Researching 'G8' - Democracy.. What Democracy&;#063;&;#063;!

G8 - Democracy! What Democracy?

Having never been deeply interested in politics, I freely admit that I
took little interest in what was previously the G7 and is now the G8. I
certainly had no idea that it was actually 'founded' twenty five years
ago starting life as the G5 - A group of just 5 men. Those men being
the leaders of five nations - France, Britain, Germany, Japan and the
USA.

How this group came into being was at the initiative of the U.S.,
whereby the American Secretary to the Treasury, George Shultz, invited
the finance ministers of Great Britain, Germany and France to undertake
informal discussions, concerning the then international monetary crisis
which had resulted from the U.S. abandoning the 'Gold Standard'. This
meeting took place in the White House library, on March 25, 1973.
Following that meeting, it was agreed to have a series of meetings over
the next few months, and which was to include the Japanese minister. It
was the press that coined the name "Group of Five" which quickly became
known as the G5.

Two years later, , on November 17, 1975, the French President, Val?ry
Giscard, hosted the first summit of what became the G7, by including
Italy and Canada. Effectively, an elite group of men - leaders of what
is described as the world's most industrialised, wealthy and powerful
nations. The agenda, originally money and oil, would subsequently
become much broader, and proposed by whichever leader hosted the
meeting.

1994 was the first time that Russia was invited to attend as a 'guest',
but not officially as part of the group. Then, in 1996, Moscow hosted
the G7 at Boris Yeltsin's invitation.

Fast-forwarding to the year 2001, and with Russia now officially part
of the group (hence G8), this global quango has finally come under
extreme 'public questioning' or at least 'exposure' to the world's
general public at large. While the G8 argues it is all about the
'benevolent concern of the world at large', clearly hundreds of groups,
comprising hundreds of thousands of 'global citizens', with diverse
concerns about third world poverty, the environment, and many other
issues, clearly challenge the G8's claims.

One of the things that particularly caught my attention amidst the
protests, and countered by what struck me as more than just a
'heavy-handed' paramilitary/police force, resulting in the death of one
protestor, was an alleged comment by the French president to the effect
that "maybe there should be some consultation with the groups - the
general public&;#8230;"

It struck me that this 'afterthought' seemed a bit late in the offing,
having self-created their organisation some 25+ years ago. But what a
novel idea! Political leaders, supposedly 'servants of the people',
actually considering 'consulting the people'! As for this organisation
being democratic in any way, shape or form, the scenes of blue helmeted
paramilitary 'security forces' versus the general public made me think
of a cross between the lead up to the French revolution and the Nazi
storm-troopers subduing the masses. Protestors and journalists alike
were attacked and beaten, whether arguably justifiable or not.

I find it disturbing that 8 'leaders' of 8 'nations' can be portrayed
as a democratic organisation determining how the world, made up of
hundreds of nations, should be run. The words 'collective dictatorship'
keep springing to mind - a dictatorship established on the basis of
wealth and 'power'.

I have heard the term 'New World Order' bandied around, too. But, this
'order' is not 'new'. Germany, Italy and Japan had planned on running
the world just over a half century ago. How ironic that the very
nations which opposed and defeated that concept, now collaborate to
repeat history, albeit fronted by politicians and backed by the world
financiers and paramilitary 'security' forces. Then again - Hitler
started out that way too, and also masqueraded as
benevolent&;#8230;

Copyright David Taub, July 2001

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