This evening, I went to see
Naomi Klein
speak at the Athenaeum Theatre. She spoke mostly about the topics in her
book,
No Logo, such as branding, the privatisation of public space and
scary new international treaties due to shift even more power to multinational
corporations (apparently, corporations will soon have the power to sue
governments for subsidising industries in sectors where private enterprise
exists; this is happening with the Canadian postal service (being sued by
FedEx or UPS), and Naomi suggested it may happen with educational institutions
in Australia, thanks to things like Melbourne University Private).
Naomi spoke well and quite interestingly, stopping only to take sips from a
branded bottle of No Logo soda.
Then there were questions from the floor, in which one person in the audience
claimed that provocateurs from the Lyndon LaRouche group were handing out
alcohol at anti-globalisation protests to disinhibit protesters and turn them
violent.
Outside the theatre, greenies and Marxists did a roaring trade handing out
pamphlets. Perhaps surprisingly, there were no contingents of Young Liberals
or Ayn Rand fans protesting Naomi Klein's appearance.