Sunday, November 9, 2008

Anarchy in Seattle

I found this reading interesting because I read about the Seattle World Trade Organization protest in President Bill Clinton's autobiography, My Life. I was 10 years old in 1999 when it happened, so I vaguely remember footage on the news of the violence and protests in Seattle. However, at that age, I didn't understand what President Clinton did to upset so many people so much. 

Later in life, when I discovered my interest in politics, I read President Clinton's autobiography and I remember reading about the WTO protests. So, for me to read Cindy Milstein's prospective on it was interesting. 

To me, a significant quote was by Italian anarchist Errico Malatesta, who defined anarchism as, "a form of social life in which men live a brothers, where nobody is in a position to oppress or exploit anyone else, and in which all the means to achieve maximum moral and material development are available to everyone." 

I've tried to keep an open mind during this unit but I just don't see how a social system like this is possible. I think that there will always be people who try to oppress or exploit others so I don't see how this could ever be implemented in real life. 

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