Another World is Possible

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What if 51,000 people from 131 countries put their heads together to discuss what is wrong with the world and how to work together to change it? In early 2002, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, public officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations, indigenous nations, farmers, and labor -- including 11,000 young people -- gathered for the World Social Forum. Called in response to the elite gathering of the World Economic Forum in New York, this week of workshops, panel discussions, and high-spirited demonstrations was inspirational for those attending.

The international event, covered extensively by the media in other parts of the world, was virtually ignored by the US press. ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE presents a sampling of the issues and events at this enormous and creative gathering. Amongst the speakers featured are Naomi Klein, Vandana Shiva, Kevin Danaher, Wolfgang Sachs, and Rigoberta Menchu. This documentary impression of the gathering gives hope to US activists that, despite the media blackout, the movement for social justice is alive and well around the world.

'When local activists scattered around England's 13 North American colonies prepared for the American Revolution, they met to form the Continental Congress. The World Social Forum is today's global equivalent. If you want to get an inside glimpse of the movement that is linking the advocates of democracy, human rights, and environmental protection around the world, see Another World is Possible .' Jeremy Brecher, historian, co-author, Globalization from Below: The Power of Solidarity

'Despite long odds, activists join forces in Porte Alegre, Brazil to advocate a more hopeful, human-centered alternative to the current global business-as-usual philosophy.' Prof. Timothy McGettigan, PhD, Department of Sociology, Colorado State University-Pueblo

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Main credits

Dworkin, Mark (screenwriter)
Dworkin, Mark (film director)
Dworkin, Mark (film editor)
Dworkin, Mark (cinematographer)
Young, Melissa (screenwriter)
Young, Melissa (film director)
Young, Melissa (film producer)

Other credits

Videographer/editor, Mark Dworkin.

MARC Record See Worldcat record

Keywords

World Social Forum, globalization, Naomi Klein, Vandana Shiva, Kevin Danaher, Wolfgang Sachs, Rigoberta Menchu, social justice,"Another World is Possible",Bullfrog Films,Mark Dworkin, Melissa Young,doc; shod; politics; sociss

00:00:00.992 --> 00:00:04.960
[BULLFROG CALLING]

00:00:09.920 --> 00:00:13.888
[MUSIC PLAYING]

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- Well, I came all the way from
Palestine to ask for your help,

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to support the Palestinian
people, which is now suffering

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from great oppression.

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- They realize that they
wanted to go somewhere,

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and it's the same place.

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[NON-ENGLISH SINGING]

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- We're seeing
greater inequality,

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greater disparity between
nations and within nations.

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We're seeing lower environmental
and labor standards.

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We're seeing higher fences
and barriers rather than

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lower ones.

00:02:01.330 --> 00:02:03.910
We're seeing global
fortresses instead

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of the promised global village.

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- We need a whole paradigm shift
to a different set of values,

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away from money values and
violence to life values

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and non-violence.

00:02:15.052 --> 00:02:17.876
[NON-ENGLISH SINGING]

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- A defense of life, defense
of our caring for each other,

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the defense of compassionate
and sustainable economies

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is being defined as a crime,
and crimes against nature,

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against women, against children,
against local economies,

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against democracy, are being
defined as corporate ranks.

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- These big transnationals,
they're not citizens,

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but they're given rights.

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And they had been given
licenses and rights to kill us.

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- Suddenly, there are these
overtures coming from the World

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Bank, and representatives
from the European Union

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who want to come to
the World Social Forum

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and turn this meeting
into another meeting

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where everybody agrees
and nothing changes.

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That's exactly what
we're fighting against.

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We need to talk about not what
is said, but what is done.

00:04:06.830 --> 00:04:09.380
And we need to no
longer be polite.

00:04:09.380 --> 00:04:11.150
And we can't always be civil.

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And we certainly
can't be patient.

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[NON-ENGLISH SINGING]

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- The type of development we
are in is an optical illusion.

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Because while it produces all
kinds of glorious products

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and services, the world
already consumes more resources

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than nature can regenerate.

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- It is a system in which
the 80% of the population

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must be written off
as dispensable, merely

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for deriving their
life from the resources

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that the corporations
have set their eyes on.

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[CHEERING]

00:05:07.536 --> 00:05:10.270
- [NON-ENGLISH CHANTING]

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- We have been told
by our politicians,

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even by our educators, that
basically everything is

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impossible.

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Addressing poverty
is impossible.

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Launching any kind of
ambitious new social program

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is impossible.

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What we've been doing is the
opposite of this conspiracy

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of lowered expectations.

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We've launched a kind of global
conspiracy of inspiration

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and possibilities, a
world in which people

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laugh openly in the face
of tremendous power.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:06:05.830 --> 00:06:08.960
- Changing things also implies
a deep reflection on the way we

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operate on a day-to-day basis
with those who are different

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from us--

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the indigenous peoples, gitanos,
Afro descendants, immigrants,

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gay people, and so on.

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That is that richness that
will guide our proposals.

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[NON-ENGLISH SINGING]

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- What we're trying to
do is educate people

00:08:06.200 --> 00:08:11.200
about the truth of what happens
if you join the military.

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- In the US, people of
color make up about 25%

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of the population.

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Yet during the Gulf
War, people of color

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made up 50% of the front line.

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In order to make some
other connections

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around the kinds of
racism that exist,

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in different forms of
militarism around the world,

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we have Laura to speak about the
war on drugs and Plan Colombia.

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- During the protest against the
meeting of the Inter-American

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Development Bank last year, we
faced a huge, huge repression.

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Even when some of
the demonstrators

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tried to do non-violent
actions and passive resistance,

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they were crushed by the police.

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- I've seen some shirts around,
especially at the youth camp,

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that kind of show the World
Trade Centers being blown

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up, and like fuck the USA.

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That was such a trip to me.

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If someone wore
that back home, we'd

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probably get beat up, right?

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So my question is, what
was the initial reaction

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of like people--

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like maybe people's
friends, or students,

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you know, comrades that
they struggle with,

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of that when they
saw that that day?

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- The world has changed
since September the 11th.

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We've heard this
over and over again.

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And one of the ways in
which it has changed

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is that power now acts
with incredible defiance,

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with greater and
greater defiance.

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It's fast becoming
a world where power

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laughs in the face of people.

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- [NON-ENGLISH CHANTING]

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- So what we've been
doing all week here

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is telling each other rumors
about creative and brave

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resistance, telling
each other stories that

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are true stories,
that it is possible,

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for instance, for India
to create and disseminate

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affordable drugs to
treat people with HIV,

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how it is possible for
people in Cochabamba, Bolivia

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to fight the privatization
of their water system

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against incredible
state repression.

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- We tell each other
stories about how

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it is possible for unemployed
workers in Soweto in South

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Africa to fight privatization
of water and electricity

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by systematically reconnecting
each other's electricity

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and water.

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And we tell each other
stories about how

00:14:07.010 --> 00:14:10.460
it is possible for
landless people in Brazil

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to reclaim huge pieces
of land and turn them

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into sites of sustainable
community and agriculture

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and development.

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- [NON-ENGLISH SINGING]

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- We've had as much as
half a million farmers,

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a million farmers, to say,
seeds belong to farmers.

00:17:32.340 --> 00:17:34.950
Farmers have a
right to safe seed.

00:17:34.950 --> 00:17:38.250
Farmers have a right to know
what went into their seed, just

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like consumers have a right to
know what went into their food.

00:17:41.850 --> 00:17:44.670
The corporations are trying
to introduce transgenics

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against people's will, through
food emergencies and food

00:17:49.110 --> 00:17:50.250
relief.

00:17:50.250 --> 00:17:52.890
When the Odisha
Cyclone happened,

00:17:52.890 --> 00:17:56.060
we immediately did tests
on the corn and soya

00:17:56.060 --> 00:17:59.790
being distributed, and it was
all genetically engineered.

00:17:59.790 --> 00:18:04.320
The poorest of famine victims
have rejected these foods.

00:18:04.320 --> 00:18:07.500
The women of the slums
of Delhi have actions

00:18:07.500 --> 00:18:10.620
against GE soya imports.

00:18:10.620 --> 00:18:13.050
- There is a movement
against genetic engineering

00:18:13.050 --> 00:18:15.570
in the United States,
and it's growing.

00:18:15.570 --> 00:18:19.140
Surveys are consistently
showing that between 40% and 50%

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of US consumers would not
purchase genetically engineered

00:18:21.870 --> 00:18:25.380
ingredients if they were
labeled, and that close to 100%

00:18:25.380 --> 00:18:27.540
actually are demanding labels.

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There is also a voluntary
labeling brigade

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that has started in
the United States,

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but it's actually
going into stores

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and labeling products, saying
these products contain GMOs.

00:18:37.620 --> 00:18:40.662
- [NON-ENGLISH CHANTING]

00:19:29.470 --> 00:19:32.210
- Just had total fun last
night, just to hear hip hop,

00:19:32.210 --> 00:19:34.880
especially to hear it be
like Afrocentric hip hop.

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It's really cool just to
be around black people

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in another country and
to feel the same vibe

00:19:40.233 --> 00:19:41.858
and the same connection
was pretty fun.

00:19:47.230 --> 00:19:49.880
- Like, remember that first day
when we went to the youth camp?

00:19:49.880 --> 00:19:52.290
And at first, you just saw
the tents off in the distance,

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and then you got
closer and closer.

00:19:53.748 --> 00:19:56.400
And there all those
amnesty signs,

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and like the Worker's
Party signs and everything.

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I've never seen anything
like that in my entire life,

00:20:01.490 --> 00:20:04.530
and I was kind of shocked,
I mean, in a good way,

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where I was like, whoa,
this is actually a big deal.

00:20:07.055 --> 00:20:09.430
- People who are openly being
like proud to be socialist,

00:20:09.430 --> 00:20:11.320
or to have socialist
thinking, like that's

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what was really cool.

00:20:12.442 --> 00:20:13.900
Then like the rally
and the end, it

00:20:13.900 --> 00:20:16.060
was just so many people there.

00:20:16.060 --> 00:20:17.890
And you could feel
just a spirit of love

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throughout the whole crowd.

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- Social change is all about,
like, celebrating life.

00:20:22.023 --> 00:20:23.730
It's [INAUDIBLE].

00:20:23.730 --> 00:20:25.750
That whole-- I mean,
marches should be fun.

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They should be things that we
can dance at, and have music

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at, and enjoy each
other's company,

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and celebrate the
fact that we actually

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want to do something good.

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I mean, here, there's
so much energy.

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I mean, it's important to
know that there's people

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all over the world who
think like this, too.

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We're not just by ourselves.

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- Every time, like, [INAUDIBLE],,
it's almost this reform, like--

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or like a step, like--
and then there'll

00:20:52.810 --> 00:20:55.330
be like a woman of color,
like an economist of color,

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or like somebody from
the global south that

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will present
something, and it'll

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be like five steps more radical.

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And, you know, so
it'll be like-- you

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know, we need to change
the IMF, and then--

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so like this one woman I went
and heard, and she was like,

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no, no, we need the
IMF out of our country.

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- Like, I've never felt more
guilty about being an American

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than I do here.

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You know, having people be
like, where are you from?

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And just being like, oh,
I don't want to tell you.

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I'm from the US.

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I'd be like, the US, and
then I want to tell them,

00:21:19.410 --> 00:21:21.807
oh, but I don't like a lot
of the things too, you know.

00:21:21.807 --> 00:21:24.390
- As Americans, I think people
have been really friendly to us

00:21:24.390 --> 00:21:25.060
and open.

00:21:25.060 --> 00:21:29.225
You know, I can imagine much
more animosity towards us.

00:21:29.225 --> 00:21:30.600
I mean, you know,
especially when

00:21:30.600 --> 00:21:33.510
you look at how we as
Americans treat immigrants

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or people from other countries.

00:21:35.727 --> 00:21:38.763
[NON-ENGLISH SINGING]

00:21:56.790 --> 00:21:58.790
- It's a carnival of ideas.

00:21:58.790 --> 00:22:00.260
It's a carnival of proposals.

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It's a carnival action.

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The fact that there's just
so many people committed

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to these issues
in different ways

00:22:06.170 --> 00:22:07.940
from around the
world coming together

00:22:07.940 --> 00:22:09.980
is a very inspiring thing.

00:22:09.980 --> 00:22:11.950
It's a little bit chaotic.

00:22:11.950 --> 00:22:14.230
[NON-ENGLISH SINGING]

00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:19.040
- We will celebrate sharing.

00:22:19.040 --> 00:22:21.050
We will celebrate giving.

00:22:21.050 --> 00:22:25.300
We better not make
sacred the principle

00:22:25.300 --> 00:22:29.390
of organized greed, which is
what globalization has become.

00:22:29.390 --> 00:22:33.260
I believe another world
is not just possible--

00:22:33.260 --> 00:22:36.201
it is necessary,
and we will make it.

00:22:36.201 --> 00:22:37.644
Thank you.

00:22:37.644 --> 00:22:41.011
[NON-ENGLISH SINGING]

00:22:46.320 --> 00:22:48.950
- And we have many
alternatives-- the alternative,

00:22:48.950 --> 00:22:54.380
for instance, to privatization
is not an uncritical defense

00:22:54.380 --> 00:22:56.240
of a centralized state.

00:22:56.240 --> 00:22:58.730
The alternative to
privatization is

00:22:58.730 --> 00:23:01.970
a genuine democratic
public sphere.

00:23:01.970 --> 00:23:05.210
The alternative
to top-down power

00:23:05.210 --> 00:23:08.990
is power that rises
from the grassroots.

00:23:08.990 --> 00:23:12.680
The alternative to
one-size-fits-all systems,

00:23:12.680 --> 00:23:18.020
to homogeneity, is an
embrace of diversity.

00:23:18.020 --> 00:23:21.710
The alternative to
political spectatorship

00:23:21.710 --> 00:23:24.440
is political participation.

00:23:24.440 --> 00:23:27.590
And the alternative
to paralysis,

00:23:27.590 --> 00:23:32.360
to a culture that tells us that
there are no possibilities,

00:23:32.360 --> 00:23:34.440
is not civil society.

00:23:34.440 --> 00:23:36.612
It's civil disobedience.

00:23:36.612 --> 00:23:38.295
[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:23:38.295 --> 00:23:42.191
[NON-ENGLISH SINGING]