By Abby Romero

The G8: The Power Continues

Would you want the greedy, rich, and powerful running our world? That is what the G8 seems to be shooting for. The G8 is a group of eight countries that consist of France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Russia. The leaders of those eight countries meet once a year, away from the public, and call it the G8 Summit. Supposedly, issues talked about at these summits are topics such as environment, terrorism, labor, energy, and foreign trade. However, we do not really know what is talked about at these meetings because we are not invited. Basically this elite group plans a meeting to talk about all of us, and all of us are not allowed in. At these annual summits, no matter the location, there are always many people protesting them and what they stand for. Since there are so many protesters, much security is needed. The protests often involve violence between police and protesters. Why would protesters want that? The G8 worships money and power and thinks mainly with the wealthy in mind. In fact, just the whole setup of the G8 is unpleasant. It is formed of only the top economic countries in the world. Then at their summits, they make big decisions in secret affecting the whole world, yet the people of the world have no input at all. Democracy is a government of the people where everyone is represented. The G8, however, excludes everyone and represents very few in this world. Therefore, this entire G8 system is completely undemocratic. Since 1975, the G8 has met to decide the priorities of the governments of the eight richest countries in the world. No accountability, no democracy, no transparency, simply a caucus of the richest nations ensuring they remain the richest (Why Protest the G8). This statement shows that those leaders do not care about real world issues that do not affect them; they simply want more wealth and more power. The G8s values show that they are primarily capitalistic and have no desire to be democratic. The G8 exclusions do not just end with the people of their country; it also excludes most countries in general. The countries that are actually in need of resources and aid are left out and unrepresented in the G8 summits. By leaving out the poor countries when discussing poverty, it creates disputes between what is discussed and what reality is (Shah). One example of this disconnect is the energy issue in the world right now. That is a topic the G8 should be discussing in their meetings, however they are doing nothing about it. Rosa Lin explains why the G8 is not speaking about or resolving this issue: For one, none of the G8 countries are experiencing a dire energy-security situation; they all have enough wealth to buy the energy they need, and none of them is completely dependent on one source. (Lin) This is probably the case for other world issues, as well. They simply do not discuss issues because it does not affect them. Reality is that poor countries are in need of energy and other aid but have a limited way of getting that. This group is supposed to use their power to help other countries in the world, but they have not. Instead it seems they are using their power to continue their power.

Money is another issue. The amount of money spent on the summit to take place was brought to the publics attention: Departments requested and received approval for $1.1 billion in funding for G8 and G20 summit activities (Expenditures). The Canadian government approved that the G8 could spend $1.1 billion on security for a summit that lasts only 72 hours. This number is unbelievable! Thankfully they only spent about $664 million (Expenditures), but still these are tax dollars spent on an event where the taxpayers opinions are not even wanted. It is surprising how they can spend all of this money towards having a meeting, yet they continue promising to end world hunger. That money could be put towards world hunger. Again this demonstrates how the leaders of the G8 only want to continue their power. The G8 is only looking out for themselves and using our worlds money and resources to do so. This group of eight continually meets, so they can feel secure in that they will remain in a powerful position. By allowing the wealthy to remain in power, it makes the vast majority of us become unrepresented and have no voice. We want democracy and we want a voice in the decisions made that affect us. Even though protesting may not change the G8 and their values, it brings recognition to the issue and the wrongs this group is doing. Also signing petitions and even just informing others about what you know can make a difference.

Work Cited Shah, Anup. "G8 Summits: Empty Promises Each Year." Global Issues. N.p., 25 Aug. 2008. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. < http://www.globalissues.org/issue/1/trade-economy-related-issues> Lin, Rosa. "G8 and NATO Not Buddy-buddy with Energy Security." Medill National Security Zone. N.p., 9 June 2012. Web. 03 Feb. 2014. "Why Protest against G8/G20?" Web log post. Globalise Resistance. N.p., 22 Mar. 2011. Web. 30 Jan. 2014. "Expenditures for the 2010 G8 and G20 Summits." Government of Canada, Office of the Auditor General of Canada. N.p., 09 June 2011. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. <http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/english/parl_oag_201104_01_e_35220.html#hd4a>.