QUEBEC CRACKPOTS

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

>Andrew Flood wrote:
>
>>   Besides, not everyone can travel the world to follow &
>>  >protest international meetings of capital -- only activists with
>>  >either lots of money or lots of time can.
>>
>>  Really this is the worst form of reactionary crap.  I was asked
>>  about this fictional group of jet setting protesters by German
>>  TV in Prague while in was in the midst of several hundred East
>>  European youth who earned 200 dollars a month.  There are
>>  very, very few protesters that have been to more then a
>>  copule of the demos.
>
>I agree with Andrew. I expect to hear this crap from journalists, but
>not from Yoshie. I've had more than a couple journalists ask me how
>these big anti-capitalist actions are funded and I keep telling them
>that they are mostly funded out of pocket. All of the activists I know
>who went to Quebec City paid for their travel out of pocket. A
>journalist from the Montreal Gazette asked me about reports that
>protesters had been seen asking for receipts at nice restaurants and I
>told him that there was possibly a few NGO types there on expense
>accounts, but more likely these were underlings at the Summit who were
>doing tourist stuff. I asked Soren Ambrose from 50 Years Enough about
>this last night and he told me that most of the NGO folks had to fund
>themselves to get to Quebec City.
>
>The British tabloids are saying this week that the American Black Bloc
>is jetting over to London to help wreak havoc on May Day. This is an
>utter lie of course, which makes it immensely funny. Perhaps if Prince
>Charles or George Soros sent us some money...
>
><< Chuck0 >>

As I said, those who have little money have to compensate by 
sacrificing a lot of time.  Activism takes resources -- either money 
or time is necessary (among other things).  The farther away sites of 
protests are, the more money or time it takes to get there.  The 
possibility of getting arrested & spending some time in a jail far 
away from home is not a risk that many people can easily undertake, I 
think, due to the lack of money or time.  There is no denying that 
different forms of activism cost different amounts of money or time 
or both.

Yoshie