Smash the WEF!
people of zurich | 01.01.2007 16:47
demonstration aginst the wef in zurich (2002)
demonstration aginst the wef in zurich (2002)
Smash the Capitalists Meetings!
For years the representatives of capital, their strategists, politicians and propaganda makers meet in the village of Davos, turned into an alpine fortress for the World Economic Forum (WEF). What have these meetings of the past few years achieved? Neither the alpine air or the pretence of charity can have a positive effect on the reduction of daily living standards. In that area, there is absolutely no improvement in sight: war and the dismantling of social structures are proving themselves to be the core of the long-term agenda of the ruling elite.
The WEF 2007 speaks of “The shifting power equation” or “Shaping the Global Agenda”. As always the redistribution of economic and political influence is at the heart of their meetings, problems upon which the ruling class continues to lose their grip. Nevertheless the managers continue to rejoice about their huge profits which were made by exploiting the working population. The annual list of the 200 richest Swiss and the increase of their wealth have shown that the gap between rich and poor continues to grow. This is not only the case in Switzerland, but across the globe.
The attacks on the living and working standards of the working population are a logical consequence of the capitalist system. Cutting back on living standards and mass lay-offs along with increasingly bad working conditions continue to become normality. In states such as Brazil, Russia, India and China (the so-called BRIC-States), the boom in certain economic sectors come with undiminished poverty and millions of people fleeing their homes. Moreover murdered and batonned people are excused as collateral damage, for example in Oaxaca. Arms shipments to conflict zones are not a problem for governments, being that the economy profits from such activity.
In places where capitalist meetings such as the G8 or the WEF take place, more and more military and police protection have to be brought in to protect the representatives of the free market economy from unsatisfied people. At this years WEF those people would include among others employees of public services such as the post or railway, whose job is threatened. However the repression not only targets the political resistance.
Everybody who is forced to flee their home because of war, economic situations, social reasons or any other reasons are hit by massive waves of repression. The conditions determined by the Schengen agreement, the walls on the US and Mexican border or racist and foreigner-hostile campaigns such as the foreigner and asylum law in Switzerland are the rules that count for immigrants.
Plenty of reasons for protest and resistance! In spite of the many walls we must be on the offensive and throw a wrench in the works of the WEF in the upcoming weeks as well as during the WEF.
Zurich Revolutionary Alliance
A few events and mobilizations
· City tour: Finance base Zurich and the resistance against it:
7.1.07 Zurich: 14:00 h, Bürkliplatz
· Event concerning the upcoming G8 summit in Heiligendamm with comrades from the Alliance for a Revolutionary Perspective from Germany and a debate about resistance strategies. Information about upcoming WEF mobilizations
12.1.07 Winterthur: 19:30, Nord-Süd-Haus, Steinbergstrasse 18
13.01.07 Zurich: 19.30, Grüner Saal Volkshaus, Helvetiaplatz
· Event organized by the Students-Network concerning the WEF, mobilizations against it and counter-repression tips.
18.1.07 Zurich: Time and place to be announced.
· Anti-WEF demonstration
WEF, NATO, G8: Attack the warmongers and destructors of the social systems meetings! Overcome capitalism!
27.1.07 Basle: 14:00, Barfüsserplatz
Events in cities such as Zurich, Bern etc: pay attention to announcements and inform yourselves at the different events or go by the bookstore, Kanonengasse 35, 8004 Zurich (at the back at the iron steps), opened every Saturday from 11:00 to 16:00.
And be sure to keep in mind:
· 9/10.02.07: NATO security conference in Munich
· 8-10.06.07: G8 summit in Heiligendamm
What is the World Economic Forum (WEF)?
The WEF was born in 1971 out of the European Management Symposium founded by Klaus Schwab. Its members were not individual people but thousands of international firms paying membership fees to send their representatives to the meetings. Switzerland has the most representatives at the WEF measured by population (over 70). The firms are not ‘self-appointed’ but the victors of the capitalist competition. Their representatives have to make their way up the career-ladder, not concerned with any democratic legitimacy or rules. Not only the many business leaders, but also government representatives as well as the elite of the upper classes, media and culture sections, will tuck themselves into the Davos mountains to try and get the paradoxes within capitalism back on track. In the media they pretend to be the ‘good guys’ who try to heal AIDS etc. But they are not as social as they might seem: billion dollar deals were knowingly made just before the Iraq war and a few years before that PKK leader Oecalan was “sold” to Turkey.
The function of the WEF (and other private clubs for the ruling class) is to straighten out the paradoxes created by capitalist production. Official decisions don’t have to be made at the WEF in contrast to other international summits on government level such as the International Economic Summit or institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank or the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The participants there can lose if the meetings don’t lead to expected results (such as the WTO summit in 1999 in Seattle). In the EU and other regional alliances, interstate structures have to be built up. In the NATO the military sphere has to be administrated. At these meetings the different interests of the capitalist associations clash against each other. Each participant wants to see their interests fulfilled. In spite of all the meetings and discussions there is huge competition between the capitalists. They struggle to get the best out of the redistribution of the world. The private character of the WEF allows them space to concentrate on the joint interests of their class and try to develop strategies so these interests can profit.
More information under :
www.smashwef.ch, www.antiwef-basel.ch, www.aufbau.org, www.indymedia.ch
The internet is however not the only source of information!
For years the representatives of capital, their strategists, politicians and propaganda makers meet in the village of Davos, turned into an alpine fortress for the World Economic Forum (WEF). What have these meetings of the past few years achieved? Neither the alpine air or the pretence of charity can have a positive effect on the reduction of daily living standards. In that area, there is absolutely no improvement in sight: war and the dismantling of social structures are proving themselves to be the core of the long-term agenda of the ruling elite.
The WEF 2007 speaks of “The shifting power equation” or “Shaping the Global Agenda”. As always the redistribution of economic and political influence is at the heart of their meetings, problems upon which the ruling class continues to lose their grip. Nevertheless the managers continue to rejoice about their huge profits which were made by exploiting the working population. The annual list of the 200 richest Swiss and the increase of their wealth have shown that the gap between rich and poor continues to grow. This is not only the case in Switzerland, but across the globe.
The attacks on the living and working standards of the working population are a logical consequence of the capitalist system. Cutting back on living standards and mass lay-offs along with increasingly bad working conditions continue to become normality. In states such as Brazil, Russia, India and China (the so-called BRIC-States), the boom in certain economic sectors come with undiminished poverty and millions of people fleeing their homes. Moreover murdered and batonned people are excused as collateral damage, for example in Oaxaca. Arms shipments to conflict zones are not a problem for governments, being that the economy profits from such activity.
In places where capitalist meetings such as the G8 or the WEF take place, more and more military and police protection have to be brought in to protect the representatives of the free market economy from unsatisfied people. At this years WEF those people would include among others employees of public services such as the post or railway, whose job is threatened. However the repression not only targets the political resistance.
Everybody who is forced to flee their home because of war, economic situations, social reasons or any other reasons are hit by massive waves of repression. The conditions determined by the Schengen agreement, the walls on the US and Mexican border or racist and foreigner-hostile campaigns such as the foreigner and asylum law in Switzerland are the rules that count for immigrants.
Plenty of reasons for protest and resistance! In spite of the many walls we must be on the offensive and throw a wrench in the works of the WEF in the upcoming weeks as well as during the WEF.
Zurich Revolutionary Alliance
A few events and mobilizations
· City tour: Finance base Zurich and the resistance against it:
7.1.07 Zurich: 14:00 h, Bürkliplatz
· Event concerning the upcoming G8 summit in Heiligendamm with comrades from the Alliance for a Revolutionary Perspective from Germany and a debate about resistance strategies. Information about upcoming WEF mobilizations
12.1.07 Winterthur: 19:30, Nord-Süd-Haus, Steinbergstrasse 18
13.01.07 Zurich: 19.30, Grüner Saal Volkshaus, Helvetiaplatz
· Event organized by the Students-Network concerning the WEF, mobilizations against it and counter-repression tips.
18.1.07 Zurich: Time and place to be announced.
· Anti-WEF demonstration
WEF, NATO, G8: Attack the warmongers and destructors of the social systems meetings! Overcome capitalism!
27.1.07 Basle: 14:00, Barfüsserplatz
Events in cities such as Zurich, Bern etc: pay attention to announcements and inform yourselves at the different events or go by the bookstore, Kanonengasse 35, 8004 Zurich (at the back at the iron steps), opened every Saturday from 11:00 to 16:00.
And be sure to keep in mind:
· 9/10.02.07: NATO security conference in Munich
· 8-10.06.07: G8 summit in Heiligendamm
What is the World Economic Forum (WEF)?
The WEF was born in 1971 out of the European Management Symposium founded by Klaus Schwab. Its members were not individual people but thousands of international firms paying membership fees to send their representatives to the meetings. Switzerland has the most representatives at the WEF measured by population (over 70). The firms are not ‘self-appointed’ but the victors of the capitalist competition. Their representatives have to make their way up the career-ladder, not concerned with any democratic legitimacy or rules. Not only the many business leaders, but also government representatives as well as the elite of the upper classes, media and culture sections, will tuck themselves into the Davos mountains to try and get the paradoxes within capitalism back on track. In the media they pretend to be the ‘good guys’ who try to heal AIDS etc. But they are not as social as they might seem: billion dollar deals were knowingly made just before the Iraq war and a few years before that PKK leader Oecalan was “sold” to Turkey.
The function of the WEF (and other private clubs for the ruling class) is to straighten out the paradoxes created by capitalist production. Official decisions don’t have to be made at the WEF in contrast to other international summits on government level such as the International Economic Summit or institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank or the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The participants there can lose if the meetings don’t lead to expected results (such as the WTO summit in 1999 in Seattle). In the EU and other regional alliances, interstate structures have to be built up. In the NATO the military sphere has to be administrated. At these meetings the different interests of the capitalist associations clash against each other. Each participant wants to see their interests fulfilled. In spite of all the meetings and discussions there is huge competition between the capitalists. They struggle to get the best out of the redistribution of the world. The private character of the WEF allows them space to concentrate on the joint interests of their class and try to develop strategies so these interests can profit.
More information under :
www.smashwef.ch, www.antiwef-basel.ch, www.aufbau.org, www.indymedia.ch
The internet is however not the only source of information!
people of zurich