Nathan, I've got to join Jeff's team on this again. Here's my nightmare deja vu: that language is EXACTLY the babble spoken 5 years ago when the 50th anniversary of the World Bank evoked massive popular consciousness and protest. But the sharpies in Washington (a different set, then) also went into email-type discussion sessions mainly with each other, and also generated about about 10 extremely progressive reforms for the WB, and claimed precisely -- same language, you wouldn't believe it -- that "if the WB actually adopted our reforms, it would have to shut down." But in reality, any attempt by movement people to actually put the "shut down" (or defund) demand squarely on the table got suffocated in this reformist babble. I remember Kevin Danaher of Global Exchange advancing the WB Bond Boycott idea to a 50 Years Meeting for the first time back in 1995, with his multicoloured literature at that (but he wasn't even given a platform, he raised the strategy/tactic from the floor in a packed workshop session, to great enthusiasm). Indeed there was just no space on the plenary -- organised by Inside-Beltwayers -- until around the 1998 50 Years parallel meeting of the WB/IMF, when finally some tentative calls for Nix It were made. So as an international movement, we were effectively set back 5 years, just twiddling thumbs calling for same old same old environment, gender, transparency and participation reforms. We got some. We also got more brutal neoliberal economics.
But now it really is time to talk straight to comrades across this growing global movement. Inside-Beltway sharpies--even extremely impressive comrades at Nader's office--have got to remember that. People get turned off if they are given bizarre messages about reforming those monsters, when in their gut and with their analysis, every activist knows it's time to blow off the WTO/WB/IMF.
Yours, Patrick Patrick Bond (Wits University Graduate School of Public and Development Management) home: 51 Somerset Road, Kensington 2094, Johannesburg office: 22 Gordon Building, Wits University Parktown Campus mailing address: PO Box 601 WITS 2050 phones: (h) (2711) 614-8088; (o) 488-5917; fax 484-2729 emails: (h) pbond at wn.apc.org; (o) bondp at zeus.mgmt.wits.ac.za