This was a commentary I wrote for the Epitaph Records mailing list in May of 2001. With every mailing they invited people to send in a "Punk Rock Editorial," including their thoughts and views on anything relating to punk rock, youth culture, politics, current events, or whatever else they wanted. Of course, if I knew then what I know now, this would've been better written. But this is my essay as it appeared on the list. (Feel free to email me with comments and reactions. (x_defect14@yahoo.com)

Recently, the Asian Development Bank, yet another group responsible
for the current globalization problem, held their annual meeting in
Honolulu. The meeting was to be held in Seattle, until the riots that
broke out at the ’99 WTO meeting caused them to reschedule it here.
There had been huge preparations for this. Several civil rights
groups planned to march outside of the convention center, to
peacefully show their support for causes such as organized labor,
environmental protection, and preservation of native culture.
Originally it had been estimated that about 5,000 protesters would
show up. After seeing the effects of the Seattle and Quebec City
protests, the state spent millions of dollars to bulk up security –
for extra training, more on-duty officers, and riot gear. Over 300
journalists from all over the world had been previously registered to
cover the event. The demonstration took place on the afternoon of May
9th. 
	Is this all coming as news to you? I don’t suspect many of you would
have heard about this unless you live in Hawaii, because in the end,
nothing happened. By “nothing,” of course, I mean no riots, no
violence, and no arrests. The demonstration was completely peaceful,
just as the organizers said it would be, and there turned out to be
only around 500 protesters. It was simply a group of people observing
their First Amendment right to free speech. Even the cops were
completely calm and fair, and some even decked themselves in casual
Hawaiian attire. 
	After hearing about this from the local media, I watched the
national news the next day and heard nothing about it. This didn’t
surprise me in the slightest, because the media has a tendency to
report only one side of a topic. In this case, they only would’ve
covered the event if there was some negative aspect that occurred. I
can compare this to a recent protest I heard about in New York
(correct me if I’m wrong), where although there was no major
violence, some people were arrested. Apparently that was enough to
mention it on national news. 
The media is largely responsible for the way these protesters are
viewed by the mass public. The fact is, a vast majority of the people
that show up at these demonstrations are actually there to support
worthy causes and express their distaste for the operations of these
organizations, who are responsible for poverty in foreign countries
and destruction of the environment (which they claim they are trying
reduce). Many of these protesters are responsible and intelligent
people. There are almost always a few bad apples that show up just
for an excuse to riot and act out their hatred for cops. Because of
those few people, the state really has no choice but to increase
security and be prepared for the worst case scenario. It’s also
because of those few people that the public sees the REAL protesters
as just a crazy mob (even I admit to thinking this before I knew what
the whole issue was about). As a result of all the hype, they don’t
get their voices heard. 
I find it really sad that people this day and age are so morbidly
fascinated with violence, while there are important global issues
that people should be aware of. This is what leads to events like
Columbine – people know they’ll become a household name if they
commit a huge crime. I mostly blame this trend on irresponsible
journalists. The masses are force-fed whatever news the media thinks
is worthy of reporting; if there were anything more we wanted to
know, we would have to investigate it ourselves. I later discovered that many reporters
came to Hawaii to cover the ADB conference – almost outnumbering the
protesters –  simply in HOPES that there would be rioting. Then it
would be the biggest story of the moment, and every newspaper and TV
station would boast that they were the first ones there, bringing
up-to-the-minute headlines. But no. No violence, therefore no
coverage. The main reason I had hoped for coverage was that it might
serve as a good example for future protests of this type – that not
everyone has to be violent, that people will take you seriously if
you exercise responsibility and common sense. You can stand up for
your rights, but you must not abuse them. Otherwise, you will ruin it
for the rest of us. This being a Punk Rock Editorial, you’d probably
assume at the beginning of this story that my complaint would be with
the cops, “silencing” innocent protesters with tear gas. But that is
not the case. Even though cops may abuse their power in many cases, often they are just doing their jobs. Rioters shouldn’t complain
about being silenced when they bring it upon themselves. People must
start taking these situations more seriously if we want to prevent another disaster like the WTO rally.