WTO Proposes Slavery for Africa

[arcadian]

Philadelphia - At a Wharton Business School conference on business in Africa, World Trade Organization representative Hanniford Schmidt announced the creation of a WTO initiative for "full private stewardry of labor" for the parts of Africa that have been hardest hit by the 500 years of Africa's free trade with the West.

The initiative will require Western companies doing business in some parts of Africa to own their workers outright. Schmidt recounted how private stewardship has been successfully applied to transport, power, water, traditional knowledge, and even the human genome. The WTO's "full private stewardry" program will extend these successes to (re)privatize humans themselves.

"Full, untrammelled stewardry is the best available solution to African poverty, and the inevitable result of free-market theory," Schmidt told more than 150 attendees. Schmidt acknowledged that the stewardry program was similar in many ways to slavery, but explained that just as "compassionate conservatism" has polished the rough edges on labor relations in industrialized countries, full stewardry, or "compassionate slavery," could be a similar boon to developing ones.

more at link
http://www.theyesmen.org/hijinks/wharton

[Marrah_G]

1. WTF????????????

::wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow:

[Dorian Gray]

27. My response, exactly

though I have to wonder if this is an Onion-esque piece. Cause there is NO WAY!

[marylanddem]

2. Is this article a put-on? Is it for real????

[csziggy]

10. I suspect it is a put-on

The Yes Men are a group of culture jamming activists who practice what they call "identity correction" by pretending to be powerful people and spokespersons for prominent organizations. They create and maintain fake websites similar to ones they want to spoof, and then they accept invitations received on their websites to appear at conferences, symposia, and TV shows. Their newfound, self-proclaimed authority to express the idea that corporations and governmental organizations often act in dehumanizing ways toward the public has met both positively and negatively with political overtones. Elaborate props are sometimes part of the ruse, as shown in their 2003 DVD release The Yes Men.

Their method is often satire: posing as corporate or government spokespeople, they often make shocking comments which they believe to be the real meaning of the organisation's ideology being hidden by spin, or extrapolate what they feel is the organisation's ideology in a 'reductio ad absurdum' to come out with outrageous conclustions, such as that it should be possible to sell your vote or that the poor should eat recycled human waste. On most occasions no shock or anger has been registered in the response to their prank, with no one realizing they were imposters. Sometimes, the Yes Men's phony spokesperson makes announcements that represent dream scenarios for the anti-globalization movement or opponents of corporate crime. The result is false news reports of the demise of the WTO, or Dow paying for a Union Carbide cleanup, which the Yes Men intend to provide publicity for what they see as problems in the current situation.
<SNIP>
Their experiences were documented in the film The Yes Men, distributed by United Artists, the film documentary info wars, and the book The Yes Men: The True Story of the End of the World Trade Organization
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yes_Men

The Wiki article gives specific examples of their "pranks" and this article fits the mold.

[arcadian]

18. Yup. When Bush said, "There ought to be limits to freedom", he was talking about the Yes men

He was talking about the website, gwbush.org that the Yesmen set up.

[HamdenRice]

28. But the conference probably was real !

In other words, the genius of this group is that they get taken seriously at real conferences, posing as WTO or World Bank or IMF officials.

It would be a lesser satire if the entire thing was a fake article and website. What makes it extraordinary is that they manage to get their credentials accepted, and then make the speech.

So part of the satire is the way the "real" audience then reacts to the presentation. I assume that the Wharton conference was real, and the Yesmen were trolling for participants to agree with them.

[TahitiNut]

16. Since truth is often stranger than fiction, especially these days, ...

http://www.culturekiosque.com/nouveau/news/wto_compassionate_slavery_for_africa_gatt_yes_men.html

[av8rdave]

3. wow..."compassionate slavery"

Just think how much better our reputation in the world would be today if we had only inflicted "compassionate torture."

[gulfcoastliberal]

4. Unreal - K&R... nt

[YOY]

12. Of course it is: it's the Yes Men.

Look them up. They have used such stunts to make points before.

[marylanddem]

5. If you google "hanniford Schmidt" it was apparently a send-up

someone passing himself off as a WTO official.

[Vickers]

6. Hint: "hijinks" is in the URL

:P

[Marrah_G]

7. DOh--------------- I missed that

I was having a hard time wrapping my brain around that one.

Thank you for easing my confuzzled Monday mind.

[arcadian]

23. Don't feel bad, it's kind of their point

They blur the line, so that most compassionate people go "WTF!?!?". The heartless corporate types merely go, "Hmm... sounds like an interesting proposal."

:hi:

[Ichingcarpenter]

8. The YES men get it

apparently some posters don't

[Incitatus]

9. from the same site- Halliburton solves global warming!

http://www.theyesmen.org/hijinks/survivaball

[Lucy Goosey]

11. The Yes Men are anti-corporate culture-jammers...

They've done this sort of thing before. It's funny to me, 'cause it's juuuust about believable.

The Yes Men

[arcadian]

13. Correct, it's totally believable

Essentially everything the article states is correct, except for just being honest and calling WTO trade practices "slavery". Which they essentially are.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

14. Wow. That is what I call biting satire.

But quite apt.

[arcadian]

15. It's not just a made up article.

They actually went to the Wharton school as mock WTO trade representatives and proposed this stuff.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

19. Holy shit! I didn't catch that part.

Unreal.

[dixiegrrrrl]

17. It's the YesMen... Hurray !!!

Saul Alinsky, famous Chicago community organizer, would applaud them.
He was a role model in the 70's for us community organizers.
( yeah, I was one...gonna run for office when I am 80 )

Go look up the Yesmen and have a fun discovery.
They are famous for attending stuffy corporate conventions, board meetings,
as "real" guests, then making very dry satirical speeches.
Eventually The PowersThatBe catch on and get very indignant, police have been called.
Couple of documentaries on them, and I think on YouTube.

think Colbert meets the Smothers Brothers meets Carlin, no music.

And they pick a real topic....this is their way of getting attention on what is happening in Africa, and why TPTB are so pissed. AFRICACOM has just been called out.

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:


edit: You guys above identified them whilst I was still typing.....

speedy lil buggers.

[brentspeak]

20. Brilliant!

Very funny stuff. And I wouldn't be surprised if the Wharton attendees actually took the phony proposals seriously.

[aquart]

21. "hijinks" is usually a tipoff, darlings.

Look at the link.

[HereSince1628]

22. Please tell me this "hikinks" link is for satire. Please. n/t

[McCamy Taylor]

24. Sometimes satire is less crazy than the truth.

[nichomachus]

25. Watch the Yes Men in action

See how they suck these folks in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeSp5rwFCSk

[tjwash]

26. The yes men strike again!!

:rofl:

FISHED IN!!!