One would not be engaging in hyperbole to characterize these illegal invaders as "terrorists." Forget color-coded alerts, staged arrests, and manufactured scares. Put aside those times you were forced to remove your shoes at the airport. As defined at Dictionary.com, "an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety" and/or an "intense, overpowering fear" characterize brand of the terror I speak of.

While the corporate media obscures the real terror and trains its focus on the latest battle between Dubya and Osama (or the current villain of the day), the primary conflict on the planet remains unchanged: globalization from above vs. globalization from below.

"Immigrants" like the World Trade Organization, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and transnational corporations are elements of a mutant form of remote control imperialism. The United States doesn't always have to send armies into other countries. It sends in Disney and McDonalds with the (usually) unspoken threat of military force backing them up.

Globalization is not intrinsically a bad idea. Mutually beneficial global ties can be essential. As Michael Albert of Z Net has articulated, the goal should be to globalize equity not poverty, solidarity not anti-sociality, diversity not conformity, democracy not subordination, and ecological balance not suicidal rapaciousness. Novelist/activist Arundhati Roy adds: "In the present circumstances, I'd say that the only thing worth globalizing is dissent."

But perhaps Groucho said it best in Monkey Business: "There's my argument: restrict immigration."

Mickey Z. can be found on the Web at http://www.mickeyz.net.

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