love and rage i

perhaps unsurprisingly i didn't blog during the g8. unsurprising because most of the time was spent either a) camping, b) travelling from one part of scotland to the other in buses and occasionally c) protesting. the experience has been pretty inspiring and i feel like i've had a bit of a glimpse of the 'other world' that we're always being told is possible.

i spent the first part of my week in edinburgh, largely taking part in well-organised traditional protesting activities. on sunday it was the mph (or muff as i chose to abbreviate it further) march, which, despite being huge, was rather insipid. i've mentioned before my distaste for the "white man's burden" implication of it all, and it didn't change my views. nonetheless, i hope it will have brought otherwise fairly apolitical types into contact with those whose campaigns are more radical, and seek an end to the political structures underlying poverty.



it was these kinds of people (war on want, world development movement, people & planet) whose "corporate dreams, global nightmare" conference i spent much of sunday attending. there were 5 sessions in all, and i ended up being there for 4 of them. first up were those opposing privatisation, led by george monbiot whose polite demeanour was stretched to the limit by the g8 rhetoric and popstar obfuscation of the issues. also on the panel was trevor ngwane, a south african from the anti-privatisation forum, whose calm but unerringly radical view captivated the audience. he had a busy week - we were on the bus to dungavel with him on tuesday where he gave another stirring speech. next up were samir amin and walden bello to speak about global trade rules. i found this one a little dry i have to admit. was good to hear about the upcoming protests in hong kong around the world trade organisation's meetings in december tho. lunch and time to bump into a large grp of comrades from nottingham, with tales of the g8 bike ride (overwhelmingly positive) and, most importantly, directions of where to go for a vegan lunch. the afternoon's sessions were on fighting corporations with two amazingly inspirational southern activists: the head of the coca cola boycott campaign in india, and a campaigner against shell in nigeria. unfortunately i didn't get the opportunity to note their names, but their presentations were enough to impress upon me the immense importance of solidarity campaigns with those in the global south, who are +really+ on the front lines of the fight against poverty. finally there was a session with the yes men. it was pretty bizarre being a few metres away from two guys who you've previously only seen starring in a kind of gonzo movie (even more seeing them at the dissent! eco-camp later in the week!) but their presentation was a bit lacklustre. there's no doubt that these guys are committed tho, but i recommend the film as a better introduction



during this time i was staying at the campsite set up by edinburgh city council at the jack kane centre in craigmillar. despite previous reports on indymedia making the set up look like a prison camp it was actually an ok place to be. the locals were amazingly friendly (considering we'd nicked their sports centre and football field for the week) and seemed to be generally supportive of our protests. in fact, that was the impression i got from people all over scotland during the week was one of support for those who were willing to act against the authorities, who'd imposed the summit on scotland without its consent.