The "Battle in Seattle" and Beyond

By Stuart Townsend, AlterNet. Posted September 18, 2008.

How do we create meaningful protest?

What does it take to create real and meaningful change in the 21st
century? We hear an awful lot about it. The political conventions from
which I and so many others are still recovering from were chock full
of promises that being an optimist, I am inclined to believe. Is it
sheer numbers, rhetoric, commitment or is it simply the case of an
idea whose time has come that is the real catalyst for change? I have
spent the better part of the last decade and the entirety of the last
two weeks asking myself that question.

In 1999 fifty thousand people, mostly Americans, from all walks of
life, marched on the streets of Seattle protesting the policies of the
World Trade Organization. The event was dubbed the "Battle in Seattle"
and its organizers were clear in their mission -- to shut the talks
down and focus the world's attention on policies that were in fact
harming the poor, the sick, and the environment. After the world's
attention shifted, I felt there was still more of a story to tell. How
did David truly slay Goliath?

Zaroc Stone wrote:

Self immolation.