The Invite:
Protest George Bush's Arrival in Paris 15h00
Sunday May 26 2002
Place Republique.

George W. Bush will be in Paris on May 26 to muster support for his "war on terror." This war is less about freedom and security than profit and control; it is a war founded in absolutist rhetoric; a war that is destroying innocent lives. On May 26, tens of thousands will take to the streets of Paris as a collective voice of anger and dissent in rejection of Mr. Bush‚s aggressive, unilateral approach to world affairs.

Democracy is fast becoming just another commodity available to the highest bidder. Whether through lobby groups or campaign sponsorship, corporations are buying a disproportionately large voice in the decision making process. This corporate influence on economic policy has led to international trade agreements (NAFTA, GATT) that favour profit over people, and see individuals as consumers first, citizens second. In order to address the widening gap between the rich and the poor we must shift the governmental focus from corporate profit to improving the quality of life. We must reclaim democracy as a real tool for change, available to all the people, regardless of income or social standing.

As the worlds only remaining super-power, America must be at the forefront of a new human rights culture. The USA is rightly seen as a traditional home of democracy, liberty, individuality, and freedom of speech. Americans must seize the opportunity to globalize these virtues instead of supporting regimes such as those in Nicaragua, in Chile, in Indonesia, in Iraq, which distort and corrupt the very ideals that form the backbone of the democratic mythos.

It is our responsibility, as individuals, as participants in democracy, to demand the redress of inequality wherever we see it. We cannot let ourselves be marginalized, told that we do not count. We will use what they have given us, we will choose with the dollar spent, with the ballot cast, with whatever means are at our disposal. It is our responsibility to work, to debate, to keep discourse alive, to generate and offer alternatives to the present self-interested ideologies; it is our responsibility to condemn greed and exploitation while lauding fairness and equanimity. It is our responsibility to examine the local specifics of people‚s lives and to bring an end to the rigid corporate systems in which people are nothing more than secondary units of exchange. We can and we must.

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