Re: Walden Bello on World Social Forum/Davos debate

"Le Monde Diplomatique" comes out of Paris (monthly). Its editor is Ignacio Ramonet, also professor in Paris. You could, perhaps, describe him as the French Chomsky. His paper is a leading leftist, pro-Third World paper which has also editions in other languages. Ramonet is a co-founder (or "the" founder?), just a few years ago, of ATTAC, an association which promotes the Tobin tax and has chapters in some 30 countries, European and Third World, also Quebec/Canada. Ramonet has also written in favour of "one, two, many Marshall Plans" (for development finance). In contrast to Chomsky, who is specialized in criticism, Ramonet and friends emphasize constructive action, along with criticism. ("Constructing alternatives" appeared also as a theme in Porto Alegre). One may surmise that Ramonet has read Boswell/Chase-Dunn, The Spiral of Capitalism and Socialism [at least, he and friends behave, as if they had read it], which states on page 12: "Global democracy is the equivalent of social democracy at the world level. It is both the first step and the primary goal of world socialism. All other benefits for working people, from environmental protection to banning child labor, flow from their ability to contest the standards and rule of the world order." If you were WSF, would you accept money from such a donor?