Go beyond resisting Iraq war, says Arundhati Roy (WSF 2004)

[Dirk39]

This is the complete speech she held at the World Social Forum on Saturday, I'm sure there's no copyright:

The Hindu
Saturday, Jan 18, 2004

By Arundhati Roy

LAST JANUARY thousands of us from across the world gathered in Porto Allegre in Brazil and declared — reiterated — that "Another World is Possible". A few thousand miles north, in Washington, George Bush and his aides were thinking the same thing.

Our project was the World Social Forum. Theirs — to further what many call The Project for the New American Century.

In the great cities of Europe and America, where a few years ago these things would only have been whispered, now people are openly talking about the good side of Imperialism and the need for a strong Empire to police an unruly world. The new missionaries want order at the cost of justice. Discipline at the cost of dignity. And ascendancy at any price. Occasionally some of us are invited to `debate' the issue on `neutral' platforms provided by the corporate media. Debating Imperialism is a bit like debating the pros and cons of rape. What can we say? That we really miss it?

In any case, New Imperialism is already upon us. It's a remodelled, streamlined version of what we once knew. For the first time in history, a single Empire with an arsenal of weapons that could obliterate the world in an afternoon has complete, unipolar, economic and military hegemony. It uses different weapons to break open different markets. There isn't a country on God's earth that is not caught in the cross hairs of the American cruise missile and the IMF chequebook. Argentina's the model if you want to be the poster-boy of neoliberal capitalism, Iraq if you're the black sheep.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

©Arundhati Roy
source:
http://www.hindu.com/2004/01/18/stories/2004011800181400.htm

It's discussed controversial all over Europe here,esp. her call to support the resistance in Iraq. AFAIK she told an interviewer one day later that she doesn't support violence, but I'm not sure the source.

But: "shut them down" has my full support.

Hello from Germany,
Dirk

[ShaneGR]

1. Bizarre speach, just dripping with Anti-Americanism

I agree with the take on the Bush agenda, but most of this speech is plain old wacky. Take this for example:

The tradition of `turkey pardoning' in the U.S. is a wonderful allegory for New Racism. Every year since 1947, the National Turkey Federation presents the U.S. President with a turkey for Thanksgiving. Every year, in a show of ceremonial magnanimity, the President spares that particular bird (and eats another one). After receiving the presidential pardon, the Chosen One is sent to Frying Pan Park in Virginia to live out its natural life. The rest of the 50 million turkeys raised for Thanksgiving are slaughtered and eaten on Thanksgiving Day. ConAgra Foods, the company that has won the Presidential Turkey contract, says it trains the lucky birds to be sociable, to interact with dignitaries, school children and the press. (Soon they'll even speak English!)

That's how New Racism in the corporate era works.





As John Stewart says, "WAAAHHHHHH?"

[Terwilliger]

4. the truth hurts, dunnit?

[DuctapeFatwa]

5. LOL I thought that part was brilliant.!

Arundhati is definitely no Paula Zahn.

While Americans are accustomed to assume that the planet is the property of the US, who knows what is best for all its holdings thereon, Roy does tend to have a more global perspective.

[burythehatchet]

21. Damn straight man!

Rudi Bakhtiar maybe - but no, not Paula.

[Dirk39]

6. Some Americans call it "wacky", others call it literature...

n/t
Dirk

[cprise]

7. She sure has a sense of humor!

" (Soon they'll even speak English!)"

Hehehehe! I love her...

You should read one of her books.

[alfredo]

8. She comes from a culture that suffered under colonialism. It makes

perfect sense within the context of her culture.

The pardoned turkey is the quisling.

[Q]

11. Wacky?

- If only we had a few Arundhati Roys in our government....then we wouldn't be dripping with corruption and the citizens made to serve the ruling class.

[Karenina]

14. Superb!

:kick:

[RBHam]

15. Dripping with anti-Americanism?

I think its dripping with pro-Americanism. If you associate America with Democracy, that is, and not Imperialism and the dogma of Might Makes Right.

[Sideways]

18. Wacky? This Part Was Startling Brilliant. Wacky? Er Um Cough

Fuck John Stewart he can't hold a candle to Roy. What part of Imperial Empire do you just not get?

Wacky my fucking ass.:crazy:

[KG]

25. wacky? seems like a rather 'level headed' assesment of

what really happening. she is a clear and eloquent voice for the victim of globalization and lives in a country that has suffered for centuries from the effects imperalism.

might explain the 'anti-american' tone of her writing, ya think?

[DuctapeFatwa]

2. Thanks, Dirk! Resisting PNAC is indeed controversial

I join Ms Roy in the hope that people everywhere will overlook the controversy and resist it in the interest of the continuation of human life.

[Dirk39]

9. In a way, her speech was a kind of investigation, because...

there seems to be an atmosphere of seperation at the WSF. Some people stated, the WSF would just be a "blethering", don't know the english word, in german it would be "quasselbude". They just talk and do nothing...
Other militant people seemed to call for violent action.
I think it was very sensitive and intelligent from her, to make the "shut them down" suggestion, instead of discussing the devide.
It's my attitude that everyone who's resisting the war has to support this proposal: to chose "two of the major corporations that are profiting from the destruction of Iraq. We could then list every project they are involved in. We could locate their offices in every city and every country across the world. We could go after them. We could shut them down. It's a question of bringing our collective wisdom and experience of past struggles to bear on a single target. It's a question of the desire to win."

This is something that can be done and it devides those, who really want to change things from those, who just want to talk.
Dirk

[DuctapeFatwa]

10. Mahatir has been doing some very quiet but effective talking to people

about gold and the dinar since the crusade began. He has started pushing gently on the Saudis now, and made sure it got into the western press so they will not be able to shove it under the rug as easily.

[Terwilliger]

3. THIS is a TRUE VOICE for Peace and Social Justice!!!

We need 1000 Arundhati Roys in the Democratic party.

[MasonJar]

12. Ms Roy's works are as beautiful as she is.

She is obviously as lovely inside as out. Her speeches and writings are pure poetry, but she is nonetheless strong and unyielding in her support for what is right and fair. I have always thought her ideas inspirational. If only the people would follow her lead and boycott one or two major corporations world-wide, Bush would fall in an instance. I have heard her say before that a boycott was in the planning stages. Please let it be soon.

[sweetheart]

13. what a brilliant, powerful and eloquent woman.

This is a great speech. She is right. The American government has become dog shit... neocon shit is on my shoes again, and stinking up my car... damn. :)

Peace arundhati roy

Namaste,
-s

[DuctapeFatwa]

16. kick for east coast lunch, west coast wakeup

[donsu]

17. agree with every word she says

people are rising

[tom_paine]

19. Excellent words more poignant for their truth

which shines through like a beacon.

Sad that is has come to this. Sadder that Amerika now stands foresquare with oppressors around the world, except for the ones which we USED to stand with, like Noriega and Hussein, and who would be politically useful to the Imperial Family as enemies.

[IrateCitizen]

20. Ms. Roy truly is a beautiful human being

I consistently find her to be one of the most hopeful, inspiring and interesting figures on the "alternative" world stage today.

Here's a :kick: so others can do what I did with this article -- print it out for the train ride home. :D

[burythehatchet]

22. This really needs broad exposure

hence, the kick

[Terwilliger]

23. it really does

but deaf ears prevail

[burythehatchet]

24. You're right and its not very surprising

The liberal/progressive movement in this country is really at a very early stage. While there are a great number of individuals who have the education, background, and experience to be able to see where the sequence of logic leads, the vast majority of those on the left have yet to understand the Big picture. Sorta like when a self proclaimed progressive declares he loves shopping at WalMart because the prices are so low. :eyes:

I would add that DU has been the forum in which I have come across the greatest number of enlightened minds.

Personally I believe we're in a sort of race. The Empire, as Arundhati calls it knows the plan, and is entrenched in power. Our side is basically asleep because we simply can't believe that things could be as some who warn us claim they are. People like Arundhati are like parents who are standing in the door of their kids' room pleading for them to wake up. But the pull and attraction of slumber and a warm comforter are too comforting to get out of bed.

We know that eventually the kid will get out of bed. The real question is will the bus have already come and gone?

[Moderator]

26. Dirk 39

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
news source.

Thank you


DU Moderator