[mgj-announce] next mtg; + Larry Summers

[Robert Weissman]

The Mobilization for Global Justice will gather for its next general
meeting, on:

Tuesday, July 2, 7:30 pm

at St. Stephens Church
1525 Newton St., NW
(near 16th and Newton, NW)

This will be an important meeting to get underway with the nitty-gritty
of organizing for the fall.

See you there!

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Next time you're asked, Why do you protest against the IMF and World
Bank, think about incorporating this into your answer:

In a 1991 internal memorandum, then-World Bank economist Lawrence
Summers argued for the transfer of waste and dirty industries from
industrialized to developing countries. "Just between you and me,
shouldn't the World Bank be encouraging more migration of the dirty
industries to the LDCs (lesser developed countries)?" wrote Summers, who
went on to serve as Treasury Secretary during the Clinton administration
and now serves as president of Harvard University. "I think the economic
logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is
impeccable and we should face up to that. ... I've always thought that
underpopulated countries in Africa are vastly under polluted; their air
quality is vastly inefficiently low [sic] compared to Los Angeles or
Mexico City." Summers later said the memo was meant to be ironic.

But what was "ironic" about it? The unanswered question is:  From the
point of view of market fundamentalists -- those who support the
structural adjustment, manic free trade agenda -- what's wrong with
Summers' remarks?

Those of us operating from a global justice paradigm don't have any
trouble explaining why the Summers' perspective is wrong as a matter of
policy, as well as morality.