Red Tom is wrong. The anti-global movement has failed to find the right vocabulary and message for its voice in the wake of September 11. It has re-oriented its fight against war and has thus strayed from its original focus of limiting poverty. There is not always a direct link between poverty and war - but people such as Red Tom still seem to throw the two things in together - witness in his letter comparing the anti-war demo with the critique of neo-liberalism. This is as bad as linking Saddam Hussein with Osama bin Laden.

The central thesis of Naomi Klein's book No Logo remain (exploitation of third world workers, anti-union measures in the third world, poor working conditions and a tyranny - for good or evil - by the IMF/World Bank/WTO axis that would rival a Soviet state-planning infrastructure). If the anti-globalisation crowd ignore the war, drop the stupid catch-all term of 'globalisation' and reorient their campaigning in the direction of a fair deal for workers around the world (which has nothing do with Iraq), they will start to find more sympathy and more efficacy in their ambitions.

John arrives at his depressing conclusions by only looking at the world of offical politics and culture. Beneath the surface new and interesting things are happening: the anti-war movement (the biggest demo in history), the critique of neo-liberalism from inside and outside the mainstream, the success of radical documentries like The Corporation and growth of social forums like the current World Social Forum in Brazil etc . . .