The "Anti"s" Take to the Streets. Washington,
D.C. is besieged this weekend with "anti-globalization" protesters.
They"re anti-American, anti-Israeli, anti-Bush, anti-War on
Terrorism, and, first and foremost, anti-free markets and free
trade. What are they for? As one frequently seen sign demands,
"Construct the Alternative!" Or, to quote a Web posting by Queers for Racial
& Economic Justice:
"With the Log Cabin Republicans, Pro-'Life' Lesbians & Gays (anti-choice) and the continued right-wing drift of the Democratic Party, don't you think we need a progressive/radical alternative?"
Other than support for abortion rights (already the law of the land, and under no real threat) and for maintaining race-based preferences, and opposition to "police brutality" and "economic injustice," the contentless "progressive/radical alternative" is hardly an inspiring vision for mobilizing the masses. The question is why a movement that's pretty much just "anti" has attracted as much youthful support as the anti-globalizers have. No, they're not all would-be John Walker Lindhs, but they"re drawn from the same well -- that is, from what I"ve observed, the pampered children of the upper middle classes, in revolt against the very system that spoiled them rotten by fostering economic growth and prosperity.
Of course, the gay left -- especially its campus contingents -- have gone full throttle into the "anti" movement. Queers for Racial & Economic Justice was out marching to overthrow the very freedoms that allowed a gay movement to emerge in the first place -- a civil society based on respect for private property and the rights of individuals to create and own wealth, with only limited government interference.
It's interesting to note that the gay left "anti"s" have already
created front organizations. Michael Buchanan, the organizer of the
group QAQAF (Queers Against "Queer as Folk"), referred to in the
previous posting (below),
made this comment in
a letter published recently in The Advocate:
"We truly wanted our queer brothers and sisters to know that what is taking place on QAF is not good for the queer community. (One quickie example: The cast picture in the evening's program has a huge American flag as a backdrop. Puke! -- The queer movement, if looked at in context of a bigger global picture, could be the issue that unites minorities against Republican and Democratic corporate globalization."
That's quite a leap from going ballistic because you don't like the non-PC plotline of a gay soap opera to trying to overthrow "corporate globalization" (which is, of course, leftwing blather for shareholder-owned companies doing business around the world with consumers who choose to buy their products). Didn't someone once write a book titled "Revolt Against Freedom"?