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TechnoratiMALMOE, Sweden - More than 10,000 marched in the Swedish city of Malmoe on Saturday in a demonstration against the excesses of globalization, organized as part of the European Social Forum being held there.
![[About 10,000 demonstrators from all over Europe walk in the center of Malmoe during the fifth European Social Forum, protesting against capitalism and the destruction of the environment.
(AFP/Olivier Morin)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/malmoe.jpg "malmoe.jpg")
The marchers, many carrying banners, set off from the suburb of Rosengaard at 2:00 pm (1300 GMT) accompanied by several marching bands, in what was one of the biggest organized in Sweden.
"We are all here because we have a common message," Thor Rutgersson, a 25-year-old teacher told AFP.
"We want better conditions for workers, for students and more cooperation to fight poverty in Europe," he added.
The march included delegations from all over Europe, including trade unionists and students.
"It is important that the countries from eastern Europe are here today," said Piotr Ostrowsky of the Polish confederation of trade unions, the OPZZ.
Saturday's march extended 7.5 kilometers (nearly five miles) and finished in the city center without incident. A large police presence had been on stand-by on the fringes of the route.
On Friday, about 100 people threw rocks at police and broke windows in the city centre at the tail end of a demonstration organized by a group called Reclaim the Streets, which had attracted some 700 participants.
The fifth European Social Forum began Thursday and wraps up on Sunday.
33 Comments so far
Show AllI've been to five European countries and loved them all. We plan on visiting more countries next year, and may leave the US someday for good. The progressive movement in America has collapsed and the one party duopoly (Reublicrats) does whatever it wants. It's nefarious policies are being felt around the globe.
One of the consequences of willful ignorance. I hope Europeans don't let themselves get conned by the monopolist class of capitalists and international bankers.
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Just avoid Britain. The British identify with Americans NOT Europeans.
Europe is slowly going the way of America, however. The EU was created to re-make Europe in America's image. Britain contributes to the EU project by pushing through undesirable policies that benefit corporations. Europeans are increasingly being exposed to various economic and political pressures that are causing them to become divided, and once they are divided, the corporations can conquer them.
The British, by the way, are now having a centralized government and police database set up that will hold information about each citizen's telephone, mobile, and on-line surfing activities. The people in government will then be able to probe this data at will and without any oversight (as the data is centralized and in the government's hands, rather than in the hands of thousands of individual firms).
The French, on the other hand, kicked up a hell of a fuss, so they will not be getting any such database set up for them - their government backed down!
Already, local councils in the UK can use legislation set up ostensibly to fight serious organized crime and terrorism to spy on members of the public - to physically spy on them and to spy on their online activities - to see if parents are telling the truth and their kids do attend the right area to go to a particular school, to see if a person claiming unemployment benefits is genuinely unemployed, etc. - all the stuff that's critical to safeguarding national security.
See how pathetic the British are - probably more pathetic and sheep-like than Americans.
It'd be accurate to state the British Govt identify with America over the EU. Most Britons are individually proud of their respective English, Welshn or Scottish heritage, even more further identify with their counties or cities.
As for 'centralized' government, where have you been - have you heard about the devolution Scotland and Wales who are strongly in favour of their own membership of the EU?
The police database you mention is being fiercely opposed by all political parties, except New Labour. Most people are strongly opposed to greater police powers, ID cards, CCTV and the like.
You last two paragraphs are just seriously misinformed rubbish.
P E A C E M A N
Thank you, this brings back good memories of better feeling times.
I was in Spain when Reagan visited, and was never so proud ( to be an American ) hearing the news reports of large numbers of fellow anti-fascists -- when they booo'd him big time. How odd is that ?
We are naturally international, as those fellow freedom lovers are our brethren within the circle of true humankindness and HUMAN BEINGNESS.
Namaste
old goat writes: "Note that Swedes are demonstrating in a Swedish city IN ENGLISH!"
That would be the most sensible choice given it's a march against corporate globalization, with the message that people across the world unite for global action. What's the world's lingua franca? ENGLISH!
Using English also has a symbolic meaning: it was Thatcher and Reagan that started the corporate globalization push, creating, first, a global financial system with most of the barriers to the free movement of capital demolished, and, now, a global economy, "liberating" corporations from troublesome national borders. This is primarily an Anglo-American project!!
The article made it clear that the demonstration is part of the European Social Forum. The contingent in the photo were probably mostly British. I'm sure along other parts of the march, the signs are in German, French, Swedish, Spanish, etc...
I believe that everyone that wants to leave America for the wonderful societies in Europe should. It ought to be an eye opener.
I really would love it if you elaborated on this a little. I am a European who is perfectly happy living over here, (in Finland actually), and would never consider emigrating to the US. In what sense do you believe that moving to Europe would "open eyes"? My guess is that unless you are totally indoctrinated into seeing everything European as bad, it might actually show that a lot of Americans essentially believe the most ludicrous things about Europe simply because of political motives or cultural prejudice.
Interestingly, the only people I meet over here who really strongly dislike the way things are are people with very strong right-wing views. Of course, they are unable to be persuaded by argument based on any objective measure as long as things aren't done their way; it is a matter of principle for them to just whine all the time, be there any real reason or not.
I think (and hope) what he meant by 'it would open eyes' is that if enough Americans left for Europe, it would reveal how screwed up America is.
One of my children lives in a European city with his family. It is not perfect, but they have fewer deep worries than we do here. Life is better because they have health care and good policies toward children. They are not lied to as much, they have a Parliamentary system that gives voices to a variety of opinions. They have common sense laws. For instance, banks and others are prohibited from lending more than someone can afford to repay. Most importantly they are not always at war, invading someone. Their leaders know where countries are located and can speak in full sentences based on knowledge of some facts, which is helpful when trying to solve problems without bombs.
Our warlike ways are a source financial ruin, moral decay and also of background grief for me every day.
Joe
America - love it or leave it!
Yeah, Europe is a horrible place -
It has free university education, free healthcare, 35 hour workweeks, one year of mandatory paid family/maternity leave, mandatory one month paid vacation, $17 per hour minimum wage, superior unemployment benefits, near-elimination of poverty, superior infrastructure and civil engineering technologies (I'm a civil engineer - every single innovation comes from over there), cheap 65 mpg cars (but public transit is so good you really don't need to own a car in many places), a functioning multiparty democracy and electoral systems, good food, superior arts and culture, stronger food and drug safety laws, stronger environmental laws...
Oh, and they don't insist on using a backward measurment system used nowhere else.
yea... i was just thinking that they are protesting in english. wow, the language is now practically their working one and they only use swedish at home i suppose.
anyway, why can't we all protest by the thousands on the streets like in france or sweden? is it because we are such a divided society that we can never seem to organize anything worthwhile?
let's all go back to a simpler and cleaner lifestyle. that's what it all boils down to. i'm chucking my cell by the way... tired of getting ear pains every time i use the thing. plus, the lead that can escape from used ones and the infertility studies... well, you get the drift.
Because we get arrested and attacked for it.
We are not going to be able even to have a real discussion about it until we allow the P word -protectionism - back into the conversation. It amazes me that progressives shy away from this word, let alone from the concept. Another case, it seems to me, where we have allowed the MSM to define the terms of the debate such that protectionism is always twinned with isolationism. It need not be so. In fact our best, most benign and most welcome foreign policy might be to help other countries grow and develop their local/regional/national economies and protect them from the depredation of globalization. This includes our own country.
It may well be that the best thing for individual countries to varying degrees and certainly for the planet as a whole is that there be LESS, not more, trade.
We have not exported enough Tasers to Sweden obviously.
Globalization is not just about global markets. It is a process of eliminating the power and authority of the nation state to allow decisions to be made that benefit the global elite.
And if it means America has to be brought down to 3rd world levels, then fine. There was another way, to allow the poor countries to develop on it's own and protect themselves from exploitation by MNC's. But that would mean the financial system the world has would have to be eliminated, and replaced with one where a nation creates it's own money in the interests of it's country, and where there are fixed exchange rates to reduce market volatility. Instead it is in private hands under a global financial cartel who attack nations currencies to keep them in line, or to destabilize them.
Europeans are recognizing they are in the same boat. The attempt to force the fascist Lisbon Treaty on them failed, but most of the nations refused to allow a vote, and it failed only because the Irish were allowed to vote and they rejected it. That was a wake up call for many Europeans. Most Americans do not even know about it.
Too funny !!
__ P. S. __ I'm NOT having an insufficiency of electrical stimulation.
Namaste
Well the only reason the Scandinivian countries are so "classless" is because they're so homogeneous (in terms of religion, ethnicity, etc.) Only recently have they started to face different people in their country, and it has sparked problems (e.g. in Copenhagen)
And I don't understand why people think they're so humane... they're among the most immoral societies... among the first to legislate euthanasia and infanticide (or whatever the word is for killing babies born with defects... modern "mercy killins")
Try to get your facts straight... Holland and Nordics aren't the same thing.
Denmark and Sweden are Scandinavian ... in practical terms, they are close geographically, culturally, and in overall ethnic composition.
Holland is further south... (and I wasn't talking about Holland anyway)
Denmark and Sweden are Scandinavian ... in practical terms, they are close geographically, culturally, and in overall ethnic composition.
Holland in further south... (and I wasn't talking about Holland anyway)
Yes, you are talking about Holland in the second paragraph. The first one is pretty correct though.
Note that Swedes are demonstrating in a Swedish city IN ENGLISH!
The article made it clear that the demonstration is part of the European Social Forum. The contingent in the photo wer probably mostly the British contingent. I'm sure along other parts of the march, the signs are in German, French, Swedish, Spanish, etc...
At the world social forum on Mumbai a few years ago many sign were in English too.
So? They are all taught English in school as a second language, most are very fluent too. When I was working in Helsingborg (about 40km from Malmo), all the Swedes I met insisted upon speaking English - a point of pride maybe - when I asked to learn a few words in Swedish they seemed slightly offended and warded me off the subject.
Global markets are here to stay: business through the desire to make profits, extend to places, and create better conditions, finally, for the people in those places wherever the businesses originated.
I agree that they make too much money, but that will not last forever.
To raise their financial boats, we Americans/Europeans will lose a little (or a lot) of our "standard of living". This seem equitable to me.
A well educated Palestinian should earn something comparable to a well educated Frenchman/woman...for that matter, the genders should be equitably compensated, too.
We actually do survive (or perish) together through climate, disease, resources, etc.
That might be fine in a more egaliatarian society liek Swden. They have a social safety net. The US dose not.
"Global markets are here to stay:"
As long as they are sustainable. That which cannot be sustained, isn't.
I shoulve stayed in Scandanavia while I had a chance.
It is very difficult to emigrate there now, even if you have family there.
yes, you should have. but perhaps you can go to another place and set up shop there? keep your options open. i did it and i was going to stay away for a year or two. now, with the way things are, i'm thinking a good 5 years at least won't be so bad.
for the first time in my life i don't have to drive or worry about getting car insurance. plus i live rent free as part of the bargain. and for the first time in my life, i get health insurance!
I've dreamed of going there for 30 years. They just seem more humane, more fair-minded, more human. Sigh...
My Uncle say that Denmark is "getting a littel rougher"--but, compared to the bourgeois USA--its just plain paradise. Iceland may be a truly classless society.
If you can afford it--go. You probably wil not want to come back. But, I think that there emigration policy is tightening.
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