expenses for the one hundred plus South Korean farmers?
The organization ActivistCash.com offers some clues as to where some of the money is coming from,
and where it is going. This “watchdog” web site is administered by an organization named the Center
for Consumer Freedom. The organization claims that it is, “committed to providing detailed and up-to-
date information about the funding sources of organizations and activists, whether respectable or
radical” (Center for Consumer Freedom, 2011, ¶ 1).
It is nearly impossible to get one’s arms around the entire funding mechanism for the anti-globalization
movement, but the following is just one example provided by the ActivistCash web site. According to
this watchdog group, two prominent and wealthy individuals are responsible for much of the funding
that the Ruckus Society organization receives. Two names that are specifically stated by the Center for
Consumer Freedom are media mogul Ted Turner, and the owners of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. For
example, the Center contends that Ted Turner provided a $150,000 grant to the Ruckus Society. The
contributions from Ben & Jerry’s is thought to reach the six figure mark (Center for Consumer Freedom,
2011).
The following is a list of prominent celebrities who according to The Center for Consumer Freedom
(2011), have contributed funds to some of the anti-globalization special interest groups identified in this
article.
Pamela Anderson Richard Dean Anderson Bea Arthur Ed Asner Alec Baldwin Judi Bari Bob Barker Kim Basinger Peter Benchley
Pierce Brosnan James Cromwell Jamie Lee Curtis Jenna Elfman Jennie Garth Jane Goodall Woody Harrelson Rutger Hauer Casey Kasem
Natalie Maines Wendie Malick Rue McClanahan Robert Redford Emily Robison Martin Sheen Michael Strahan James Taylor Mary Tyler-Moore
Candice Bergen Linda Blair Lorraine Bracco
Christopher Lee Martie Maguire Bill Maher
Betty White Noah Wyle
By no means should this list be considered to be exhaustive, nor can we infer the intentions of some, if
not all the contributors. While some of the money contributions may have been done purposively by
these contributors, there is a possibility that some of these people may have contributed to these
groups inadvertently. Nevertheless, this brief list of names gives us some idea of where some of the
funding for anti-globalization and social justice groups may be coming from.
Conclusion
It has been over eight years now since my trip to Cancun, Mexico and the subsequent immersion into
the study of anti-globalization groups. I have walked warily through two shanty encampments in
Downtown Cancun City on the mainland and have seen the suspicious stares of Zapatista guerillas and
indigenous people all huddled around their tents… adorned with large pictures of Che Guevara and Mao
Tse Tung and the ever-present hammer and sickle iconography. At first everyone seemed to glare at us
suspiciously as we walked through the encampments on two of the five days of rioting. But on the third,
fourth, and fifth day, we had melded into the background and the protestors no longer seemed to
notice us, or care if we were there watching and photographing their actions. It was as if we were Dian
Fossey in the movie Gorillas in the Mist.
Later that year in Miami, I got the chance to talk to several of the protestors during chance encounters.
One particular encounter sticks in my memory the most. It was on the last day of the demonstrations…
on Friday. There was one last impromptu protest by the remaining 100 or so protestors that had not
been arrested, or had not already left the city after Thursday’s rumble through the streets of Downtown
Miami. This time, the remaining rag tag group had assembled at the site of the Dade County Jail at the
Civic Center to protest the “unlawful arrest” of several hundred of their compatriots. By Friday, the
police vastly outnumbered the paltry remnants of protestors that stayed for one last gasp.
As I arrived at the scene of the Civic Center protest, we received information on our police radio from
police spotters on the nearby rooftops that they had observed several of the protestors gathering rocks
and bottles and putting them into their backpacks. Soon after hearing this, I approached an individual
protestor who had ostensibly been sent out on foot by the protest leaders to conduct a reconnaissance
of the area. This was a typical ploy of the protestors, that they used to try to gain a situational
awareness of their position in relation to the position of the police. That particular day, they were
completely surrounded and vastly outnumbered.
I approached this lone protestor, who was at least a block away from the main gathering of protestors in
their “privacy circles” that they used to huddle and coordinate their plans prior to executing their
actions. As I got close, I noticed that this protestor was a tall (6’ 6”) white male, approximately 19 years
old. He had wavy long blonde hair, and a hint of a first attempt beard that gave away his young age. He
was carrying a backpack as described by the spotters on the roof.
I called him over and as he got closer, I noticed that his hands were shaking. I realized that this young
kid was terrified of me. I took off my ballistic riot helmet, and I spoke softly to him. While I was wary
that he may have weapons inside his backpack, I wanted to signal to him that I meant him no harm. I
wanted to set him at ease, and thereby minimizing the chance of him doing something irrational.
Softly I said to him, “son …. your hands are shaking. I’m not here to mess with you… I promise.” I then
went on and asked him if he would voluntarily open his backpack for me to allay my fears. I told him
how we had received information from the rooftop spotters that some of the protestors were arming
themselves with rocks and bottles. The kid complied, and he opened his backpack for me. There were
no rocks or bottles. Just a bunch of books and pamphlets and some granola bars. I recall seeing the
Communist Manifesto, a book on Mao Tse Tung, and the book The History of the Russian Revolution, by
Leon Trotsky that I had read for a political science class at Florida International University back in 1976. I
had found a common point of discussion, and I used it to try to set him at ease.
“Have you read this book?” I asked him.
“No I haven’t started it yet,” he replied.
“It’s really a good book… one of the best I’ve ever read. I couldn’t put it down,” I told him… and it was
true. That Trotsky book had been one of my favorites in college.
I then asked him where he was from and what he was doing in Miami. The young kid told me that he
was from Wisconsin. He had heard about the FTAA and had come down to show his solidarity with his
comrades. As I looked at this tall, naïve, nervous young boy, I couldn’t help but wonder how a middle
class kid from mid-America like this gets involved in a communist-inspired direct action campaign. I was
so tempted to start a discourse with him on the principles of Communism versus Americanism, but I
realized that I neither had the time, nor was it safe to do so. There were still 100 plus non-compliant
protestors who still had a chance to create some havoc. Now was not the time to talk. Nevertheless,
the parent within me felt like taking this kid aside and talking to him… make him realize how foolish he
was to listen to the propagandists of the left. Didn’t he realize how fortunate he was to live in a
democracy like ours? I felt like telling him stories of my family in Cuba as they fled the revolution in
1960. Maybe I can show him and convert him back to being a “true” American.
But this was not the time, nor was it my place to do so. I let the kid go since I had no legal reason to
arrest him. As I was getting ready to let him go, I said to him, “son… I’m going to let you go now. All I
ask is that you don’t do anything to damage this city. And please be careful. There are some really
rough neighborhoods around here.” As he walked away, I noticed that he was no longer visibly shaking.
About an hour later, after our mobile field forces had arrested several dozens of the remaining
protestors, another young protestor comes up to me in obvious distress and says, “officer… two guys
robbed me and took my backpack… all my money… my phone… everything I own. I don’t even know
where I am, or where my motel is located. I don’t have anyone to call to pick me up… I just want to go
home.”
I wanted to help him, and under normal circumstances I probably would have. But we were in the
middle of making more arrests, and I had my attention fully turned on the task at hand. At that point, I
could do little to help this helpless kid. The best I could do is point him in the direction where I thought
his motel was located at so that he could walk there. I told him, “you’d better start walking now. You
don’t want to get caught in this area after dark.”
The second young protestor walked away. I felt bad for him and the other tall young kid. I couldn’t help
but think of my own two sons. I couldn’t help but wonder what in the world these two and others just
like him were doing in Miami.
References
Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2011). Retrieved from http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/globalization
Nattrass, B., & Altomare M. (2002). Dancing with the tiger: Learning sustainability step by natural step.
Gabriola Island, BC, Canada.
Nuñez, E. L. (2007). Unintended Effects of Corporate Social Responsibility: When is Doing “Good” Not
Good for Business? Doctoral dissertation, Lynn University, 2007.
The Center for Consumer Freedom (2011). ActivistCash.com. Retrieved from
http://activistcash.com/organization_overview.cfm/o/188-ruckus-society
The Ruckus Society (2011). Retrieved from http://www.ruckus.org/article.php?list=type&type=70
Winebrenner Edwards, D. (2003, October 23). Marching to Miami: Stop the FTAA! People’s Weekly
World Newspaper. Retrieved from http://www.pww.org/article/articleprint/4281/