e-mail from World Social Forum in Brazil.

[realFedUp]

From friends at WSF...

greetings from porto alegre and the 5th world social
forum. this confluence of peace and justice movements
from the world over has surpassed our wildest
imaginings. here is an article from terraviva, the wsf
newspaper..to give you an idea of what we are
experiencing.

"the traffic stopped to standstill wednesday night in
downtown porto alegre. flags, drums, chants and some
yelling broke the routines of this so very hot summer.
the world sical forum is back in its hometown after
its passage through an even hotter mumbai india last
summer. the march for peace and dignity made it clear
to all with its 200,000 participants. the u.s.
sponsored free trade agreement of the americas and
u.s. president george bush competed for the role of
villain. the 5th world social forum has grand
aspiration. it has attracted more than 5,700
organizations who will be involved in more than 2,000
activities, covering 11 main themes, and speaking in
16 languages including quichua, hindi and various
other asian and african languages.
more than 2,800 volunteer are involved invarious
aspects of the organization. there are 100 concerts,
41 theatrical presentations, 13 dance performances and
85 art performances."

klaus schwab, founder and executive chairperson of the
wsf writes an article entitled,"shaping the future:
the work of social entrepreneurs"
his words will give you a picture of the passionate,
optimism wsf is promoting here.
"as the world economic forum and the world social
forum convene in davos and port alegre, respectively
the mood is one of foreboding, a sense that deep
forces we can barely discern are reshaping the world
and that national and global institutions we have
always counted on are inadequate.
yet we are optimistic. why? because for the past four
years we have worked closely with the world´s leading
social entrepreneurs whose inspired pragmatism
banishes essimism. their passion energy and ability to
see opportunities for social innovation and
transformation at every turn are contagious.
we need social entrepreneurs as never before, for we
are asked to do nothing less than rethink the world´s
economic models.

the private sector can no longer see itself as simply
in the business of making musiness. and the
phlanthorpic secotr cannot be expected to fill in the
gaps. we need hybrid organizations that do all of
these things...using the market for social
transformation."

last night we heard presentations from leonardo boff,
adolpho perez esquivel and frei sergio goergen.
the auditorium was packed with 3,000 people ..80
percent were youth!

here is an experpt from terraviva interviewing boff.
"religious voices in a parallel forum have been
unanimous against´`the western hegemonies seeking to
establish a new order by using violence against the
weak.`in a world torn by politically instigated
religion based divisions, boff can identify a common
enemy\;"for me the great enemy is the western cultural
paradigm which is very aggressive, very destructive,
and which has now been globalized, invading the values
and visions of the world. i see the seed of a new
paradigm in spiritual traditions. justice , peace and
compassion and solidarity are the very true names of
god. who ever believes in these, believes in god. "

the audience broke out in wild applause and singing as
the end of the evening....the hope and confidence here
is inspiring. ...our hearts are on fire.

[realFedUp]

1. kicking for those who actually think outside this country...

:-)