
For some reason, every v
image of protest or movement strikes 2?
a chord in me and many others. |
Unquestionably, President s
Clinton and many powerful senators, £ j
including those of Nebraska, most | j
likely looked out the windows of I I
their hotels and shook their heads at § ^
the crowds below, unknowingly.
Cynicism has been part of die
American tradition for the last 40 'M_
years or so, specifically in the post
modern era. It is so easy for them,
and us, to lose sight.
Some of the more beautiful things
I see every year at UNL are the Bible
beaters. You know the ones - the ones
that da$ui us all to hell, the ones I
have spoken of before in disdain.
Ido not like them. I do not like
what they do. I hate what they preach
and hate even more their judgment of
others. But I would hot hade diem for
silence. I cannot, unless I, too, want
to be silenced some day.
I’ll keep them here in Lincoln,
along with David Hibler, Ernie
Chambers and every other rabble
rouser I never agreed with that ever
came along. I want to. I have to. Their
spirit is part of the spirit that lived in
Seatde last week and part of the spirit
that has changed our nation, for good
and bad, over the years.
Freedom of speech is the sword
we live and die by in America. As the
century closes, it’s that value above
all else that we should remember.
6 Libre comercio o libre expresiwif
Todos tenemos derecho a protestar
sobre todo cuando suponemos que
vivimos en un pais democratrico en
donde cada quien puede expresar sus
ideas libremente. Sin embargo, los
hechos registrados en Seattle durante
la cumbre de la Organization Mundiai
del Comercio (OMC, en ingles World
Trade Organization o WTO), dan
cuenta de la hipocresia de aquellos
abanderados de la democracia.
Paul Schell, alcalde de Seattle,
desplego todo un operativo policial (al
estilo pelicula) para detener a miles de
manifestantes que protestaban en con
tra de la globalization y el libre com
ercio. Y como si fuera poco, Schell
decreto el toque de queda.
Es ilogico que el pais que pro
mueve la democracia en todo el
mundo permita situaciones tan
bochomosas como estas. Quienes
protestaban en las calles de Seattle,
solo buscaban que sus voces fiieran
escuchadas por los dirigentes de 135
miembro parses en la OMC.
Se preguntaban dichosjmanifes
tantes si es con el libre corn^io o con
la esclavitud laboral como seenrique
contra de un progreso tecnologico y
economico que se quiere implantar a
costa de la destruccidodel medio
ambiente y, por ultimo, pedian soli
daridad economica con los paises mas
pobres del mundo. ^
La portesta civil debe ser entendi
da como uno de los aspeetbs que car
acteriza a las sociedades democraticas.
Es un recurso que los ciudadanos uti
lizamos para exigir y defender nue
stros derechos, cuando se restringe
este recurso la democracia se debilita y
la sociedad retrocede.
Asi, pues, mientras en Seattle la
OMC hablaba del libre comercio, en
las calles la policia violaba la libertad
de expresion de manifestantes que
defendian su derecho a tener un medio
ambiente limpio, a no ser esclavizados
en sus sitios de trabajo y a tener mejor
calidad de vida.
Si lo que mas importa a los lideres
aei munao es
buscar mecan
ismos (como
el libre comer
cio)paraenr
riquecer a los
propietarios de
las corpora
ciones multi
nacionales,
entonces
vamos a tener
que protestar
hastaser
escuchados por
estos seudo
democratas,
que solo oyen
cuando estan
buscando
votos.
Con la
protesta se esta
ba exigiendo
una sociedad
mas justay
equitativa, y no
que se violen
tarari los dere
chos civiles
consagrados en
la constitucion.
Samuel McKewon is a junior news editorial and
political science major,
sports editor and Daily Nebraskan columnist
Horacio Perez-Henao is a modem language and liter
atures graduate student and a Daily Nebraskan guest
columnist.
Corn and football
Letter lists top eight reasons to go to UNL
I '' 1
Dear Younger Sister Amy,
I realize that you are going to
graduate in May, and although this
makes me feel extremely old, it also
makes me wickedly proud. After all,
you and I both know that in our part
of the state, a high school diploma
may not be hanging on everyone’s
wall. So, congrats to you.
There is one little detail about
your graduation that has been bother
ing me, though. It just doesn’t sit well
with me, you know? It’s the fact that
you might not go to college next fall.
Now, I realize that not everyone -
goes right into higher education
immediately after graduating, and
that’s fine for them. They can go and
get a real job like the world-ready
and established people they are.
But people like you and me, peo
pie who laugh obnoxiously when we
hear file word “work,” must find
something else to do. Some other
way to delay the onset of the
inevitable.
I’ve got file answer, honey. It’s
called college.
Yes, indeed, the world of over
priced textbooks, freshmen keggers
and filibustering professors is the
only one for you. (Except for the
freshmen keggers part. You’re too
young.) It’s been the only one for me
for the last, uh, “few” years, and I
wouldn’t have wanted it any other
way.
And here’s the real kicker -1
wouldn’t have wanted it anywhere
but dear ol’ Nebraska U. Sure I want
ed nothing more in high school than
to go to CU, but back then, I was
young and stupid. So here I am in
Lincoln, old and wise, and I want you
to join me.
. I figured you’d need some con
-vincing as to why you should even
bother applying, to our second-tier
(yeah, baby, movin’ on up) institu
tion, so now I’m going to sway you.
The following are the...
TOP EIGHT (I couldn’t quite
think often) REASONS WHY YOU,
AMY “SPUD” REITZ, SHOULD
GO TO SCHOOL AT NU:
8. We’ve got “com” in our mascot
title.
I know you appreciate this. Can
you think of any other school that has
a vegetable in its title? I didn’t think
so.
7. Your RA may just turn out to
be an arsonist
Isn’t that exciting? Who better to
teach you how to land in jail than
your Resident Assistant?
Unfortunately, not everyone who
assumes this position is as freakishly
entertaining as that (i.e. me), but the
majority of diem are thoroughly nuts,
so I know you'd have some fun as a
dormie.
6. We destroy our landscaping on
a regular basis only to make our cam
pus more beautiful.
Hmm. Maybe that doesn’t sound
so inviting. But where else are you
going to find a huge asphalt rectan
gle smack-dab in die middle of one
of the most beautiful gardens on
campus? Right here, baby.
5. We’ve got a tractor-testing
track.
I’ve got three words for your East
Campus rocks. It has cows. It has
«—-7T
The point is, my dear,
that you should go to college.
com. It has wildlife. And it’s got “the
track,” the only one of its kind. (You
don’t have to tell me you’re excited. I
know.)
4. Football.
Once you get here you’ll either
love it or hate it. Chances are you’ll
love it, and why not? You can wear
com on your head and look normal
here because of football.
3. There are as many students
here as there are citizens of North
Platte.
Yes, this may sound daunting at
fust, but it just means that you’ll
immediately feel at home here, even
though your house most likely won’t
be next to a cornfield, which is
indeed a minor disappointment. But
with 25,000 people your age around,
you’re bound to meet a few that ya
like.
2. We’ve got two mascots out
there representin’.
How many schools are important
enough to need two abnormally large
foam/vinyl characters dancing and
crowd-rousing out on the field? Just
one, baby, just one.
1. I’m here.
Reason enough for anyone.
Are you convinced yet? Are you
just itching to fill out that applica
tion? I should hope so. You’ve got the
inside goods now. Privileged infor
mation.
The point is, my dear, that you
should go to college.
Please don’t miss out on the best
four (or maybe five or six) years of
your life. Life at college is an oppor
tunity that’s just too fun to pass up.
So put on your comhead, grab the
typewriter, fill out an application and
send that puppy in. You’U thank your
old and wise big sister in the end.
(But don’t worry. I won’t say, “I
told you so.” I’ll just cheer extra
loudly at your next graduation.)
Erin Reitz is a senior theater performance major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist.