Appeal for an open society
We live in a time of hope. Before our eyes we see an unprecedented revolution
of humanity's living conditions, an unparalleled breakthrough in development.
Never has the creative power of mankind been as great as today. Never
have so many people lifted themselves from poverty as during the last
quarter of this century. Never have so many been so free and so safe and
secure as today. We live in a time of possibilities, in an era of growing
global proximity, prosperity and peaceful co-operation, where national
borders are less and less important, and the free choice of individuals
are more and more so.
It is a remarkable development, especially in a world that not so long
ago was drenched in blood and tears due to nationalist conflicts and the
violent ravagings of totalitarianism. But this time of hope and possibilities
is also a time of frustration and anxiety. Frustration, because many still
have no part in the prosperity brought to them by the dynamic processes
of globalisation. Frustration, because every step forward makes the misery
and the oppression still left even less acceptable. And anxiety; the anxiety
felt by many before new challenges and an intense pressure to change.
Anxiety at the loss of old forms of production and ingrained ways of life.
The transition to the new is rarely easy or painless. Crises and short-term
losses may crop up, and not every one will find a way into the future.
All this gives rise to highly contradictory feelings about the ongoing
process of globalisation and it creates a large market for all sorts of
doomsday watchers, opportunists, profiteers of discontent and political
hooligans. We recognise some of their names and the organisations within
which they work: Jean Marie Le Pen, Ignacio Ramonet, Jörg Haider,
Jeremy Rifkin, Pat Buchanan,
Viviane Forrester, Carl I Hagen, José Bové, Pia Kjaersgaard,
Attac, AFA, Front National, Reclaim the Streets, FPÖ, et cetera.
It is indeed a motley crew. The opposition to globalisation consists of
every thing from right wing extremists to left wing ditto; from the elite
intellectuals that gather around the French journal Le Monde Diplomatique
to professional demonstrators and street hooligans; from those who wish
to crush all market economy to those who wish to protect their own market
economy from unwelcome competition. And their motives, their actions and
the objects of their hate are just as varied. Some attack McDonald's restaurants
in Millau or Seattle, while others gather in a sort of wandering happening
against "the Global Establishment". Some blame imported goods
from the Developing World for all and any national mishap, and still others
attack poor immigrants to save their national distinctiveness.
But here are some important things that unite all the opponents of globalisation.
They want to build walls to restrict the free mobility of people, goods,
capital, technology or culture. This is why they hate regional or global
agreements and organisations that facilitate a free flow of resources,
individuals or ideas across the national borders: the WTO, the World Bank,
NAFTA, the European Union, the IMF, the OECD, bilateral treaties, et cetera.
And they all want to prevent the possibility of free choice. They would
like to decide what sort of food we may eat, what sort of films we may
watch, which music to listen to, how and where we may invest our retirement
money, how we work and how we live. The opponents of globalisation represent
many different ideologies, but they all originate in a profound distrust
in individual freedom and the open society that makes this freedom possible.
Typically, the opponents of globalisation claim to be representing a broad
public opinion and to speak in the name of the poor. The people rebelling
against the Establishment this is how the anarchists in Black Bloc or
the activists in ATTAC want to be seen. This is how the so-called Battle
of Seattle was orchestrated. This is how they legitimate the political
hooliganism symbolised by a José Bové. In this lying playacting,
the representatives of almost every government are portrayed as usurpers,
whereas a multitude of micro-sects describe themselves as the true representatives
of the world population. Never has the deception been as complete!
If these self-appointed representatives of the people really had the best
interest of the poor in mind, they would demand a greater freedom of mobility
for people, ideas and resources, that is, more globalisation. This is
what the poor need, participation in the world economy, not exclusion.
What is shown by the development of these last decades is that there is
an enormous potential in our new global economy, that there is an alternative
to poverty and under-development, that we must transform even more countries
and regions into dynamic parts of this expansive economy. This is the
great challenge that should consume all our energy and creativity if we
truly care about those who so far have had no part in the prosperity so
taken for granted by many of us.
For a long time, the friends of the open society have had a tendency to
underestimate the danger of the propaganda spread by the opponents of
globalisation. The phenomenon has been regarded as a sort of political
and intellectual under-growth without any greater importance for the future.
This is why the apostles of fear have been allowed to preach practically
undisturbed. They have been allowed to depict one fire-and-brimstone scenario
after the other and to make the most absurd statements about the state
of the world and the global breakthrough in progress, without being systematically
contradicted.
Today we see the danger of this mistake. Little by little the sphere of
ideas has been poisoned, the myths of the destructive effects of globalisation
have been taken as truths, and the feeling of living in a world on the
verge of disaster has been interiorised by far too many. And we are only
just starting to see the consequences of this passivity, especially in
a Europe where all sorts of national-populist and xenophobe parties are
reaping a harvest of fear and are getting ready to climb the heights of
political power.
This development alone should be alarming enough to urge us to a counter-offensive
against the enemies of openness. But this is not all. History should urge
us to an active political and intellectual watch over the fundamental
values of the open society.
A hundred years ago, a promising period of liberalisation, free trade
and greater international mobility was turned into an inferno of colonialist
intrigue, nationalistic wars and protectionist measures that opened the
gate to modern totalitarianism. The so-called first globalisation crashed
and burned in 1914 with extremely tragic consequences. Its ideological
basis had been successively weakened during decades of nationalistic and
collectivist propaganda, which after World War I resulted in violently
militant anti-liberal mass movements. The results are well known.
This is the background of our decision to create a virtual meeting place
(www.motattack.nu) for all of us who believe that it is time to
respond and to reveal ever more disgusting and destructive playacting
of the opponents of globalisation. We are convinced that it is time we
united in a counter-attack, which, with reason as a weapon, can fight
back the forces of isolation and segregation.
The narrow-minded tribal spirit is once more on the march. Today, global
tribalism attacks once more, this time in Prague. That is why we have
chosen this day to make public the creation of our network. Let us accept
the challenge; let us make this day the starting point of an important
work of enlightenment about the values of openness and the dangers of
a closed society. So we urge everybody who wishes to take part in our
work in the service of the open society to participate in our counter-attack.
And we urge those in power as well as all international organisations
to work even harder for a greater freedom of mobility and an open world,
especially when it comes to opening the markets of richer countries to
the goods of poorer countries.
You can sign the petition and see who has signed so far at:
