Re: MD Progress and Pain

dear platt, rog, john, david et al

i think perhaps that we are not as far apart as it may seem.

america's constitution and bill of rights are high intellectual quality - probably the best system in the world. this is important to remember. the problems america faces and poses to the rest of the world do not stem from its core democratic base. they stem from the circumvention of it. for instance early in the 20th century the usa granted corporations the status of immortal individuals in law. from an moq perspective this is highly immoral - a social pattern of value being accorded effectively more importance than the individual (intellectual pattern of value). this step led to the growth in size and power of social entities that today are larger and more powerful than most countries. this is simple MoQ immorality: these giants oppress the human rights of individuals around the world and are inherently antidemocratic, both internally and in their influence upon all levels of government. you could even say that the disproportionate power of corporations is fundamentally unamerican.

 as corporations have grown in wealth and influence we have seen a shift from democracy to a kind of global corporate fascism. the IMF, World Bank, World Trade Organisation, World Economic Forum (and the governemnts they work with) are geared to opening up national economies (via loans) to international (corporate) 'investment'.  corporations are free to go where they want - leaving massive job losses and social problems in their wake - in the search for the cheapest resources and most compliant labour forces.

now this is where it gets really ugly and messy - this is heart of the disagreement i think: the lines between government and corporations have become blurred to the point of dangerous conflicts of interest. The BUSH family has massive corporate interests in oil and arms. surely this is a conflict of interest? what we are seeing is that the final check on corpoarte power (disregarding the UN which is a paper tiger and recently decided to utilise corporations itself to provide 'aid') - national governements - being totally usurped by corporate interests. we are no longer facing a battle between social (corporate) and intellectual (democratic) value. corporate power has won. this is why the US *as a whole* is seen as evil in the world. this is why protests around the world (including america of course!!) are growing in size and anger. last week 500 000 protested in barcelona over corporatisation there. this is the only democracy left - the democracy of the streets; the democracy of disobedience.

i'll leave you with a poem by eduardo galeano that looks at this stuff from the perspective of the world's poor

a circular symphony for poor countries in six successive movements

So that labour may be increasingly obedient and cheap, the poor countries need legions of executors, torturers, inquisitors, jailers and informers.

To feed and arm these legions, the poor countries need loans from the rich countries.

To pay interest on these loans the poor countries need more loans

To pay interest on the loans on top of the loans the poor countries need to increase their exports

To increase their exports, products condemned  to perpetually collapsing prices, the poor countries need lower production costs

To lower production costs the poor countries need increasingly cheap and obedient labour

To make labour increasingly obedient and cheap the poor countries need legions of executors, torturers.....

gav

ps none of us live in a democracy. we are living the reality of immoral social (over intellectual) power - it is just a matter of degree; dependent on geography and income. surely this is indisputable?