The Obama - factor

Neither on Thursday nor on Friday will Pittsburgh produce pictures like the vast immense protests in Seattle on the occasion of the 1999 WTO-ministerial conference. Then more than 50,000 blocked the inaugural event of the world trade conference.

Probably more fitting is what some speakers said during the manifestations on Sunday: That here the beginnings are showing of a movement against poverty, against unemployment, against being homeless and against their causes, which cannot be eliminated by some show-off projects.

The social movements in the USA are not especially strong. I have spoken with many activists and inquired about the reasons. A few important ones eventually could be summarised by the term “Obama-factor”:

Over months many people worked very energetically on the election of Obama. Now he is in office and a mixture of exhaustion and waiting for what he can deliver eventually reduced the people’s willingness for mobilisation considerably.

Therefore the G20-protests look somewhat like the situation of the German anti-nuclear movement during the years following 1998. Red-green was ruling, the government set out with the clear promise to end nuclear energy (also supported very energetically by many). This caused many activists for an energy-turn-around to be on standby. When finally the questionable “consensus” about the “departure” was on the table many people did not like it. But then it was not possible to get those back on the streets, who were trusting their representatives in parliament and government.

Today Obama is not facing an immediate election battle. But nevertheless even those activists who are expecting very little of him do not like to see him damaged. Every weakness is exploited strongly by the Republicans and especially the racists. When a few days ago Obama was encouraging children starting school (something no president had done for years) there were many parents who did like their children to be addressed so directly by a black person. They do not demonstrate against Obama, the people of the Bail-out-People-Movement, and they assume that others are waiting too instead of taking to the streets.

One unemployed from Pittsburgh told me at a bus-stop: “ Yes, if the G20-summit would have taken place with Bush as the president, then there would be clashes here! But now the people are not interested in politics. They have their own worries. It would have been better the summit was arranged for somewhere else.”

After lunch we were standing together with group from the tent city. They agreed with the contemplations about the Obama-factor. But it was also a problem that many, many Americans, especially the younger ones, considered iPods more important than politics. And those who were in true misery was not keen on a large demonstration. “The police is another reason to reconsider their participation twice,” said a young anarchist. And one female organiser from New York knows that many more people could have come if they had not been scared by the extra costs of the trip.

And there still are those: the true Obama-fans. The air-brusher “Pizza” from Pittsburgh takes me in his care to the initial manifestation of the next demonstration. He thinks: “The world shows more goodwill towards America since we have this president! That counts too!”

On our way children are cheering at us with both arms up: “Obama!” “Obama!”. But Pizza says also that he has another motor-cap in his garage – in case that one day he cannot support Obama’s policy anymore.

(translated by Paul Woods, Coorditrad)