Naomi Klein Issues Haiti Disaster Capitalism Alert: Stop Them Before They Shock Again

Naomi Klein Issues Haiti Disaster Capitalism Alert: Stop Them Before They Shock Again

www.youtube.com

Journalist and author Naomi Klein spoke in New York last night and addressed the crisis in Haiti: We have to be absolutely clear that this tragedy—which is part natural, part unnatural—must, under no circumstances, be used to, one, further indebt Haiti and, two, to push through unpopular corporatist policies in the interest of our corporations. This is not conspiracy theory. They have done it again and again.

(visit the link for the full news article)

This sounds kind of scary to say the least and makes me ask myself QUITE alot of questions.

A little history:

Haiti was not born poor, but rather saddled with debt, first by the French and now by the United States. When the slaves fought for their independence in 1804, and won, the French punished them by demanding payment for damages (the equivalent of $21.7 billion in today’s dollars, or forty-four times Haiti’s current yearly budget, according to journalist Eduardo Galeano). Even as they began to pay that debt, France was the only country to recognize the newly independent Haiti, the country that transformed from a slave colony to an invisible, autonomous society. Yet, Haiti was never really free. No indebted country is ever free as debt takes the place of shackles.

The United States began its occupation of Haiti in 1915 when Woodrow Wilson sent 330 U.S. Marines to Port-au-Prince. The reason for the invasion, according to the Secretary of the Navy, Admiral William Deville Bundy, was to “protect American and foreign” interests. Of course, the public was told the purpose of the mission was to “re-establish peace and order.” Sound familiar?

trueslant.com...

It's important to know the past
check that article out fully though

Ok here's something interesting

US President Barack Obama has offered Haiti 100 million dollars in immediate earthquake aid to Haiti. International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has announced that the fund will provide the same amount

The IMF money is to come from an extension of an existing loan to Haiti. The loan extension requires executive board approval which he promised would be given “very rapidly and in co-ordination with other agencies."
www.rfi.fr...

Ok so if I am to understand this correctly, Obama is giving 100Mil to haiti while IMF is matching that amount but as a loan?

Is this correct?

Dearden said it was "completely inappropriate" for international institutions such as the IMF to be making new loans which would only saddle Haiti with more debt.


The IMF said on Thursday it would increase Haiti's existing loan program by $100 million to help it recover from the earthquake.


Haiti received $1.2 billion debt relief from the IMF and World Bank last year, but campaigners say it still has more than $600 million in debt on its books.


"Not only is lending the wrong solution for Haiti, but the IMF's loans come with conditions," the JDC said. "Haiti is still suffering as a result of conditions applied to its economy in the past."

ca.news.yahoo.com...

Loan conditions, reminds of me a movie I saw about a british guy trying to murder members of a bank that aren't only interested in money and debt but political control.

A few examples of loan conditions:

New IMF loan conditions will raise water fees in Ghana

According to the document, as a condition for releasing the next tranche of the loan, the IMF has required Ghana to implement full cost recovery in public utilities, and requires the country’s independent Public Utility Regulatory Commission to develop an automatic tariff adjustment formula for electricity and water.

Loan conditions imposed by the IMF and World Bank on Ghana mandated a 95% hike in water fees in May 2001. The new IMF conditions would mean that additional price hikes will be planned.

The World Bank and IMF policies, for a number of years, have been pushing the government of Ghana to increase consumer fees for water and lease the water system to transnational water corporations.
www.twnside.org.sg...

Please give your thoughts ATS and help spread the truth!


www.youtube.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I've read two of Naiomi Klein's books, No Logo and The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Both are frightening depictions of our world, perfectly defining our moment in history.

IMO the IMF needs to be dismantled and criminal charges be brought against them. It's an elaborately brilliant ploy: for the First World to exist, there must be a Third World. The way to keep developing nations dirt poor? Bankrupt them. The IMF loans them money that they could never possibly pay back, keeping a cycle of debt going. The consequence? Internal instability, keeping them forever underneath the First World. The side effects? A disenfranchised populace with nowhere to turn can find solace in the arms of radical ideology as a means to strike back at their oppressors. Of course, this leads to Western military deployment, bringing in a whole new wing of eager money making machines ready to benefit from the latest crisis.

We need to do our best to help Haiti, first because the level of human suffering there is simply staggering, and second because we owe it to them because of the sins of our past. I'm not an America hater, but we have a lot to atone for. So we must help them, but be wary of those who will want to find this to suit their own agenda.

reply to post by ModernAcademia


Am I correct in paraphrasing that you are concerned that the US and IMF (France, Germany, China would be included) will be giving or loaning Haiti huge amounts of funds and there are certain string that will certainly be attached, we just don't know what they are yet. Please correct me, you posted a lot of material.

I would simply contend what I have said in my thread: A Feeble Economy Knocked Flat

Haiti had little before the quake because of previous disasters, overpopulation, poor ecological conditions, bad government, sociological problems, pollution, over harvesting of its forests, poor soils to name a few.
No one is ever going to make a lot of profit from Haiti. You can pour in as much money as you want, you're not going to get much back out. Perhaps you could get to be the top debt holder and that's about it.

I spent a Peace Corps assignment in Senegal West Africa. French speaking, poor, lots of AIDS, starvation, many Haitians trace their origins to West Africa so I feel some affinity to the Haitians. Also have studied the country esp. in comparison to the Dominican Republic neighbors. Kind of makes me want to do something to help out, however impractical that may be.

I don't know? From what I hear france has already forgaven 1/3 of haiti debt.
They want to forgive most of it, if not all of it. There is alot of internal fighting about haiti debt in france ongoing right now. Some are claiming it isn't being wiped out fast enough. I'm sure this plugs into your equation somewhere. I think they are asking Tawain to erase or forgive haiti debt as well. There is one other country besides tawain france is asking?

Basically, it sounds like most of the haiti debt is going to be forgiven. Every country has debt though, these are only 3 countries who are planning to forgive haiti debt. People are mad it sounds like, because after all the cleanup, reconstruction, relief, and any thing else money pays for, Haiti is going to be in the same position that they were in before the earthquake.

Forgive debt, that is just being replaced by new debt. There are people out there right now while all of this is going on who are actually looking for something. They already want things for the un.What do you think about that, or how do you like that. Haiti might get away with this one, heh?

This is truely humanitarian. This mission is no place for the bushmongers who already jumped the gun a few years back. Can you actually beleive they called what they did humanitarian? They are mad. Under any other circumstance haiti would have to hand over her sovernty t the un to have her debt forgiven. People are mad there will be no consecions. I can't believe people are already trying to play politics like vulters. This cant happen this time.

Here's a bad example. China would forgive u.s. debt if they turned a blind eye when they take back tawain, and said and did nothing.
I"m not sure what else to say, I might have to agree with what she said. Keep your eyes peeled for those people who yet n still want haiti to hand over their sovernty to the un. Most likely they are rich, bushmongers who consider what they did for 8 years humanitarian missions. They might be on tv. They are most likel;y hiding their anger4 with tricky talk about the un.

And by the way, haitians like americans alot more than they like the un. It's said when americans show up the haitians say,..... oh, fuh, glad you're here, when are you leaving.. They know the americans will.

Isn't it so hipocritical how most of the bushmongers don't listen to the un on any day, i.e. iraq.... but know they are calling for the un. There is nothing funnier than christians who like to confuse chritians, yet are really confused themselves. These people are only just getting started, we are going to be hearing alot about this for awhile. What if they are wrong? However, the fact that they could be wrong will just provoke them to re write history for us, and then say that is what they meant.

I'd rather be in haiti listening for peoples voices who are buried under rubble, rather than washed up bush mongers, bush puppets, bush cronies, bush gringos, ect. who want to talk about humanitarian missions because that all they did for 8 years and they are the people to ask. And the banks?

Forgiving old debt means nothing.

Its the new debt they will aquire having to build new homes, hospitals, hotels, CAPITOL buildings...that will turn around and bite them in the butt.



[edit on 15-1-2010 by watcher73]

Originally posted by plumranch
Am I correct in paraphrasing that you are concerned that the US and IMF (France, Germany, China would be included) will be giving or loaning Haiti huge amounts of funds and there are certain string that will certainly be attached, we just don't know what they are yet. Please correct me, you posted a lot of material.

I would be opposed to all loans or grants with conditions regardless of where they come from.

We don't need Haiti going further into debt, that won't help them
Please review all information i've posted as they answer many questions that will be asked.

All funds sent to Haiti should come from kindhearted people of all nations, not from govt.
And if govt. wishes to play a role then they should pay off the debt or cancel it out completely with absoutely zero strings attached!

Long-term wise this is the most nobel act we can give to Haiti.

reply to post by ModernAcademia

Journalist and author Naomi Klein spoke in New York last night and addressed the crisis in Haiti: We have to be absolutely clear that this tragedy—which is part natural, part unnatural—must, under no circumstances, be used to, one, further indebt Haiti and, two, to push through unpopular corporatist policies in the interest of our corporations.

I did listen to most of Naomi's concerns and they are to me just plain ungrounded. How could any country, corporation, or entity take advantage of the Haitians? There is no profit to be had anywhere in the country. Haiti is by far and away the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Not a small lack of accomplishments!

Haiti will be the recipient of ongoing grants, gifts, loan forgiving, pouring money away, etc. for many years to come. Haiti is the poorest and most likely of nations to be helped and gifted thanks to the benevolence of the Western World (opps forgot the Chinese!)

Originally posted by plumranch
reply to post by ModernAcademia

 

Journalist and author Naomi Klein spoke in New York last night and addressed the crisis in Haiti: We have to be absolutely clear that this tragedy—which is part natural, part unnatural—must, under no circumstances, be used to, one, further indebt Haiti and, two, to push through unpopular corporatist policies in the interest of our corporations.

I did listen to most of Naomi's concerns and they are to me just plain ungrounded. How could any country, corporation, or entity take advantage of the Haitians? There is no profit to be had anywhere in the country. Haiti is by far and away the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Not a small lack of accomplishments!

How could anyone take advantage? it does look like there is little to take advantage of but like the good vultures they are the IMF and multinationals pick the bones clean. I'm sure they could find some mineral or fishing rights they'd like to own or maybe just make a lot of money from "humanitarian aid" that they wil be reimbursed for at a handsome profit later. never waste a good crisis. This is major showtime for politicians to get facetime looking "ever so concerned". A week ago most of them couldnt find Haiti on a map, now it's the epicenter of media focus.
i'm certain there are lessons from the Tsunami that will apply here. I pray that MOST of the aid gets to the people instead of someone else.

I believe the U.S will not be asking for any money returned, but a stake in "Haiti" itself.

But that might be a good thing not only for the U.S but the Haitians as well (besides losing part of their country).

If the U.S has any control over it I feel like Haiti would become much more prosperous than what it is now, unless of course the U.S has some natural resources they want to dig out then it will become a hell hole.

I have read her book about the 'Shock Doctrine' as well. Very apt that she promotes the issue now. But nobody will listen as they dont understand usually.

Parallex.

reply to post by Parallex


Is it worth the buy?
Shock Doctrine I mean

reply to post by ModernAcademia


Having received the book as a present, the contents are certainly worth reading. Plenty of fodder for CT's.

On the other hand, I'd suggest going to used book stores to get a copy if you are so inclined. Picking one up shouldn't lighten your wallet much that way.

Originally posted by Someone336

IMO the IMF needs to be dismantled and criminal charges be brought against them. It's an elaborately brilliant ploy: for the First World to exist, there must be a Third World. The way to keep developing nations dirt poor? Bankrupt them. The IMF loans them money that they could never possibly pay back, keeping a cycle of debt going. The consequence? Internal instability, keeping them forever underneath the First World. The side effects? A disenfranchised populace with nowhere to turn can find solace in the arms of radical ideology as a means to strike back at their oppressors. Of course, this leads to Western military deployment, bringing in a whole new wing of eager money making machines ready to benefit from the latest crisis.

We should look to the recent past in order to see the future. Look what the IMF did in Argentina. The track record bears out what you have articulated so well.

I suppose the religious corporations will be in Haiti to procure land grabs, much of it with donated funds to "help Haiti". Their way of "helping" will be to buy the land up cheap and rebuild it in their image.

World Bank finances a lot of the interfaith ventures. Looks like an opportunity for another Kingdom dominionist takeover.

Originally posted by FritosBBQTwist
I believe the U.S will not be asking for any money returned, but a stake in "Haiti" itself.

I believe you're right.

Things to consider:

!.) Haiti’s Proximity to Cuba and Guantanamo Bay

2.) From ModernAcademia’s post above: The World Bank and IMF policies, for a number of years, have been pushing the government of Ghana to increase consumer fees for water and lease the water system to transnational water corporations.

From CIA’s World Factbook www.cia.gov...:

3.) Natural resources: bauxite, copper, calcium carbonate, gold, marble, hydropower

4.) Exports - commodities: apparel, manufactures, oils, cocoa, mangoes, coffee
Exports - partners: US 70.7%, Dominican Republic 8.9%, Canada 3.1% (2008)

5.) Illicit drugs: Caribbean transshipment point for coc aine en route to the US and Europe; substantial bulk cash smuggling activity; Colombian narcotics traffickers favor Haiti for illicit financial transactions; pervasive corruption; significant consumer of cannabis

France has already requested approval to cancel all of Haiti's past debt.

France has asked the Paris Club of creditor nations to speed up the process of canceling Haiti's debt.

France's Economy Minister Christine Lagarde says she has contacted other members of the Paris Club to accelerate the cancellation of Haiti's debt of nearly $78 million.

Haiti did owe $84 million. But Lagarde says about $6 million has been canceled since Tuesday's devastating earthquake.

France chairs the Paris Club, which in July agreed to cancel most of the debt owed by Haiti, the Western Hemisphere's poorest country.

In addition to France, the Paris Club includes the United States, Britain, Japan, Russia, Germany and 13 other countries.

On Thursday, French President Nicholas Sarkozy called for an international conference on rebuilding Haiti, a former French colony.

France has sent planeloads of emergency aid and rescue teams to Haiti. Mr. Sarkozy said he plans to visit Haiti in the coming weeks.

France also Thursday said it is suspending deportations of illegal Haitian immigrants, and will temporarily open its borders to earthquake victims who need help.

Link:209.157.64.200...

Further, did you catch the part that says: No country with debt is a free country. Well, guess what. That pretty much covers all of us.

As for providing Haiti with a "gift" versus "loan" it's a littler trickier than some are making it. First, it's extremely impossible to make sure these funds are actually reaching the citizens of Haiti, versus simply being used to rebuild their Capital building, without having strings attached to said money. I'm sorry to say this but in reality Haiti is a very corrupt, violent country (I'm not arguing the cause but simply stating it as reality). Even in the US people were taking advantage of those that were devastated by Katrina.

Also, I think the loan portion of the money will come later. Their entire country needs to be rebuilt and according to their own government, more than 60% of the buildings in Haiti are unsafe in normal conditions. When a country does not have a functioning (well) government and no building codes to speak of, it exasperates an already dire situation.

Further, keep in mind that their entire infrastructure (including port and airport) has to be rebuilt. Not only does the initial investment need to be made in actually building these structures, but then they need the money to also operate them. Nothing that gets rebuilt in Haiti right now will cost the same to operate as it did before. I think this is a huge portion of the "loan" terminology. No country right now is in a position to agree to an endless amount of blank checks.

Chang of topic for a moment. Doesn't anyone else get irritated that the celebrities come out of the woodwork and put together a telethon in which they beg us regular folk (whom without these celebrities would be nothing and have no money) to donate when they themselves could end poverty in most of the world if each simply donated one month's pay? I'm not saying I'm not in favor of raising money for Haiti, I guess it just rubs me the wrong way. I want to call and say: You guys do realize that if you and your buddies got together and wrote one check each you could end most of the world's hunger and homelessness let alone Haiti.....

reply to post by ModernAcademia


What ignorance it is to label this attempted crisis exploitation as "capitalism at work" when clearly what they were talking about is disaster communism. They are talking about government loans to Haiti in exchange for political favors here. Well, you can't seriously say that a government loan is capitalism when capitalism means government is to stay out of banking and every other sector for that matter. I think such a government loan would best be described as disaster communism since government-run banking is a communist enterprise. Only a politician could twist clear-cut communism and spin it off as the polar opposite.

The only elements at work in today's society are fascism, socialism, and communism. Capitalism is something that quite frankly may have never even existed because it would meant those in power can't micromanage the destruction of our economy for their benefit. Today we have plenty of disaster socialism, disaster communism, and especially disaster fascism. There is no such a thing as disaster capitalism, sorry haters. Corporatism and fascism are the pervading factors that have nothing to do with capitalism. In fact, in a pure capitalist society corporations very well may not exist since corporations are government creations.

[edit on 16-1-2010 by truthquest]

reply to post by truthquest


Exactly. One more reason why Naomi Klein is a moron. We are not a democracy we are a constitutional republic just like we are not a capitalistic country in America we are a state corporatist economy.

Originally posted by FritosBBQTwist
I believe the U.S will not be asking for any money returned, but a stake in "Haiti" itself.

But that might be a good thing not only for the U.S but the Haitians as well (besides losing part of their country).

If the U.S has any control over it I feel like Haiti would become much more prosperous than what it is now, unless of course the U.S has some natural resources they want to dig out then it will become a hell hole.

Exactly, the loans are contingent upon all the natural resources including the people themselves. Slavery was never abolished ANYWHERE, it was only nationalized to include everyone.

This is how the Rothschilds are taking control of ALL the property on the planet for the Queen and the Pope.

Please watch the documentary:

1984news.com...

It should be viewed by everyone on the planet. Then we can all come together and decide what action we need to take and arrest these morons for crimes against humanity.

Originally posted by plumranch
reply to post by ModernAcademia

 

I did listen to most of Naomi's concerns and they are to me just plain ungrounded. How could any country, corporation, or entity take advantage of the Haitians? There is no profit to be had anywhere in the country. Haiti is by far and away the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Not a small lack of accomplishments!

Haiti will be the recipient of ongoing grants, gifts, loan forgiving, pouring money away, etc. for many years to come. Haiti is the poorest and most likely of nations to be helped and gifted thanks to the benevolence of the Western World (opps forgot the Chinese!)

for starters:

Haiti — Natural Resources: Bauxite, copper, calcium carbonate, gold, marble, hydropower
According to www.cia.gov...

The CIA page was scrubbed, however if you search "haiti natural resources" it still shows up as the top match. Very curious.

www.google.com...:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a

[edit on 16-1-2010 by Deny Arrogance]

[edit on 16-1-2010 by Deny Arrogance]