This week, the World Trade Organization (WTO) met in Montreal to discuss issues concerning Globalization and international trade. This group of business people and politicians are trying to create a much smaller and far more interconnected world.
To many within the political Left, this is tantamount to a takeover of the world by big business, and in some respects, they are probably right. However; if they were to take the time to think about things, big business has already taken over the world.
It isn’t the Unions and their do-nothing supporters who create the wealth of the world, or the new products and innovations which make this a better world for all of us. It is mostly big business.
But the term big business is also a red-herring. To the political Lefties, any successful business is suspect and a target. Even a little business such as the one operated by my wife and myself.
If you are in business, and more than just the owner of a corner store, and are seen to be doing business with the big boys, you’re painted by the same brush.
The next time a political Lefty needs medical treatment and a Cat Scan or MRI, he/she should know that the technology and manufacture of the vital equipment comes from the likes of General Electric Company, one of the world’s largest enterprises.
The next time a political Lefty needs drug therapy of any kind, he/she should know that the drug they will take which will make them better, if not indeed save their lives was researched, developed and produced by one of the world’s massive multinational pharmaceutical companies.
Even the food we eat, and the clothing we wear, are made affordable because of “big business” industry, marketing and retailing, including the transport of every product we consume; from the cars we drive, to the trucks we use for transport, to the railway cars and the planes in which we fly.
The political Lefties are not entirely wrong in their critique and criticism of the globalization of big business, and how it affects our national social structures. No one gets to vote for the leader of the corporate world, other perhaps, than shareholders.
But EVERYONE should get to vote for their political leaders who decide upon the nation’s greater economic, environmental, and social issues.
I support some of the concerns of the political Left. But very few, especially when their brand of demonstration includes violence and property destruction.
Knowing that a demonstration of political Lefties is going to lead to violence and property destruction, is like predicting that the sun will rise in the morning. You just know it will.
At this week’s anti-WTO demonstration in Montreal, there was the expected violence, not perhaps as bad as it sometimes gets, but any level of violence and destruction is always bad and too much to be acceptable at any level.
One of the Lefty organizers, went on record as saying that there is really nothing wrong with property destruction as a legitimate means of demonstrating, as long as no one gets hurt.
Read that as: “As long as one of the demonstrators don’t get hurt”. This is a statement I have heard many times from Lefty organizers including “respected” left wing politicians from the NDP.
If these Lefties really believe that property destruction is a legitimate expression of dissent, then I would guess they would have no problem if someone from the world of big business would pay their homes a visit and demolish them. After-all, if property destruction is acceptable for one side; it must be acceptable for both sides.
I listened for a few minutes to Montreal Radio station CJAD while the talk show hosts debated whether Montreal should ever host another international event such as a meeting of the WTO, and in true to CJAD form, the answer was no.
To the hosts: the violence and the cost of the violence wasn’t worth having international meetings in Montreal. How utterly stupid of them. But then again, CJAD Radio isn’t the station that it has become because of their brains, bravery or strength of conviction.
If the THUGS make things difficult to hold an important, responsible and legal event such as a WTO meeting through intimidation and violence, the CJAD solution is to run away and punish the non-perpetrators of violence by denying a legitimate group the right to meet, rewarding the thugs.
Thank God these CJAD pin-heads run a radio station and not a government.
But perhaps I am too harsh on CJAD, since they are just one of a plethora of Lefty appeasing media which would rather succumb to thugs, than to do or say what is right. And that’s a real problem.
Back to the demonstrators:
Most of them are very young with limited work experience and very little life maturity.
Many of them are there to rebel against everything and anything.
Many of them just hate business of any kind.
Many of them are political pariahs who wave Palestinian flags or the old Soviet banner.
Many of them wear bandanas or full face balaclavas to disguise their identity.
Many of them come from middle class to privileged families who have never had to want for anything. Where demonstrating against the “man” somehow proves their social worth.
Many of them just want to belong to a movement where they find comradery.
Many of them really do care and have reasoned arguments and genuine concerns. But they don’t riot.
And many of them are just “professional” agitators who demonstrate because of the sense of power they enjoy, the mayhem they create, and the rush of leadership.
But the incontestable reality is: The demonstrators are people who have generally never created any wealth or jobs, while the targets of the demonstrators are the individuals who create virtually all the wealth, most of the jobs, and the products and services which make our lives all that much better.
No city should feel so intimidated, as to not want to host a WTO type meeting. And all WTO participants should chip in to cover all the costs for security, including the “initial” payment for damages. This way, cities will be less reluctant to host meetings.
The demonstrators should be permitted to demonstrate all they want to. HOWEVER; anyone who resorts to violence of any kind, should be arrested, charged, tried, jailed, and upon release, made to pay full restitution for any and all damages caused because of their actions. Directly or indirectly.
Both sides have a right to meet and express themselves. But neither side has the right to intimidate or impede the other. This means the Lefties.
Big business for all that they are painted as evil by the Lefties, never impede the rights of the demonstrators. A fact far too often lost on the media.
One Comment
From what you have written, I have the impression that you really want to run. If you don’t, you will always wonder if you should have. I say go for it, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Whether you win or lose, if you don’t try, you are defeated already.
Best wishes, John
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