Story Archive May 30, 2003 (Page 1 of 1)

MM interview with Don foresta (involved with www.mmmarcel.org - MARCEL network)

MM: At the end, any message or final thought you have for EASA people?

DF: I think that the thing that makes sense of EASA is to become a network. And not just to meet once a year, but to come up with some kind of a sustainable program, during the course of the year, and the best and easiest way to do that is just to go network, and make sure that the participants just don’t all disappear, and to find some way of staying in touch and working together. But it has to be more than e-mail. It really has to be an extension of visual space and a high bandwidth network permits that. It would make a perfect sense to me to see this kind of organization move into that direction. So, that becomes, not just the summer workshop, but nearly a whole year workshop. And then, the summer is the chance for people to actually meet physically, that’s essential. When you meet physically then you can go work on the network. That, probably, would be a good goal.

06.08.03 MM

Members of FUSPEY here at Brookes University are working on a motion to put to the Students Union asking them to agree not to buy World Bank bonds. The motion will also ask that the Students Union approach the University with the same request. We want to know if the University already holds bonds in the World Bank and if so would like them to agree to pursue alternative, ethically sound and sustainable investments.

The World Bank is renouned for it's whiter-than-white self image. If you don't know already it says that it is working to alleviate 'Third World' poverty and improve living conditions by encouraging developement. To view this self image visit www.worldbank.org

Actually 3.2 million people in the developing nations that it claims to be aiding are currently being displaced by World Bank projects. Projects include building of power plants, dams and oil pipelines owned by private corporations and payed for (at least in part) by governments of developing countries. These projects are also seriously damaging to the environment. For detailed info. including case studies on effect World Bank developement projects have on environment/people go to www.brettonwoodsproject.org There are many other sites documenting World Bank activities and their often disastrous results.

How can these poor nations afford to pay for such extravagant and harmful 'developement' projects? Well, the World Bank, together with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) lend money to governments in developing nations to pay for these projects- but they get it back with interest, hence the value of investing in the bonds. Many governements that borrow money from the World Bank spend more money repaying debts each year than on healthcare, education and public services combined. And many have repaid their originals debts several times over. In the end it is the people who pay. 7,000,000 people die each year as a direct result of unfair political, social and economic systems. Now I'm not saying that the World Bank and its investors are soley responsible. Of course there are other cotrbutory factors- climatic, corruption within local and national government etc. But... The World Bank does not, as it claims, strive to better these systems. It is a profit making organisation. With the WTO it puts pressure on governments that oxe money to open up their economic markets to 'free trade' and to sell of public services to private, profit making organisations (mostly multinationals).

That's enough of the bad stuff for the moment. It's much more exciting and less defeatist to discuss what WE can do to change this. Without the money that governments, mutinational corporations, banks and other institutions (including universities) invest in bonds the World Bank is powerless to pursue it's questionably motivated interests in exploiting the people of nations in debted to it.

That's is why the World Bank Bonds Boycott is calling on individuals, the institutions of which they are part and governments that represent them to agree not to invest in World Bank bonds, to cancel the debts of 'Third World' nations and make a stand against corporate and government sponsored exploitation of people and the planet we ALL live on.

Many organisations have already passed resolutions against the purchase of WorlBank bonds including University of New Mexico and entire cities (San Francisco)

Please reply to this posting if you have any questions /other input.

You can visit the World Bank Bonds Boycott website at www.worldbankboycott.org and find out what we at Brookes are doing to gather student support at www.geocities.com