Johannesburg — The contrast couldn't be more extreme. Carrying his placard the man in front of me was clearly one of the poorest of the poor. His shoes were not only threadbare, they were tattered, merely rags barely being held together. He shuffled down the streets of affluent Sandton just outside the chic conference centre and the five star hotels where the UN's World Summit on Sustainable Development was being held.

Protesters at such events are expected. Every year affluent Europeans and American who are full-time 'radicals' fly off to demonstrate on behalf of the world's poor. But the poor themselves rarely participate in these elite demonstrations.

This time it was different. Far more different than first meets the eye. You had to read the signs these poor people were carrying to understand how much their message contrasted with that of affluent protesters from the Northern Hemisphere. If you stepped in front of the man with slivers of leather attached to his feet you'd see his sign said: "Trade Not Aid."

The marchers in this protest were mainly poor, virtually all black, and mostly women. They were street traders and farmers. Without fail everyone had a sticker saying :"Freedom to Trade."

Farmers from India marched side by side with Zulu women wearing T-shirts saying: "Biotechnology for Africa."

On the sideline the press and Summit delegates stood aghast. What do you say to poor people with signs reading: "Stop Eco-Imperialism" or "Save the Planet from Sustainable Development" or "Free Trade IS Fair Trade".

The Green Left wants to paint globalisation as rich versus the poor but the rich are supposed to be in favour of free trade and the poor opposed to it. But here the situation was precisely the opposite. The anti-globalisation protesters were those who could afford to fly in on international flights and stay at expensive hotels that local street traders could never afford to visit.

The farmers from India were demanding the right to grow genetically modified crops. Other speakers at the rally demanded the end of subsidies for agriculture in developed countries while English group Oxfam called for more subsidies for their first-world farmers.

One rally speaker was Barun Mitra of the Liberty Institute of New Delhi, India.

He announced that they wanted to give a well-deserved award to various Green and anti-globalisation groups that he said were perpetuating poverty in the Third World. He announced that he wanted to grant the "Bullshit Award for Perpetuating Poverty" to the high priestess of the environmental movement - Ms Vandana Shiva. Among the others nominated in this very close contest were Greenpeace, Third World Network, SAFeAge and other such groups. The mere mention of Greenpeace brought loud and derisive remarks from the marchers.

There was general agreement among the marchers that increased productivity, through trade and technology, not only helps in reducing poverty, but also helps in improving the quality of environmental resources. Clearly, increased consumption reflects economic and environmental well-being.

Surely this must have been the environmentalists' worst nightmare. Real poor people marching in the streets and demanding development while opposing the eco-agenda of the Green Left.

These were people who had real concerns. They need development. They need economic prosperity. As one of the street traders told me: "I've got children to feed. I don't want to be a criminal." Her words brought an immediate chorus of agreement from several other woman standing with her.

Meanwhile that day another Green group released another report demanding less free trade, less development, and less prosperity. They specifically said that it would be wrong to economically develop poor nations. Instead we should impoverish wealthy nations so everyone is equal. They called for 'wealth alleviation'.

One of the authors of that report is Green guru Anita Roddick who once gushed the sentiment, "how quickly you could fall in love with the economics of less." The economics of less wouldn't mean much to Roddick. She's a multimillionaire.

But the people in the streets of Sandton couldn't survive on the 'economics of less.' Less to feed their children means the children starve.

Unlike the well-funded anti-globalisation elite these people couldn't afford to fly around the world for conferences. They crammed into small mini-vans just to get to the Summit while UN delegates rode by in chauffeur-driven limousines with police escorts. The street traders couldn't afford a press attaché to contact the media on their behalf. Their media outreach was a loudspeaker attached to the roof of a dilapidated old truck that had to pushed through the streets.

These weren't the poverty pimps from the North: that band of elite Westerners who are paid to lobby full-time on behalf of what they think the poor need.

These people were the poor themselves and they were demanding something that baffles the Left. It is called freedom.

Author: Jim Peron is a freelance researcher and writer. This article may be republished without prior consent but with acknowledgement. The patrons, council and members of the Free Market Foundation do not necessarily agree with the views expressed in the article.[WSSD]