WORLD SOCIAL FORUM ? – PRESENTE !

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM ? – PRESENTE !

Vienna, Austria, April 14, 2008

What an unforgettable Moment to write this blog for the Homepage of the World Social Forum. A few hours ago, I received the most recent IMF Survey Magazine of April 13 with the final words on the IMF's Annual Spring Meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee and the joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee. It is night, early morning, on Tuesday, April 14, 2008. I am on international news channels and the Web following events …

On SAT, April 12, 2008, we were in revolt in 33 countries around the world because of exploding basic staple food prices: Haiti, Egypt, Mexico, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, the Philippines, Argentina, and others. The situation is critical in Haiti, Egypt, Gaza, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tibet, Nepal, Burma/Myanmar, Malaysia, the Phillippines, Indonesia, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Darfur, Kenya, Chad, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Senegal – not to speak of the spectre of Andean glaciers (Cochabamba) expexted to vanish over the next three (!!!) years: That would leave us, the people living in the Andean Highlands, without an alternative source of fresh water. That, and other niceties galore, made the headlines in recent days on CNN, EURONEWS, BBC WORLD, SKY, AL JAZEERA, BLOOMBERG, and plenty of others.

So, “Yes, me friends, me good friends, we take a street again …”
Check out the real situation …

The final words of the Annual Spring Meeting seem to have been spoken, formally at least. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Ben Bernanke, and several others, must be congratulated for their frank and open words when they stated that “the world (and the global economy) is in its worst crisis since the Great Depression.” The International Financial Institutions, Central Bank Chiefs and the leading International Economists have reiterated, as was to be expected, previous calls for improving performance, and monitoring, of key players in global financial markets – that concerns surveillance, information, governance, valuation and rating standards, risk management, prudence, accounting standards, etc..

From the way it looks, the usual suspects have already started to cry wolf –the top brass of the financial establishment have clearly articulated their preferences for various ways of “voluntary self-control” by, and (presumably also) for, the financial industry. As everyone will readily testify, these (mostly) GUYS ARE well organized, mostly … I mean, when they are NOT just busy with wiping out some $$8 trillion in assets within one year, all the while that they are busy “maximizing shareholder value and returns.” Tough job ….

Apart from the full monty of international economics which was the “talk of the town” these days, it has become patently clear, however, that the Agenda of the World Social Forum has arrived on the scene of haute finance …

Since the inception of the World Social Forum in 2001, it has taken 7 full years that our Agenda has slowly, imperceptibly, gradually, and steadily, crept into the Agenda of the key players within the global system: The United Nations, the G7, G8, G22, G24, the International Monetary Fund, Central Banks, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the World Trade Organization, the World Economic Forum, and key players of the financial industry.

Well, we all know that today´s crisis is not the first crisis in town, after the 60 PLUS or so MASSIVE CRISES that we have had to live through in various countries over the past 40 years. As Joan Robinson quipped so magisterially in 1972, it will certainly not be the last one, either ... Over the past few years however, the Agenda of the WSF has become ever more prominent in public dialogue. The most recent event, which may have “triggered” the haute vole of international finance to “seriously warm up” to the Agenda of the WSF, for the first time, was the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007.

At any rate, it looks as if we – man kind and woman kind - can safely say: WE HAVE ARRIVED, WE ARE HERE, “AT HOME IN THE UNIVERSE”. Maximum Respect, once again, to Naomi Klein and her penetrating 2007 analysis of DISASTER CAPITALISM – the current global economic, financial, military and security regime is patently finished: It is unable to offer any promising, humane, and sustainable perspective for the vast majority of mankind.

And we also know, from our own time-honoured experience, that ANOTHER (A BETTER) WORLD IS POSSIBLE. There are viable ALTERNATIVES TO ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION. Maximum respect, Thanks & Praises, also again, to the INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON GLOBALIZATION for its work, and to ALL PARTNERS AND ACTIVE MEMBERS OF THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM.

So, after all, and in the middle of the hurricane around us, this is a day of great joy and relief, for all of us. Time tough, but promise that we never go down in the fire ...! It is April 2008, and 40 years after 1968 - There is a lot that we have left unfinished, and a lot of new things to come and deal with ...

Adelante,
Todo, si prega!

Hasta la Victoria siempre,
“cienfuegos” ek