[LINK] Governments versus Peoples

[Antony Barry]

Governments versus Peoples
by Scott  Burchill
February 26, 2003

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=40&ItemID=3132

Contains -

> According to Patrick Tyler in The New York Times, President Bush and 
> the coalition which is preparing to re-landscape Mesopotamia now face 
> a "tenacious new adversary" - the public (17 Feb 03). They just won't 
> buy the Administration's arguments. According to Tyler, we're heading 
> into a new bipolar world with two superpowers: the US (meaning the 
> government in Washington) and public opinion. It's a development which 
> raises uncomfortable questions about the state of representative 
> government in the liberal democracies.
>
> One of the remarkable features of the moment is the extraordinary 
> linkages and solidarity which are being established by people around 
> the world in total disregard - and in some cases in defiance - of 
> their governments. Opposition to the war is increasingly unmediated by 
> government and mainstream information sources, thanks largely to the 
> internet where individuals can access arguments and details which 
> would never see the light of day in a broadsheet newspaper. 
> Governments cannot filter the dissemination of information or control 
> the debate, and are left to demonise their opponents.


phone : +61 2 6241 7659 | mailto:me@Tony-Barry.emu.id.au
mobile: +61 4 1242 0397 | http://tony-barry.emu.id.au