Day 001 - 28 Jun 94 - Page 19


     
     1        role as a catalyst - inspiring others to take action. A
              good example of this was the Stop the City demonstrations
     2        of 1983/4 which were initiated by us but involved
              thousands of people who decided spontaneously to try to
     3        bring the financial heart of the industrial death machine
              to a standstill.  So successful were these mass actions
     4        that they spread to other cities.
 
     5        Perhaps the most successful campaign we have initiated in
              recent years", my Lord, this is the important paragraph,
     6        "has been the one against the McDonald's hamburger
              corporation.  This has become a nationwide and worldwide
     7        movement uniting many disparate campaigners in the aim of
              smashing a multinational that epitomises everything we
     8        despise - a junk culture, the deadly banality of
              capitalism.  McDonald's themselves are so frightened that
     9        they are resorting to threatening legal action - a sure
              sign we're winning!  For World Food Day 1986 (Oct 16) we
    10        produced a factsheet, 'What's Wrong with McDonald's',
              which is now established as a classic.  We've received
    11        requests for copies from all over the world, and many
              groups have used it to make their own leaflets.  We have
    12        also recently campaigned against another murderous
              multinational".  I will not read the company's name out.
    13        It would not be fair.
 
    14        I go on: "London Greenpeace is affiliated to the
              Anti-Nuclear Network, which reflects our belief in
    15        decentralisation and local campaigning.  We were active in
              supporting the miners' strike and the printworkers sacked
    16        by Murdoch and have been involved in the campaigns against
              the Public Order Act, the General Election (if elections
    17        changed anything they'd be abolished) and the Poll Tax.
              Many in our group are unemployed and are active in
    18        claimants' struggles.  At the present time we are
              developing a campaign - in collaboration with East
    19        European groups - for the abolition of all state borders
              and for the free movement of people throughout the world,
    20        and we shall be exposing the tyranny of the International
              Monetary Fund/World Bank and the '3rd World' debt
    21        crisis".
 
    22        Then comes a heading: "Join the Struggle". "Unlike most
              groups we have no 'leaders' or 'members'; all our work is
    23        done collectively".  That may bear powerfully on the
              question of responsibility for the distribution of the
    24        words complained of in this action.
 
    25        "You can join us by coming to our weekly meetings.
              Occasionally we invite speakers from other organisations. 
    26        We encourage people to campaign locally (though we welcome 
              donations from people who can't be active themselves) by 
    27        joining existing groups or setting up their own.  We can
              supply you with a list of contacts.  As a local group
    28        ourselves, we have no 'branches', but there are groups
              throughout the world who share our aims.  Joining one of
    29        them means you are taking the first steps on the road to
              revolution and liberation."
    30
              One comment one can make, perhaps, about this leaflet, one

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