Never mind Davos - the real World Social Forum - Belem Brazil

I can't find an official website for this year's forum but the wikipedia entry describes the event:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Social_Forum

From the wikip. entry - but much more info at link above:

Quote :

[The WSF] is an annual meeting held by members of the anti-globalization (using the term globalization in a doctrinal sense not a literal one) or alter-globalization movement to coordinate world campaigns, share and refine organizing strategies, and inform each other about movements from around the world and their issues. It tends to meet in January when its "great capitalist rival", the World Economic Forum is meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The date was chosen because of the logistical difficulty of organizing a mass protest in Davos and to try to overshadow the coverage of the World Economic Forum in the news media.

WSF currently taking place in Brazil

http://ekklesia.co.uk/node/8461

Isn't this what we should all be focused on? Vincent Browne had a scathing article about the Davos meeting in yesterday's Irish Times.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/0128/1232923369283.html

Seriously, there can be no reason for thinking that the people assembled in Davos have either the wit or the will to take ALL our interests into account. The business model has utterly failed.

Good to hear about the World Social Forum - any reports coming out of it would be interesting.

The "World Leaders" in Davos are not going to take our interests into account, but that is not a reason not to keep an eye on what they are at.
However I agree with you that the priority now should be to develop new models for the world economy that are based on majority interest, not protecting a tiny wealthy elite.

Are the crowd at Davos becoming the WSF, nearly.

Sustainable "growth" doesn't seem still to be built into the crowd going to Davos but we'll see about that too. Kyoto and the low-growth trends of major Euro countries are positive signals surely. Education and welfare policies might be helpful for them to start talking about as they seem to be doing according to that IHT article.

Also, tons of institutions that were hiterto private are now having their strings pulled by governments, not the other way around (or is it)


What are the glaring differences between WSF and the DAVOS crowd?

I don't disagree with the ideas of the free market and privatisation per se - I don't think it's always appropriate to use a one size fits all and that combinations might work to a greater or lesser degree depending on the location, culture, recent history ...

I would think that it is wise to push for more transparency, more education and more information and let other things follow.

Davos, you may as well go to an establishment housing the criminally insane. Who in their right mind has assets in billions and yet connives to rig the system to acquire more wealth more power? Davos is a meeting for those representing the worlds sociopaths

http://www.mcafee.cc/Bin/sb.html

Their representatives are the pathetic who are owned body and sole. We have all met the types at University, the clever boys who have personality flaws and gnawing insecurity that makes them crave to prove themselves. They need to prove self worth, but once hooked have seldom the morale fibre, the back bone to admit error and shake loose. Pathetic wretches.

As for an alternative to the market, there are solutions if people would embrace them. One sound approach is to set up their own Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS) and get on with it, devote some of their time and resources to it and promote it.

http://www.letslinkuk.org/

But they will not do that, because they are themselves imprisoned by debt and will not face that reality. They too are driven by a desire to own trinkets, representations of worth and they doubt their own ability to influence change.

The left dream of an angelic utopia but the problem is human nature itself.

Davos is becoming as irrelevant as the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO. Putin turned up yesterday to bash the US in a speech. So what? Who cares? He should have come to the ice hockey in Zürich for the inaugural Champions League Final. Well, maybe not. The Russian favourites, Metallurgo Magnitogorsk, were beaten by EHC Zürich 5-0. Vlad doesn't like being on the receiving end of a hiding.

There are some LETS in Ireland too - article on it here
http://www.sustainable.ie/resources/money/art03.htm

Seems that site is a portal to other sustainability-oriented websiste and forums including FEASTA
http://www.sustainable.ie/index.htm

I wonder how well LETS work???

I've never understood why the left is accused of thinking utopia is possible. Aside from being a somewhat jaded criticism, it was never true. What the left promotes is a system which would offer a better way of life for most of the world rather than the other way around, which is what we have at the moment. It means a levelling out in the ownership and distribution of resources. Nobody imagines it would be perfect - just a whole lot better than it is now.

35K on a toilet bowl!

I've put out calls for more precise information on what they are doing at WSF - there doesnt seem to be a programme of events anywhere on the net - Ive looked hi and lo for one. If anyone finds one, would they post it here for us?.

Here's the WSF programme:

http://www.fsm2009amazonia.org.br/?set_language=en

'Wake up World' - a plea from the indiginous peoples of the Amazon:

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45575

Auditor #9 wrote:

I wonder how well LETS work???

I would love to know. It is one of those ideas that intrigue me. It should work especially for work you do yourself, weeding, painting, fixing, building, cooking, eggs, home grown, home brew etc. It could be really useful in stimulating an economy in places where there is no money in circulation but people willing to work. Why shouldn't it work and if it grew then you would see more people having to get involved. Even in the normal economy you could offer to accept a percentage payment in the local 'currency', because if it was widely used it would have value. Wonder how the revenue would assess the value of the 'Devonshire glover' or whatever they choice to call the units of trade. It would really screw up efficient tax collection, I think. What is more no one would be printing cart loads of it to bail out banks!