So, when did we, as a nation, become so bent on the privatization of, well, everything ?
To my mind, evidence suggests that, privatization means the squeezing out of the loyal
American worker, patriot, citizen, middle class man, woman and child.
I haven't been very politically aware for long and, I am still no expert by any means but, when did WE as the people decide that we wanted to contract our war waging to profit motivated enterprise ? Do you recall considering this issue, do you recall anyone asking ? I must have missed it and I'm sure someone can cite exactly when we made this hard turn.
I think we are beginning to see the fruits of just what this means to our nation.
This certainly is not just a "war" issue either, it is affecting so many aspects of our
lives as we see so many "no bid" contracts let out to companies by people who have
a personal interest in seeing that these companies get the work.
The conflict of interest status in Washington is staggering.
I'm all for free enterprise and capitalism but, it seems to me that when an enterprise loses
it's heart and soul and forgets how and why it got where it is, that something needs to be examined. How can we claim "family values" and yet, support a structure that no longer has any loyalty to families ? It seems to me to be in the bizzaro world.
I recall a time in this nation when a person devoted a lifetime of work for a given enterprise and that given enterprise appreciated and rewarded that loyalty into retirement. Today, you are likely to be given the golden boot in the arse award with a 20/20 hindsight issuance of "sorry, you really should have diversified your portfolio".
The recent "incident" in Iraq, which has brought the private security firms to the forefront
of the headlines, should really get Americans thinking and asking some hard questions.
The president is asking congress for almost 200 Billion more dollars to fund the war efforts but, do you know that the Department of Defense budget does not include all of these "privatized" services ? It is being paid for through the State Department rather then the D.O.D. so, if you include those figures with the budget being presented....Oh, I'm getting a headache just thinking about it.
Iraq Contractors To Make Billions on the Front Lines
A guest on Washington Journal last week stated that the Iraqi Government wanted to make these private security firms "look bad" because they want to use their own private security forces. Huh ?
And we don't want that to happen why ?
I thought the goal here was to have the Iraqi Government "Stand Up" ?
So, if they hired their own security forces, would it not fall to them to pay that bill ?
It would certainly help their extremely high unemployment rate, no ?
So, why is this not a good idea ? Oh yeah, I forgot, there's too much profit to be made hand over fist to hand that opportunity to someone else.
I know I seem to be bouncing back and forth between two different issues but, to me, they all seem to be tied together.
I can't understand how so many Americans are duped by the flag waving and fear campaigns
when they are the very folks being effected by the new heartless and soulless brand of free enterprise. Just like in my earlier "Wally World" posting I can't help but believe that We are bringing this upon ourselves. We want everything as cheap as we can get it without regards to the effect it will have on our own ability to remain ahead of the curve in manufacturing, development and research. Maybe it is the economic situation we find ourselves in that drives us into this mindset. It's a catch 22. You can't demand Wally World prices and complain about jobs going overseas too. We have become economic cattle.
So, why don't we want our war as cheap as we can get it ? Those purse strings seem to be out of our control and I suspect we really have no idea what the cost really is.
We need to Wally World this war. Wake up America !
What we need to do as individuals however, and this is going to sound insane but, we need
to spend more and get less. That's right, tighten our belts, insist on quality products ( preferably made locally ) and purchase them from little shops owned by your neighbors.
I know that's a tall order and there will always be exceptions when this just isn't possible / practical.
This isn't a party line issue either, if you aren't a wealthy, comfortable American, this should be a major concern to you and it seems like no one, on either side of the aisle in D.C. is going to step up and denounce the pocket stuffing power of big industry.
Can this nation afford to hire another group of "contractors" for yet another war ?
We are in a delicate balance as it stands. The drums are pounding for a grand entrance
into Iran. Diplomacy, we have none.
Thanks for allowing me to ramble on so...
I'm sure I am preaching to the choir here quite a bit but,
I am sure there are a few who see things differently.
Your thoughts ?
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Sunday, September 30, 2007
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1 comment:
Well said, on the issue of privatization. It is hard to fathom that the American people just sit back and watch the current administration line their pockets in any and every way they can, and very much at the expense of the US infrastructure. And I mean not only bridges and dams and failing highways, but failure to acknowledge that there are American people with big economic issues. When W. spoke to the UN last week, he mentioned all the aid that the US has provided to all these other countries, and how the rest of the world should step up. The fact is, there are homeless people living right across the street from the White House in Layfette Park at this very moment. There are people with no health care, the poor are indeed becoming poorer (all the recent home foreclosures i.e.), and the rich are getting richer. This administration has gotten away with unthinkable violations that have affected the American people to a staggering degree, but it's been so insidious, and the political language so complicated, that the ordinary American has great difficulty understanding what exactly is happening! Bill Clinton was publicly tried and scandalized for a personal indiscretion that affected essentially no one, but he and Hillary. George W. Bush and the good ole' skull and bones club up there on Capitol Hill, has lined his and all his cronies pockets with American tax dollars. He has gotten us into billions of dollars worth of debt, he has started a war that the entire world was against from the beginning, and he laughs all the way to the bank. Atrocities are being committed every day in the name of George W. Bush, yet it was Clinton who was scorned and chastised for his "immoral" behavior. Isn't sending thousands of troops into a country that is no threat immoral enough for the American people? Do they just not "get it"..? Had other presidents acted so unilaterally, and so underhandedly as the Bush admin, they would have been tried for war crimes! Why is there no move to impeach these people? I'm simply still incredulous that Clinton could be impeached for a romantic indiscretion while G. W. Bush has the blood of thousands of people on his hands. I wonder if the history books will liken him to Hitler, so complete is his power to dupe an entire nation into a war that he and his cronies have done nothing but profit from. I don't know how he sleeps at night, sending American kids over there to Iraq to die because of his own greed. This is nothing but American blood being exchanged for control of the oil. The war serves no humanitarian purpose. I think we should bring our kids home now, and that Bush and a large part of his "conflict of interest" administration, should not only be impeached but should be tried as war criminals. The politicians are complacent because they're trying to keep their jobs. It's our money that puts them where they are, and they can't represent us if they don't know where we stand. The media is responsible for a lot of the great division of facts in this country because it doesn't address facts, only subjective opinions. We don't get the real facts unless we dig for them. People need to educate themselves about what is really happening, and communicate with the people who are supposed to be representing us! It's your money America..you earn it, you work hard for it..and if you want to continue to see it spent on this blood and money sucking war in Iraq rather than investing it in providing the help that is so desperately needed in the US, for a large variety of internal issues from health care to secure bridges, then so be it. But when the bridge you drive over every day collapses, because there's no money to maintain it, and you or some of your family die as a result, you can thank your silence and the US government for that. (Just Kate)
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