From: Everitt Mickey (evmick@pnv.net)
Date: Sun Jun 18 2000 - 18:20:38 MDT
-----altamira is alleged to have uttered the following;
<quote>
I can't claim to have visited many 3rd world countries, but I've spent some
time in Mexico. I've noticed 2 major causes of poverty there. One is the
Catholic church which discourages the use of contraceptives and abortion.
The second is the behavior of people who hold positions of power in various
governmental and corporate entities.
When you buy bananas at the grocery store, odds are they came from land that
was once occupied by people who grew enough food, fiber, and fuel crops on
the land to take care of themselves. Business corporations, acting in
conjunction with the Mexican (and sometimes the U.S.) government, took over
the land and gave the people who'd been using it the option of leaving or
staying there and working for the corporation at very low wages, which they
would use to buy exorbitantly priced food at the grocery store (likely also
owned by the corporation). The more self-respecting of the disposssed
peasants go to seek their fortunes in the city. The lucky ones have friends
in the U.S. who can help them find work (if they can make it safely across
the border and get past the check points). Others live on the outskirts of
cities such as Mexico D.F.
This is the ugly side of capitalism.
<end quote>
I take exception to the last sentence. I don't call a "protection racket"
capitalism. What is the deference between the above scenario (where a
corporation engages in acts of extortion with government backing) and that
of a local thug extortion shopkeepers with union boss/policitcal machine
boss approval? The only difference I see is scale.
I agree and accept what you said...but don't call it capitalism.
EvMick
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