US & Human Rights

[lavender]

 

[Ally C]

Sounds like any other election to me. The reasons behind the votes might not be praiseworthy, but the ballot box has spoken. Would it be fair to include America just because they were part of this from the start? No. Looks like the US might be a large state in the field of global politics, but all of the 'little Floridas' out there really can make a difference. Don't you just love global democracy?

 

[WriterDom]

kinda funny really when you consider that in Sudan you can buy a slave for a couple of hundred bucks.

 

[MinkSoul]

you may not be able to legaly buy a slave in the US but...

we seem to be slowly evolving into a police state...

 

[Andra_Jenny]

The UN is where the little guy goes to band with a bunch of other little guys to beat up on the big guy without getting their asses kicked up between their ears. Then they feel muy importante.

We are slaves. We have no right to franchise. Our owner, the government takes from us what it wishes when it wishes with the backing of those who will not succeed in the absence of need to struggle for survival. You see, slavery is not about being in chains, but about being free and secure about our persons and property.

 

[Todd]

Re: you may not be able to legaly buy a slave in the US but...

we seem to be slowly evolving into a police state...

now how come if i said that it would be flamed, but not when you do, bewildering.

 

[Andra_Jenny]

So, it has to be about you, huh?

 

[cymbidia]

Apparently, in the UN, "civil rights" means something different than it does to most of us in the US. Consequently, nations with very different views on civil rights then we in the US hold are allowed by popular vote to decide such policy for the UN as an entity.

Such is the republican way, is it not? Whether or not we agree with the vote, whether or not we're horrified at what we perceive as civil rights abuses in the countries that are now voting on policy, they won the right to make such policy in the same fair voting that lost the US that right. End of story.

If we see a decidedly grim upswing in worldwide civil rights abuses in the next year, during which we have no ability to officially protest such occurrences, such is life, right? A few people will die unnecessarily in the Sudan and in China and some will be tortured in Cuba and Algeria. There's nothing we can do, from an official perspective, about that.

Somehow, someway, and i don't understand the politics at all, but some group of US-UN functionaries let us down badly in all this. They allowed our long-standing national interest in basic human rights and civil rights slip within the halls of the UN to the point that the US *could* be voted off the UN Commission on Human Rights. It is on heads of those people that the lives of those who will suffer for this lie.

 

[Expertise]

Does anyone need further evidence that the UN is the biggest, sickest joke ever?

 

[DevilMayCare]

This dialogue needs a laxative! All this discussion about human rights and our place in the UN is beside the point. The United States concern about human rights has always taken second place to its commercial interest. Do you really believe we had the human rights of citizens in mind when we supported repressive regimes in Guatemala and Nicaragua? When we encouraged assasination of Salvador Allende and supported the ascension of Augusto Pinoche in Chile, then remained silent while his death squads killed supporters of the Social Party, that we were concerned about the human rights of Chileans? Come on folks! We're more interested in making the world safe for the American Fruit Company than for its citizens.

The Central American Republics suffer economic disparities, turbulent political situations and have been dominated by the United States after their "independence" from the Spanish, with the exception of the Belize, which was colonized by the British. These countries have the unfortunate position of being dominated by one or two crops and have had a history of military dictatorships, with the exception of Costa Rica. However, the U.S. controlled the dictators and the owners of the plantations were mostly American companies (American Fruit Company--AKA Chiquita). Whenever, the people rebelled against the companies or the dictators which were supported by the Americas, the Americans would "steam" and "correct" the situation through military force.This was called Gun Boat Diplomacy (an oxymoron) and is a term that is use whenever a foreign power interferes with the internal affairs of another country for their own self interest.. These countries were also called Banana Republics, meaning that they were dominated by one crop. The Banana Republic term usually implies a military government. After decades of fighting, this areas has stabilized, for the time being. All of the governments are democracies, but are still fighting some of the same demons as in the past.

from http://www.tamuk.edu/webuser/geo/Geog/Notes/midam.htm

If you'd care to look more closely at what happened in Guatemala where Reagan's favorite allies were creating death squads to kill humans you might want to check this site.
http://www.igc.apc.org/pbi/guatemala2.html#background

The real story about United States hyprocrisy regarding human rights comes when you look dispassionately at our own record of treating our citizens. I invite you to browse Amnesty International's report on the subject.
http://www.web.amnesty.org/web/ar2000web.nsf/reg/48982da7bb36491d802568f2005935fc

And finally, our prison industry
http://www.versobooks.com/books/nopqrs/parenti_prisons.shtml

Consider our own criminal justice and prison industry, you might want to check out the book Lockdown America.

Over 1.7 million Americans live in prison, a three hundred percent increase since 1980.
* In some US cities, one third of all young Black men are in jail, on probation or awaiting trial.
* In California, spending on prisons has eclipsed allocations for higher education.
* Starbucks, Jansport, and Microsoft all use prison labor to package their products.
* Corrections Corporations of America, the nation's largest private jailer, has been dubbed a "theme stock for the 90s.

Why is criminal justice so central to American politics? Lockdown America not only documents the horrors and absurdities of militarized policing, prisons, a fortified border, and the federalization of the war on crime, it also explains the political and economic history behind the massive crackdown. Written in accessible and vivid prose, Lockdown America will propel readers toward a deeper understanding of the links between crime and politics in a period of gathering economic crisis.

There certainly are well intentioned people in the United States concerned about human rights around the world. It just so happens that our government practices a sort of "real politik" of the kind pursued by Henry Kissinger in which we blatantly kill our perceived enemies and support our perceived friends, no matter how vicious they may be. Is it wrong to balance commerical interests with concern for human rights? Where do we draw the line? Good questions to debate, ones which are seldom discussed in the halls of power in Washington. Politicians, after all, need those campaign contributions flowing and indigenous peoples of the world, Kurds, Indians, don't have deep pockets. Get serious folks!

And with this history, the rest of the world should genuflect toward us? Gimme a break!

[Edited by DevilMayCare on 05-07-2001 at 10:14 AM]

 

[lavender]

 

[DevilMayCare]



Oh I could go on for days. Please no one take offense to this. I just got back from a hard test. I needed to vent.

You did good kid!

 

[lavender]