In article ,
Nad R wrote:
Bud wrote:
US gives 3% total budget to foreighn aid while Denmark gives 52%.
I do not believe that a nation gives over half of it total budget to
foreign aid.
These hard times do augur for a well tended garden, unfortunately. The
mechanism that brought these times to us is still in place. We don't
have a new Glass-Seagull act, and we (USians) are still vulnerable to
new pillages.
From Tunisia, to Egypt, to Greece, people are saying, the rich got the
money, and we got the bill. All these countries are repressive, American
client states, and all of them have imposed neo-liberal economic
policies that have worked so well that the people in these countries are
rioting. Neo-liberalism concentrates wealth in the hands of the few, and
gives emerging economies no way to protect themselves against large
economic powers, like the United States.
http://www.merip.org/mero/mero011300.html
The Collapse of WTO Negotiations: Implications for the Middle East
Robert Naiman and Steve Niva
(Robert Naiman is a Senior researcher at the Center for Economic and
Policy Research (CEPR) in Washington, DC. Steve Niva, former MERIP
Executive Committee member, teaches at Evergreen State College in
Olympia, Washington.)
January 13, 2000
Arab elites' opposition at the WTO may seem surprising given that the
IMF, World Bank and the US government have long promoted Arab regimes
supportive of their agenda and fostered Western-educated leaders
schooled in the theology of deregulation, reduced social protections,
and export-led growth. Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia were
all subject to IMF-imposed structural adjustment programs. Along with
Lebanon, they have all embarked upon export-led development strategies
and privatization schemes, dramatically cutting back public services.
Even Syria and the Gulf states have recently moved in this direction. . .
.. . . However, the IMF, the World Bank, and the US‚ extreme policies and
their frequently disastrous consequences for economic growth and the
exacerbation of poverty have caused some of the same Arab elites who
previously embraced the model to fear that increased compliance with WTO
and IMF mandates may cause greater economic suffering and thereby
further undermine their legitimacy. . .
.. . . At the same time, the US commitment to social standards remains
largely rhetorical. There is no evidence that the US is prepared to
negotiate trade concessions to developing countries in order to win
acceptance of social standards. Indeed, the US rejected Egyptian and
other developing countries‚ proposals to review existing WTO rules that
have undermined food security and economic diversification in the South.
-----
The above may also have precipitated 9/11. As far as I know there
haven't been demonstrations in Morocco, but there have been in
demonstrations in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Yemen, and Greece.
A good, quick read on neo-liberalism is "Bad Samaritans: The Myth of
Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism" by Ha-Joon Chang
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...stripbooks&fie
ld-keywords=The+Bad+Samaritan&x=16&y=15
(Available at better libraries near you.)
-----
The main points of neo-liberalism include:
1. THE RULE OF THE MARKET. Liberating "free" enterprise or private
enterprise from any bonds imposed by the government (the state) no
matter how much social damage this causes. Greater openness to
international trade and investment, as in NAFTA. Reduce wages by
de-unionizing workers and eliminating workers' rights that had been won
over many years of struggle. No more price controls. All in all, total
freedom of movement for capital, goods and services. To convince us this
is good for us, they say "an unregulated market is the best way to
increase economic growth, which will ultimately benefit everyone." It's
like Reagan's "supply-side" and "trickle-down" economics -- but somehow
the wealth didn't trickle down very much.
2. CUTTING PUBLIC EXPENDITURE FOR SOCIAL SERVICES like education and
health care. REDUCING THE SAFETY-NET FOR THE POOR, and even maintenance
of roads, bridges, water supply -- again in the name of reducing
government's role. Of course, they don't oppose government subsidies and
tax benefits for business.
3. DEREGULATION. Reduce government regulation of everything that
could diminsh profits, including protecting the environmentand safety on
the job.
4. PRIVATIZATION. Sell state-owned enterprises, goods and services to
private investors. This includes banks, key industries, railroads, toll
highways, electricity, schools, hospitals and even fresh water. Although
usually done in the name of greater efficiency, which is often needed,
privatization has mainly had the effect of concentrating wealth even
more in a few hands and making the public pay even more for its needs.
5. ELIMINATING THE CONCEPT OF "THE PUBLIC GOOD" or "COMMUNITY" and
replacing it with "individual responsibility." Pressuring the poorest
people in a society to find solutions to their lack of health care,
education and social security all by themselves -- then blaming them, if
they fail, as "lazy."
------
When the Soviet Union collapsed, people survived because of there
gardens. Don't think that it can't happen here. So, water those plants,
and renew the mulch.
----
Heading this on back to the barn. I'm a couple of weeks away from
germinating plants for the 2011 garden. I'm thrilled to be here. The
overlooked potatoes have already expressed themselves and are on their
way to a new bed. Sulfured around the blueberrys this morning. I've had
them for 5 years now and they haven't done much. I'm hoping the sulfur
will give them a kick in the hip pockets. I'll start with germinating
the lettuce, cabbage, and peas. In the following month, I'll start the
tomatoes, peppers, and whatever else I can shoehorn in, as fast as I
can. Hope to be in the ground (the crops) by mid-May at the latest.
Hoping for some heat this year. Last year, here, was very nice to live
in, but it was crummy for gardens in Northern California.
--
- Billy
“When you give food to the poor, they call you a saint. When you ask why the poor have no food, they call you a communist.”
-Archbishop Helder Camara
http://peace.mennolink.org/articles/...acegroups.html
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth...130964689.html