acTVism Munich Playlist September 2016
This video playlist compiles all of acTVism Munich's work for the month September 2016 which includes a wide range of topics - privacy, democracy, economy, politics and social issues. This video playlist includes interviews with Ernst Wolff, Noam Chomsky, a report on the recent TTIP-Protests in Germany and a report on a protest against NATO and TTIP infront of the Chancellor's office in Berlin.
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Descriptions for each video are listed below:
1) The History and Politics of the IMF with Ernst Wolff
In this video we interview journalist and author Ernst Wolff. Wolff’s latest book is called “Pillaging the World: The History and Politics of the IMF” which is also available in German and Arabic. This video series aims to provide context behind the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the role it has played in world affairs since its formation up until the current period.
The following questions are addressed in the following video:
- What motivated Ernst Wolff to write the book “Pillaging the World: The History and Politics of the IMF“?
- Under what context was the International Monetary Fund (IMF) founded?
- Why was the International Monetary Fund founded? What role has it played in the past?
- What effects do the IMF’s policies have on the social and cultural fabric of a country?
- What terminology does the IMF employ and is there Orwellianism at play which cloaks its actual practices?
2) Stop TTIP and CETA - acTVism Report from Berlin
On the 17th of September 2016, a coalition of 33 activist networks organized nationwide demonstrations across Germany under the banner “STOP CETA & TTIP” that were aimed against so called transnational free trade agreements such as TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) and CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement).
According to the organizers of the demonstration, these so called trade and investments partnerships pose not only a threat to the economy and environment, but are attacks against the foundations of democracy in Europe, Canada and the United States. On the website of the organizers it states: “Let us STOP CETA & TTIP! We support fair trade and not free trade".
Although the majority of Germans is critical towards these agreements, establishment politicians favour them on the grounds that they will boost exports, economic growth and trade. The Social Democrats of Germany (SPD) led by Sigmar Gabriel are also in favour of these agreement, in particular CETA, and hence there was a strong focus of the organizers to influence the policy stance of the SPD.
Organizers estimate that an estimated 300,000 to 350,000 people took part to in these demonstrations.
acTVism Munich was present in both Berlin and Munich to provide on ground coverage.
3) Reexamining History with Noam Chomsky
In this part of Reexaming History, we talk to Prof.Noam Chomsky about the time period before World War II and what perceptions the United States maintained during it. These questions and many more will be addressed in this video.
- How did the US establishment view fascist figures such as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini before the global war began?
- Was the US complicit or did it actively support fascism in Europe?
4) REPORT: Thousands protest against US-NATO & TTIP in front of the Chancellor's Office
On the 1st of October 2016, thousands of people demonstrated in front of the Chancellor's office in Berlin under the slogan "That's Enough" ("Es reicht“) initiated by Ken Jebsen, founder of the independent & adversarial media outlet KenFM.
The demonstration focused Germany's Transatlantic alliance with the United States government and the economic and foreign policies it has been pursuing within this framework. Topics that were discussed in-depth include:
- Trade & Investment partnerships such as TTIP & CETA
- US & NATO interventionist policies
- Arms & weapons export to dictatorial regimes such as Saudi Arabia
- Citizenry based direct action and activism