Young people got a taste of their own collective power for the first time since the 1960s in Seattle. It is always young people who provide the fuel for social change. They have the energy, the idealism and the personal freedom needed to change the world from below. It has always been thus. Those commentators who are concerned that the media focus is too much on police repression and not enough on the actual issues raised by the trade agreements should relax.
Democracy is the issue and police repression is part of the problem.
The movement against free trade agreements is a movement for democracy. Corporate globalization has come to mean the power of corporations over governments and citizens. The massive police presence at these demonstrations is a powerful symbol of this reduction of democracy. On the April 1st weekend in Ottawa, anti-globalization activists organized a brilliant series of actions that pointed the finger clearly at the problem. While our elected politicians were screaming insults at each other in question period, these citizens were asking serious questions and getting answers about the massive free trade agreement for the Americas for which our government has been a leading promoter.