[stop-imf] Countdown: Race to the Bottom on 5/21

[Robert Weissman]

Protest Against the World Economic Forum (WEF)!
Protest Against Policies that Deepen Poverty at Home and Abroad!

Start: 4 pm, at Murrow Park across from the IMF/WB headquarters, 18th &
H Sts. NW, Washington, D.C.

Finish: 7 pm, at 16th and H St, NW, across from Lafayette Park and the
White House.

Tuesday, May 21, 2002

Be there for the First 1K Race to the Bottom -- Details follow


---------------------------------


ATTENTION ALL RUNNERS! -- ATTENTION ALL RUNNERS!

Join Thousands of People From Across the Economic Spectrum for the FIRST 
EVER 1K RACE TO THE BOTTOM!  Whether you’re an MBA in the Rat Race or an 
underemployed activist with the Human Race, this Race to the Bottom is a 
can’t-miss event for anyone trying to get ahead *or* left behind.

--Watch CORPORATIONS GROAN under the weight of billions of dollars in
tax-free profits as immigrants are denied basic services!
--Feel the HEAT OF COMPETITION as it drags down workers, environmental
protection and human rights!
--See the WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM SLITHER its way from one five star hotel
to the next!
--Hear the THUNDER OF THOUSANDS of the working poor pound the asphalt!
--Watch Corporate EXECUTIVES BRIBE THEIR WAY into new markets!

Awards immediately after the race in the categories of:
     --Most Depraved Workfare Boss
     --Country That Busted the Most Unions to Please Multinational
Corporations
     --Politician Quickest to Blame Poor Women for Society’s Problems

So Where’s it all Happening?

The 1K RACE TO THE BOTTOM Starts at the World Bank and IMF on Tuesday,
May 
21 Washington, DC and ends at the World Economic Forum (WEF), meeting at
the 
U.S. Chamber of Congress

When: Thursday, May 21, 4-7 PM

Where: Starts across from the IMF/WB headquarters, 18th & H Sts. NW,
Wash., DC, ends at 16th and H St, NW, across from Lafayette Park and the 
White House.

Who: National Coalition for Jobs and Income Support and the Mobilization
for 
Global Justice

For more background and contact information, visit www.globalizethis.org
and 
www.nationalcampaign.org.  And don’t forget your running shoes!

For more details, read on:

In a new alliance between the global justice movement and the
anti-poverty 
movement, the Mobilization for Global Justice (MGJ) and the National 
Campaign for Jobs and Income Security (NCJIS) are joining forces to
confront 
the world’s privileged and elite as they gather for a regional meeting
of 
the World Economic Forum (WEF).

We call on all those who care about ending poverty at home and abroad to 
join us in this event, which promises to fill the streets outside the
closed 
doors of the WEF with a loud, boisterous rally and theatrical Race to
the 
Bottom. Help us send a clear message to the world’s wealthy and to the 
politicians they control: We demand an end to policies that impoverish 
people everywhere. We demand an end to the policies that concentrate
wealth, 
income and power in the hands of the WEF members and a select few, while 
leaving one in six children in the United States in poverty, and
billions 
around the world struggling to survive on less than two dollars a day.

With the collaboration of NCJIS, whose members are predominantly those 
living in poverty directly affected by the regressive "Welfare Reform"
of 
1996, the MGJ hopes to launch a strong, enduring coalition to link local
and 
global poverty issues and to immediately impact President Bush’s
proposed 
welfare legislation, which only further penalizes the poor while doing 
nothing to end poverty.


NCJIS is a coalition of more than 1000 grassroots community groups
composed 
primarily of and led by low-income people.  It believes that people most 
affected by public policies must develoup solutions and speak in their
own 
voices.  NCJIS is spearheading a national effort to transform TANF into
a 
meaningful anti-poverty program. In March of 2002, NCJIS held a day of 
events in DC, that involved rallies, lobbying and two separate direct 
actions involving over 1000 people and two notorious enemies of poverty 
reduction: the Heritage Foundation and the Democratic Leadership
Council.  
For more information, see www.nationalcampaign.org

The Mobilization for Global Justice is a Washington, DC based
organization 
of groups and individuals focused on the growing problem of corporate 
globalization in today's world.  It sponsors educational events, rallies
and 
demonstrations that serve to highlight the harmful neo-liberal economic 
policies carried out by unaccountable, undemocratic international
financial 
institutions.  Visit our web site at www.globalizethis.org

Please add your ride or housing posting for the 1K RACE TO THE BOTTOM at 
www.riseup.net/may2002


Additional events are planned for the days around the WEF meeting, such
as kickoff events for the Washington, DC Social Forum planned for this fall.

P.S. Remember to bring your running shoes!