The G20 – whatever it was – is over as far as toronto is concerned. The protesters are gone. The clean up has begun. The only thing left to do is start the litigation process against god knows how many police officers, institutions or other general parties. In short, “lets sue somebody”.
This is all fine by me really. Knock yourself out. Lawyers are always in the mood for litigation and i’m sure there’s no lack of material to keep them busy. And when they get bored of that I’ve got a small matter of an oil spill to discuss next. It shouldn’t take much time.
What does seem to matter to me about the G20 however is what little ever gets done from it. In this round, all the discussion focussed on how to pull the plug on the corpse which is the global economy. Stephen Harper wants to shed his Keynesian robes to reveal to the world that, indeed, the emperor has no clothes. He’s desperate for it and I don’t know why. What’s stranger than that though, is how protesters didn’t seem to have anything to say at all about the topic of discussion. They really didn’t. They had lots of signs that said great, insightful things like “People before profit” but nothing about the nature of what was actually being discussed. Which, I suppose, based on the success of these meetings might just be the smartest approach; why get all upset about something that’s bound to fail anyway.
But then again, why not at least try and point out why deficit cutting at this point in time might be a horrible idea.
The G20 meetings and the counter balance of protesters is downright silly. Like watching to deaf politicians yell at each other; neither one of them having even the slightest clue what the other one is saying. It’s pointless beyond reason.
And don’t talk to me about making your voice heard or having an impact on the global discussions. There is no discussion. That’s the point.
So, if this is the case. If you’re not going to be able to interrupt the sessions violently – one billion dollars better at least get you 2 days worth of isolated time to chat – and you’re not going to even bother commenting on whatever it is the G20 is protesting about, then you really aught to rethink your protesting strategy here.
My suggestion is to stop protesting at these events all together. Cold turkey.
Get off the G20 cycles. Next time there is one of these “meeting of the minds”, ignore it. Hold you’re own cycle and have it in different locations around the world. Hold your own discussions. If indeed the G20 events are fruitless, all the more reasons to wave them away with the back of your hand. Stop protesting. Stop rioting. Stop wasting time and get on with at least some sensible dialogue on what matters to people. And maybe, just maybe, something useful will come out of these things.
As it stands now, there’s no reason, good or bad, to bother. There really isn’t.
