Guns, not Butter: Disaster Capitalism Reloaded

Guns, not Butter: Disaster Capitalism Reloaded

At a time when our Ayaitian brothers and sisters need as much help as possible, the U.S. and her "vested interests" (i.e. her oligarchical multinational corporations)(once again) militarizes a disaster. On Meet the Press, George H.W. Bush is asked what is the top priority for the current situation in Ayaiti. Without batting his eyes, he responds “security”. Doctors without Boarders cannot land their planes in Ayaiti, but the U.S. military can??? Other aid groups are being turned away, but the governor of Pennsylvania’s plane can land??? Secretary of State Hilary Clinton can take a three-hour tour (Gilligan's Island style), but U.N. "peace keepers" are being “warned” about looters and violence???

If we replace the word Ayaiti with Katrina, we are looking at the same set of events as with what went down in Louisiana in 2005. The mainstream media focuses its attention on looters and violence more than on the toll this earthquake has had on the people of Ayaiti. CNN seems content with reporting on the literacy rate and the building violence. Why is the U.S. military called into “secure” Ayaiti, and who are they “securing” it for???

Interestingly, Israel arrived in Ayaiti the day after this tragedy, setting up a hospital to help victims. The U.S. has a military base one half-hour away and it took them almost three days to arrive??? China was there before the U.S. as well.

This is exactly what took place in Louisiana, immediately after Hurricane Katrina. The media seemed to report nothing but the building violence, the looting, and the anarchy. Like with Katrina, we are looking at an island whose people (among the poorest in the Americas) have lost everything. They didn’t have much to begin with, and the little they had they just lost. They see bodies piling up in the streets, friends and family members. Their island has been virtually destroyed. There is very little water and there is very little food for the survivors.

What person, in their right mind, would not take it upon themselves to resort to any means necessary to make sure that they and their loved ones survive this tragedy??? They have survived the devastating earthquake and its after-shocks. They have survived building collapses and mudslides, only to starve to death??? What European, in his or her right mind, would sit and wait for help in a similar situation??? Are we Americans (who have never really experienced anything like this) to assume that the Ayaitian people should behave with white supremacy's definition of decorum and tact, minutes away from starvation??? Our brothers and sisters there are traumatized. There are mass graves everywhere; people are literally living outside on the streets; bodies are being piled up in dump trucks (at last count, there was 70,000); and all CNN and MSNBC can report on is looting??? In my opinion, they aren’t looting enough.

Why has the United States taken over the main airport??? Why has much of the aid effort been moved to that main airport, and not in the epicenter of the tragedy??? Why was Cuba able to send 400 doctors not 24 hours after the earthquake and set up a hospital that has, at this writing, treated over 900 Ayaitians??? How is it that Venezuela has been able to send doctors to Ayaiti not 24 hours after the earthquake???

Anyone interested in some very poignant answers to the many (and rhetorical) questions raised in this piece should read Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.

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