<nettime> re:All Right, I admit it -- I went...

[Martin Lucas <mlucas@igc.org>]

Those ineffectual leftists...

Davos NYC style was certainly a taste of a post-Giuliani and post (I
think) Berlusconi NYC.  The event was transformed by the change of
venue.  The press was tightly controlled.  This backfired.  Most foreign
journalists had better access to the demonstrators outside than to the
big shots inside, and the stories for foreign TV  and press reflected
this.  The display of police force was successfully designed to be
daunting.  Police presence included for the first time fully masked
'ninja's, as well as lots of officers with cute little DV-cams.    You
had to see Bill Gates talking about how he didn't realize how screwed up
things were until he started his foundation to believe it.   It's hard
to imaging what it must have been like to see the center of a vibrant
city turned into an instant police state for one's benefit.
Demonstrators were good humored. The effort to display the liberal face
of capitalism was largely unsuccessful despite Bono's best efforts.  In
fact we might say what we saw was Davos's sorry ass.

Marty L.

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