Happy new year

I'm just putting the finishing touches to an article on the World Forum on Agrarian Reform – an object lesson in how powerful democracy can be, and why so many are keen to stifle it. Read it here.

And, because I like to overcommit and then disappoint people, I'm updating a piece on 'Global Fascism' that I co-wrote with the splendid Phil McMichael. There's far too much recent evidence to support the interpretation we made earlier last year. Cultural politics in the U.S. provides prodigious fodder. Take this, for instance:

Earlier this week, [Gerald] Allen got a call from Washington. He will be meeting with President Bush on Monday. I asked him if this was his first invitation to the White House. "Oh no," he laughs. "It's my fifth meeting with Mr Bush."

Bush is interested in Allen's opinions because Allen is an elected Republican representative in the Alabama state legislature. He is Bush's base. Last week, Bush's base introduced a bill that would ban the use of state funds to purchase any books or other materials that "promote homosexuality". Allen does not want taxpayers' money to support "positive depictions of homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle".

That's why Tennessee Williams and Alice Walker have got to go.

I ask Allen what prompted this bill. Was one of his children exposed to something in school that he considered inappropriate? Did he see some flamingly gay book displayed prominently at the public library?

No, nothing like that. "It was election day," he explains. Last month, "14 states passed referendums defining marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman". Exit polls asked people what they considered the most important issue, and "moral values in this country" were "the top of the list".

"Traditional family values are under attack," Allen informs me. They've been under attack "for the last 40 years". The enemy, this time, is not al-Qaida. The axis of evil is "Hollywood, the music industry". We have an obligation to "save society from moral destruction". We have to prevent liberal libarians and trendy teachers from "re-engineering society's fabric in the minds of our children". We have to "protect Alabamians".

More at the Guardian here.

So, plenty more writing to be done over the next couple of weeks, in between mediating family arguments and working on a special secret project which I'll tantalise you with now before getting sued for it in February. So, I'm going off air until the new year. Have a good one, wherever you are.

We're All Going to Die #5

I'm back again, but not for long. Just long enough to tell a couple of stories of why I've been a less than diligent blogger.

In the best tradition of Class Worrier's We're All Going To Die series, here's a wailing article on Zimbabwe and Mbeki's responsibility to intervene. I've managed to make a fool of myself in writing back to the Financial Times with this letter, and misnaming the Congress of South African Trade Unions.

Despite the error, the point still stands - Mbeki isn't going to intervene because there's too much South African profiteering going on in Zimbabwe. Also, and the constraints of letters to the editor didn't permit other arguments, Mbeki's scared of condoning anything that looks like the basis for independent political parties in Zimbabwe. COSATU's support of the ZCTU sets an unpleasant precedent for the President back home. Finally, and thanks to Sean for pointing this out, it's far from clear that intervention from Mbeki is going to do any good. What, after all, would he do??

Excuses excuses

Dear reader, time for one of those intermittent months of blogging. But just look at why. This week saw the 29th International Armwrestling Championships here in Durban, which were deeply absorbing for all involved. It wasn’t hard to spot the participants – they tended to be the balding men with arms as wide as their necks. The Russians and Ukrainians have something of a natural advantage – it’s all the wanking – and they went on to dominate, dislocating other nations left right and centre. Plus ça change. The diaspora scored a small victory, however - you’ll be pleased to hear that I prevailed in the ‘arm-twisting’ category.

And then, while finishing up December's bumper festive issue of the Voice of the Turtle, I got a personal message from Peter Mandelson. He told me:

Since 22 November, when the new European Commission headed by José Manuel Barroso started its mandate, I am the Commissioner responsible for the External trade policy of the EU. I am very happy that through this e-mail system I will be able to convey to you regularly our key messages on EU trade policy. I hope you will accompany us as a faithful reader in our effort towards free and fair trade serving global prosperity and social justice for all, especially the poorest.

A little dry, perhaps. Compare and contrast this with the last note I got from Pascal Lamy, who held Peter’s job until last month.

If I have a regret is that there has been limited progress in strengthening multilateral institutions other than the WTO to tackle these areas connected to trade. I do not believe that the WTO can or should remain the sole island of governance in a sea of unfettered globalisation. Food for thought for the next years!

One might consider Cde Mandelson an isolated handmaiden for capital, with a disdain for democratic process illustrated well by the range of executive positions to which he has been appointed, not elected. But it ain’t so. It’s just that Peter speaks the truth, and sometimes we’re afeard to listen. Had we the chance to vote for him, lord knows we would. Especially when he dazzles with analysis like this:

He told a Foreign Policy Centre seminar backed by Nestlé that he wholly backed the policy of "freer and fairer" trade which made the interests of the world's poorest countries the overriding priority .. he said trade suffered from a negative public perception that the individual "has no possible grip on globalisation and .. we are all powerless to effect it, manage it or challenge it." "I reject that view," he said. "The fact that it's shared by millions does not make it right. We should challenge globalisation in a benign way for
the benefit of all rather than let it roll over us."

Awww. So, in Valencia where I’ll be for the World Forum on Agrarian Reform, we’re going to be taking to the streets with democratically appointed representatives of some of the world’s largest rural poor-peoples’ organizations. Armed with tickle-sticks and marshmallows, and singing faintly challenging carols, we’ll be giving the European Commission a gift-wrapped piece of our mind. We’re ticked off that Mandelson is pushing draconian trade measures in the global south, including the demand that any foreign service provider in the third world be allowed to buy land there. Gosh, we’re annoyed, and we’ll be singing extra loudly and in-tune to show it. That’ll stop us being rolled over.