The day after April Fools Day, President Bill Clinton arrived at the European Parliament, giving the keynote speech at the Global Progressive Forum, the gathering of the worldwide centre-left.
President Bill Clinton
Other major speakers include Pascal Lamy and Howard Dean. This event was timed to coincide with the G20 and NATO summits, hoping to add to the momentum for Obama style change in response to the financial meltdown. The election of President Obama has raised the spirits of the centre-left and many see the opportunities for a more equitable world in the current crisis. According to organisers “Our aim is to fight for a progressive globalisation where we are promoting prosperity and decent work for all. It is a defining time for progressive politics.”
Clinton was welcomed by a standing ovation and he had a simple message for them, that progressives needed to ask themselves, “How can we put good intentions into delivering real change for people?” Explaining the responsibility of government he said “Your first job is to provide jobs, incomes and social stability and progress to the people you represent at the grass roots, so how do you do that and still support the development of an interdependent world?” Clinton argued that globalisation meant we were dependent on each other and the global nature of the financial crisis needed a global solution, but this meant that aid to developing nations should not be cut as lifting them up would create opportunities for business in the West.
However all was not well in the globalised world and the ex-President outlined some serious problems, “It is profoundly unequal, in income and opportunity, in education and health care and in most places growing more so”. After discussing the causes of the financial crisis he said that this had led to an unstable world, and it was also unsustainable because of climate change, which left unchanged would “lead to calamitous consequences on future generations”.
To bring countries like China into environmental agreements he urged activists to stop talking and get involved with projects that show green programmes can create jobs and wealth, “That’s how you get China on board”. Using the hit film, Slumdog Millionaires, Clinton described watching the opening scenes where slum kids are chased across a huge landfill site, with people scavenging on it, he said “We can use reclaiming landfills to create better jobs and give people dignity”, he continued, “Whenever I see a garbage dump, I see jobs and incomes”.
Sadly for many today, where we once saw jobs and incomes, we’re now seeing garbage. The speech went down well and was a reminder of how few global figures there are on the centre-left. Who else would have commanded so much attention from delegates? There is a shadow over Clinton, though only whispered about at the forum. If it wasn’t for his personal weaknesses that blew up Al Gore’s presidential campaign, we might not have had a President Bush and one can only wonder what the world would be like today.
