The Global Economic Meltdown
The Hypocracy of the West
The world economy is falling apart in the process revealing the hypocrisy and the fallacy of the West’s economic philosophy, unregulated Capitalism. Even capitalism King, the big bad US of A is borrowing money in the trillions from Communist China? I bet Ronald Reagan is spinning is his grave.
Are you as confused, perhaps even as nauseatingly worried as many people around the world are about this absurdity? Isn’t it ironic that in this new age ‘globalization’ when corporate profits around the world, especially in the US, are at an all time high, a time when physical and intellectual labor are cheaper than dirt, and when information you need to make the most intelligent and savvy business decisions is so readily available practically at the tip of your fingers that we have an economic calamity of this magnitude?
This is further proof that the so called trickle-down economics devised by the Milton Friedman’s of the world and executed, in every sense of the word, by Reagan and the Bushes, has been an abject failure. It just lays another stone at the tomb of this almost criminal economic ideology. Jay Bookman of the Atlanta Journal Constitution put it brilliantly in this article.
So what is the cause of this disaster? It is obviously one of 2 things - greed or incompetence. There is also a third possibility, both. When you put them both together, unadulterated greed and unmitigated unprecedented incompetence, you get this type of catastrophe.
What is interesting about this is that the so called “intellectuals” of the West have been contemptuously and arrogantly pontificating how there was little hope for what they call the third world because of the rampant corruption and greed that is so wide spread in the systems. Who says the politicians and political system are corrupt and rigged in the so called third world countries only?
Despite the incessant flow of propaganda to the rest of the world by the West, we are learning more and more everyday that politics here in the US is really not that different from the rest of the world including Africa, Asia and S America where corruption and cronyism are rampant. It is just that the US, and for the most part Europe, have a sophisticated way running their corrupt system and are able to sell their propaganda in a more palatable way to the masses.
Politically, we saw that elections can be rigged ‘legally’ and consummated by the highest of courts in the 2000 US presidential elections when the Supreme Court told Florida officials not to count the votes and declared G W Bush the winner.
Socially we saw how corruption and incompetence by government officials of the highest level can lead to a national catastrophe in which a major metropolitan city like New Orleans was left to drown and thousands of its citizens were left to die.
As we witnessed in Iraq illegal wars and occupations which result in the death of millions of innocent people can be waged with fictitious and manufactured lies for the purpose of enriching a few powerful elites.
We even saw how religion can be corrupted in a major way to advance a political agenda both domestically and internationally. There is no better proof for this than Bush’s ‘faith based initiative’ programs that are used to get votes for the Republican Party.
And the latest one? Well, let’s just call it for what it is. With the $700 billion - no, actually $850 billion when you count all the pork, we may have just witnessed the biggest bank heist in the world. $850billion!!! That is even hard for the mind to imagine. This is almost like Dr Evil’s cajillion, faffillion type of money! The getaway truck is parked at the back door of the treasury, the drivers are picked, the engine is running and the Bush gang is ready to run away with $700 billion dollars for the farewell party.
The US government, despite opposition to this plan showing a 9 to 1 ratio, basically gave the people its middle finger. So, how is this different from Meles telling Ethiopians to shut up and sit down, despite the fact that he lost the election or Mugabe refusing to relinquish power after losing the election?
And the capper on this caper? Both presidential candidates voted for this massive bailout. So, the obvious question is why did both candidates, who could have basically been assured of the presidency if they opposed this bill like 90% of the American people, vote for it? Could it be that they were told by the real Big Brother to support it or they would see their political career fly out the window? Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
There was even a secret deal in Congress to divvy up the votes so no one party can be blamed for it. This is how the American system of government, which proudly declares, “a government of the people, for the people, by the people” works.
The question we in the Diaspora, who constantly put on our faith in the US government to save us from our dictators is, what gives us the confidence and faith that the US really cares about our people. I mean, if they don’t care about how their own people feel, what makes us think they care about ours? Don’t you think it is time to re-think our strategy?
And finally, for those of you who do not think art doesn’t imitate life, here is one for you. If you have a couple of hours to spare this weekend and want to get your mind off what is going on in the world, and still stay informed, this is the movie for you. The title is “NETWORK” which was made in 1978 and see how eerily similar the situation is to today. You will be amazed. Here is a scene from the movie.
My favorite line from this movie is from the main character Howard Beal speaking of the American people:
“Because this is no longer a nation of independent individuals, it’s a nation of two-hundred some-odd million transistorized, deodorized, whiter-that-white steel-belted bodies, totally unnecessary as human beings, and as replaceable as piston rods.”
Well, at least that is how the US government sees its citizens these days.
Chereka
