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The Dead Protester
A protester was shot dead after throwing a fire extinguisher at a police van at the G8 summit in Genoa, Italy (pictures, article, discussion).
From the leftist perspective of the protesters, this incident is further evidence that the Group of 8, “the riches seven countries and Russia”, are tyrants. For them, it proves that freedom and liberty are meaningless to the ruling elite of the world. They think the G8 is bent on economic growth, even if it means exploiting and oppressing billions of people in the world’s weakest nations.

But their message is not reaching me. I, along with the rest of the protester’s target audience, get my information through mass media. Despite the thousands of peaceful protesters, the violent minority gets the media’s attention. Through the media, I see only their fanaticism and wanton destruction. How should I understand their criticisms of the rich and powerful when they seem close-minded, undisciplined, and childish?

If they want people to consider their ideas of anti-globalization and zero debt more seriously than the ideas of the G8, they must act more seriously. Yes, it is tragic that an unarmed protester was shot, but how did he expect the police to react to the anarchy and chaos his group created?

I think globalization is inevitable. Right now, developed nations are at the top of a pyramid scheme. Our high standard of living is supported by cheap labor in underdeveloped nations. We can’t simply export the American dream as it currently exists, because it won’t trickle down. The protesters are right that global monetary policy is flawed. But as long as the radical minority of protesters keeps attracting all the attention, nobody’s listening.

This entry was posted by site admin on Friday, July 20th, 2001 at 2:59 pm and is filed under Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.