Don't Dismiss Globalisation Protests 

David A. Ventimiglia / Letter to Editor of SF Chronicle 24jul01

Editor -- In joining the chorus of criticism of the protesters in Genoa ("Through the narrow lens," July 23), Carolyn Lochhead fails to distinguish herself from the op-ed herd. She describes the demonstrators' cause as "so amorphous that the protesters themselves are hard put to say just what it is" - - apparently without bothering to ask any of the protesters just what their cause is. 

She dismisses the Quebec protesters as "middle-class white kids" in order to unfairly disqualify them from the debate. She enlists the opinion of Mexican President Vicente Fox to imply that, because the protesters lack the visceral experience of rural Mexican poverty, they are incapable of having a valid opinion on the effects of globalization -- yet she never discovers that Fox lacks that experience as well. 

More important, she unquestioningly considers the efforts of the Group of Eight (G-8) summit as promoting "free trade" and never challenges the assumption that increased global trade is what lifts poor nations out of poverty. 

The presence of protectionist measures, such as patents and copyright protection, on the industrialized nations' agenda calls into question their free-trade credentials. And there is little credible evidence -- and much to the contrary -- that enhanced global trade has a positive effect on world poverty. 

DAVID A. VENTIMIGLIA
San Francisco