Topic: WARNING: Politics
Hey hey hey!
It's the last day of class right now, and I am at school. So... what's new? Not much. No more school!
"School's out!
Fo' Summa'
School's out!
Fo' Eva'"
-Alice Cooper
Anyway, I'm here to post an essay by my good friend, Comrade Konrad.
Here we go...
The Nature of U.S. Imperialism
Recently there has been a lot of debate over whether the United States has become an empire. The real question is why; by finding the cause of a problem we can better combat it. The U.S. is not the traditional empire of monarchs and colonies. It is an empire driven by capital. Capitalist imperialism collects capital through the exploitation of overseas labor. It invests in other countries, dominating all walks of life, shifting their financial structures to serve world profits. A main key to capitalism is expansion. Increased profits can only be obtained through a growth in enterprise, this attracts investors. The capitalists destroy societies by turning people into disenfranchised wage slaves. Cultures are replaced with mass-market consumer societies. The new imperialism is much worse; nations remain independent while western business dominates their means of production.
There is a lot to benefit for the capitalist in doing this. U.S. corporate investments grew 84% from 1985 to 1990 with the biggest increases in countries like South Korea, and Taiwan. North American and European corporations posses more than three-fourths of know mineral resources in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. U.S. business profits are 50% higher in underdeveloped countries than in developed countries because of no worker benefits, low wages, and low taxes. The “bottom line” is super profits acquired through cheap labor markets. Third world nations offer life like it was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution.
The United States government has always been controlled by capitalists, and the capitalist class shares a common ideology. In the earliest days it was slavery and expansion on the American continent, steeling land from Mexico in a self-proclaimed Manifest Destiny. In the 20th century America began its open conquest of Latin America with the Spanish-American War. Since the list of America’s crimes and interventions around the world is fairly long the following list is just some of the highlights:
From 1916-1924, U.S. marines occupied the Dominican Republic.
In 1953 the U.S. backed coup overthrew the progressive Mossadegh government and replaced it with the Shah to gain access to Iranian oil.
In 1954 the CIA directed an exile invasion and coup (along with bombing) of the newly elected Guatemalan Government because it nationalized the land of the United Fruit Company; the net result was 200,000 people killed.
In 1973 the CIA backed the overthrow of the democratically elected Marxist Government in Chile, it was estimated 40,000 people were killed.
In 1981-1990 the CIA directed the Contra invasions of Nicaragua, an estimated 50,000 killed.
In 1981-1992 brief military intervention and aid to the anti-rebel war in El Salvador, which resulted in the destruction of the popular movement and 75,000 killed.
For the past 100 years the United States government has imposed its “police powers” that can be traced to the Roosevelt Corollary. These are not just mistakes of the past but a continual line of crimes. In 2002 a command operation failed to remove socialist president Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. In 2003 the Bush administration threatened to deport all El Salvadorian immigrants if the FMLN party beat the U.S. backed ARENA party. Today El Salvador suffers from food shortages because all the land is being used to grow coffee for export to the U.S. In 2004 U.S. troops removed democratically elected Aristide form Haiti. The state department recently announced $5.6 million dollars have been allocated for U.S. “monitoring” in the upcoming elections in Nicaragua. The War on Terror and the problem of radical Islam is fueled by western business. Extremist Islam was introduced and imposed on the Muslim world by the Ottoman Empire. After its defeat in World War I the western countries of England and France betrayed the Arab people by dividing the land amongst themselves. These countries along with the United States supported oppressive Islamic governments who gave western business better access to oil. Both sides got rich in the process at the expense of the Arab people.
These countries and their people need their land and labor back so they can produce for themselves. Their foreign exports are crushed by tariffs. Strikes in one country are destroyed by stepping up production in another. Countries become sweatshop factories to support the life styles of the west. In 2000 the number of people living in absolute poverty was calculated at 1.5 billion by official statistics. The sad thing is not that this happens, but that people refuse to do anything because their lifestyles would become hypocritical and they would have to make sacrifices. The American people must be made to realize that neither party will stop the exploitation, the capitalists will not stop, and petitioning will not help. Only a fundamental restructuring of our entire social system will stop this. A united social force can stop capitalism and all the ills it caries: imperialism, exploitation, racism, sexism, greed, and corruption. No change can occur without change at the individual level first. Workers of all countries are being forced to compete against each other for the benefits of the capitalist class. All the progressive movements must put aside petty differences and unite if they are to achieve the common goal of a better future.
Shout out's
Comrade Konrad
Communists
My teachers...
Mr. Paul
Mrs. Sue
Dr. Sy
Mr. Mike
Ms. Mira
Mr. Luke
My friends
Stupid Conservatives
U.S. Imperialists
Just Stupid
Final Exams
-Mr. Joseph
Posted by super2/super316
at 1:34 PM CDT
Updated: Monday, 5 December 2005 5:51 PM CST
Post Comment | View Comments (1) | Permalink | Share This Post
Updated: Monday, 5 December 2005 5:51 PM CST
Post Comment | View Comments (1) | Permalink | Share This Post