What s all the fuss about? – Jem Bendell
A Letter to Bystanders of the Emerging Real Democracy Movement.
What was all the fuss about at Seattle, then Washington, now Prague and last May Day? What are people getting so wound up over? Aren t things getting better - after all we haven t had a world war for over 50 years, economies are booming with the interne, and most countries seem to be moving toward electoral democracy, aren t they?
It s true that at the start of this new century we have much about which we can be grateful for, and proud of. World war does now seem unlikely, especially as most of Europe is working together. The human race has conquered once devastating illnesses such as smallpox and polio, increased life expectancy in less-industrialised countries by over a third and witnessed their infant mortality rates fall by more than half in thirty years (UNDP, 1993). Meanwhile new technologies are allowing people to communicate across great distances instantaneously, mi