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Nice leaflet, double sided with two per sheet of A4.
Please email us at wsm_ireland@yahoo.com telling us how many you are thinking of using and where you will distribute them |
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The people of the planet have no say whatsoever in their decision making. Our rulers and bosses make the decisions in secret. But a technicality means that on June 7th those of us in southern Ireland will be the only people in Europe given a chance to vote against a small aspect of the bosses plans.
On the 7th of June you can vote in a referendum on the Nice treaty - no one in any other European country will get that chance - their governments have been able to make that decision for them. We have been given a small chance to throw a 'spanner in the works' of their project of capitalist 'globalisation'. If we vote down the treaty then it cannot be implemented anywhere.
We can defeat their plans. Already the World Bank has cancelled its June Barcelona conference because it feared the demonstrations that were planned. Vote against Nice and get involved in the struggle for a better world here in Ireland.
The real agenda of the Nice treaty is a world for profit not people. We won't stop this agenda by voting against the treaty but it is a minor part of building a struggle for a different world. One based on globalisation in the interests of all the world's people rather than the wealthy minority who run the system now.
In the 'global' world the bosses are building, borders are removed for money but are reinforced to prevent the free movement of people. This has human costs, not simply in terms of unemployment in Ireland (e.g. the movement of Fruit of the Loom textile factories from Donegal to Morocco) but also in the maintenance of vicious low pay and anti-union regimes on the edges of the EU. Workers fleeing these regimes for the EU are drowning in their hundreds as they attempt the dangerous night crossing from North Africa to Spain.
In this 'global' world the multinational drug companies are trying to use 'intellectual property' laws to prevent the manufacture of cheap anti-AIDS drugs for the tens of millions dying because of AIDS in Africa. They want to protect profits rather than save lives. Nice includes the introduction of qualified majority voting on intellectual property matters which will make it easier to agree and enforce such laws.
Biotechnology companies want to force the importation of genetically modified foods into Europe and even to outlaw the labelling of foodstuffs to indicate they contain GM foods.
The EU imposed 'free market' in "trade in services" means privatisation of public services. This targets not only obvious services like transport and telecommunications but also education and healthcare. This results in
1) The increased cost of services as the private business seeks to maximise its profits
2) A decreased quality of service for the same reasons, in particular for those who for one reason or another are less profitable or less able to pay for the service
3) Job losses, speed ups and longer hours for those who work in providing these services.
The Nice treaty will set up a European Rapid Reaction Force whose aggressive purpose is revealed by its design - it is to be able to intervene up to 4,000 kilometres from the borders of Europe! Ireland will not only supply troops to this force but will have to spend £450 million on it.
EU Commission President Romano Prodi in an interview with The (British) Independent on 4 February 2000 said "If you don't want to call it a European army, don't call it a European army. You can call it 'Margaret', you can call it 'Mary-Anne', you can find any name, but it is a joint effort for peace-keeping missions". The bombing of Baghdad and Belgrade were both carried out under the cover of 'peace-keeping'.
The bosses want us to provide not only the labour to make their profits but also the muscle to protect them. As Des O'Malley TD explained "Irish troops should be prepared to fight to defend North Sea oil" (speaking to a delegation from the Peace and Neutrality Alliance,14/5/98). Vote NO on June 7th and tell them to get stuffed!
We are not opposed to the idea of unity of the peoples of Europe and the world. But this is not what the Nice vote is about. At the time of the Nice Summit, anarchists in Ireland together with anarchists in other European countries and countries outside of Europe, issued a statement that explained what our alternative is.
"We anarchist activists from Europe and all over the world struggle daily for a society that is completely different to the one promoted by the European Union or the other capitalist institutions..... We want a society based on equality, a classless society, without sexism and racism, in which everyone contributes to the overall wealth according to their abilities and from which everyone receives according to their needs. We want a free society that is really democratic, in which production is self-managed by workers, in which everyone can move and settle where they want with respect to their political, social and economical rights. We want a society in which we all stand together, without borders. We want a world where freedom, justice and dignity are reality."
This is the world we want but it can only become a reality if people like you get involved. Why not start by working with us in this campaign, ring Andrew at 087 9984150 to get involved.
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Nice leaflet, double sided with two per sheet of A4.
Please email us at wsm_ireland@yahoo.com telling us how many you are thinking of using and where you will distribute them |
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