Shenali Waduge
While the US administrations take great efforts to dictate how countries should be run providing equal rights, human freedom to all, they have completely forgotten the state of chaos that exists in their own country. The US holds the records for the world highest prison population & incarceration statistics, its unemployment & literacy records are no better and its media belongs to non-Americans and much of the oppressions taking place around the world is totally as a result of US arms sales to the very people they call tyrants. US needs to start thinking about fixing its country without spending trillions on futile invasions & occupations & putting its citizens into debt. US citizens should now demand answers for every dollar that is being wasted by their leaders.
Let us look at areas that US administrations have neglected.
The US population stands close to 304million with males making 49.2% & women 50,8% of the total population. It is predicted by 2042 that is 31years from now minorities will become the majority in the US. By 2050 minorities will account for 54% of the US population which is projected to be 439million. Immigrants on the other hand & their descendents is said to for 82% of the projected population increase from 2005 to 2050. The foreign born population in US totals 43million (13.5% of the total population) However Canada immigrant population stands at 17% while Australia stands at 24% of the total population. There are 13million illegal immigrants in the US & they are costing the local taxpayers $113billion annually.
Did you know that more than 32million adults in the US (14% of the population) are said to have low literacy skills some cannot even read. 75% of unemployed adults cannot read & write at a basic level. 24% of patients with low reading skills fail to read & understand the instructions on a pill bottle. 63% of prison inmates cannot read. The problem of illiteracy is costing American businesses more than $60million annually in loss of productivity. Lack of federal funding has not helped solve this issue.
Whatsmore, the US is the only industrialized country in the world that does not have a universal health insurance system. US health spending is approximately $2 trillion per year ($6,697 per person). According to the UN Human Development Report, despite the US leading in health spending countries spending less than the US have healthier populations. There are 50.7million Americans who have no health insurance. 18,000 Americans die each year because they are uninsured (they do not get regular outpatient care, in hospital they receive fewer services than insured patients, lesser preventive care) Over 40% of this 50.7million have no regular place to go when they are sick. Half of all bankruptcies are due to medical bills (3/4 of this number happen to be people with health insurance!)
18.8million of the American population suffer from diabetes while 7million are undiagnosed. An estimated $218billion goes towards diabetes in the US. The percentage of people without health insurance increased to 16.7% in 2009 from 15.4% in 2008.
The World Health Organization estimates that 300million people worldwide are obese while 750million are overweight. Obesity increases risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cancer etc. There are 97million overweight or obese adults in the US in a country obsessed with thinness. The home-cooked family dinner is no longer the norm. with one-person households, single parent families & families with two working parents increasing the chosen alternative is take-out meals. Fast-food is big business in the US. Over 49% of Americans eat out. Advertising ensures that large portions of food brings in the customers! Add to this is the addiction to television.26% of US children watch 4 or more hours of television a day.
The statistics related to drug offences is alarming to say the least. 1 out of 4 Americans have used cocaine in their lifetime. Close to 25million have tried cocaine at least once. There are over 2million cocaine addicts in the US. Nearly 600,000 people are addicted to heroin. By 2005, there were 4.7% addicted to illegal drugs in the US. Over 6million children live with at least one parent addicted to drugs. The number of deaths related to drugs has risen by 540% since 1980. Marijuana is the most commonly abused drug. Alcohol coming first. Over 100,000 people died in the US due to alcohol related illness in 2000. 40% (17,000 dead) of all traffic fatalities in 2003 were alcohol related. Strangely enough that is far more than the numbers killed in 9/11!
Drug abuse & drug addiction costs employers over $122billion in loss of productivity time.
The use of prescription drugs has also seen a rapid increase. 1 of ever 5 children & 9 out of 10 Americans use at least one prescription drug per month. 22.4% kids upto age of 11 use one prescription drug while 29.9% people between 12-19 years use at least one prescription drug. 48.3% Americans between 20 & 59years & 88.4% 60 years & above use at least one prescription drug. More than 76% of Americans use at least 2 or more prescription drugs monthly while 37% use more than 5 prescription drugs. Most commonly prescribed drugs were central nervous system stimulants for youths between 12-19 years, penicillin for kids under 6years, bronchodilators for children upto 11 years, antidepressants for people between 20-59years & cholesterol lowering drugs for adults.
Would any believe that the most powerful country in the world would have poor? Yet, according to the US Census Bureau 35.9million people live below the poverty line (which include 13,5million children). Children make up 39% of the poor & 26$ of the total population. 3.5% of US households experience hunger according to Bread for the World Institute.
An alarming 100billion pounds of food is wasted in America each year (14% of their food purchases 15% of which include food never opened) while 700million go hungry in other parts of the world. Research estimates an average family of 4 throws out $590 per year in meat, fruits, vegetables & grain products.
Be that as it may every year more than 350billion pounds of edible food is available in the US while 100billion are lost to waste by retailers, restaurants & consumers. Why could this 1/5th of food waste each year not have fed 49million people in other parts of the world? The annual value of this lost food is estimated at $31billion! In the most powerful country in the world why would there be poverty?
The US is a rich country, it has a large amount of capital to produce relative to the labor force. The opposite occurs in poor countries which has a lot of labor but little capital. The movement of production from richer to poorer countries by large firms leaves lower income people in the US vulnerable as their jobs get shifted to poorer countries. Thus in a free enterprise economy not only is there competition for jobs there is a significant amount of unemployment & the business owners who have the power to allocate profits end up allocating these to themselves! In recent years, the US political system has paid little attention towards focusing on the poor in America. Half of US federal expenses are towards military & security expenditure controlled by a strong network of political & financial bigwigs. US firms & the rich have the power to lobby even Congress & the US administrations & large amounts are spent towards different types of lobbying efforts & have been able to enjoy tax breaks & subsidies for themselves.
So if poverty exists in the US it is largely due to the segregation by income & race. Jobs given to the poor are low paid giving rise to a host of issues like crime, poor housing, health issues, education for children & unwillingness to marry thus single parent families. Other issues include alcoholism & other abuses.
55% of food insecure households take part in one or more of the 3 largest federal food & nutrition assistance programs (the Governments Food Stamp program helps 40million low income Americans). The program is available to families earning $1980 annually. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants & Children (WIC) receives cheques or vouchers to purchase nutritious food each month (those entitled to this should be earning $40,793 annually for a family of 4) 8.7million Americans receive WIC benefits. The National School Lunch Program reaches out to 30.5million children & costs the
The unemployment rate in the United States was last reported at 8.9% in February of 2011.
The IRS is not a US Government Agency it is instead an agency of the International Monetary Fund. The US treasury is the IMF. Social security numbers are issued by the UN through the IMF. In 2008, 8million Americans lost their jobs. Close to 10 million Americans are out of work
US debt has crossed $14trillion mark. If US borrowing hits the ceiling & lawmakers fail to raise it the US Treasury would not be allowed to borrow more money. This is not only likely to effect the US economy but economies & markets worldwide as well. America debt to foreign nations is projected to be about $20trillion & this equals 100% of the US GDP. China holds $789.9billion in US debt, while Japan holds $746.5billion, the UK holds $230.7billion, Brazil $156.2billion, Russia $122.5billion with countries like Taiwan, South Korea, Ireland, France, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, India, Thailand, Mexico, Norway, Turkey, Singapore & Hong Kong holding billions in US debt.
Marriage, divorce & same-sex couples!
50% of all first time marriages end up in divorce (someone gets divorced every 10 to 13seconds). 66% of all divorced couples are childless. Divorce rates are decreasing purely on the grounds that people prefer to live together without marrying. The flip side of divorce is its effect on children.
The number of same-sex couples in the US increased by more than 20%. There are 770,000 same-sex couples living in the US (51% are males & 49% are females) & of this number 20% are now raising children..
For decades advocacy groups have been working in the US to halt gender-based violence & sexual assault. The country that is dictating to the world & declaring unacceptable to all forms of violence cannot put an end to domestic violence at home! In 2005, close to 1200 women were murdered by an intimate partner. According to the National Center for Injury Prevention & Control, 4.8million women experience physical assaults & rape by their intimate partners. One can imagine its psychological effects on the children watching the violence at home. Children exposed to family violence suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, bed-wetting or nightmares, asthma etc. 232,960 women were raped or sexually assaulted in 2006 (more than 600 women daily!) The cost of domestic violence in 2003 was more than $8.3billion.
With the surge in crimes, domestic violence & mental disorders of different magnitudes taking place throughout the US it is not surprising that there are over 22,210 psychiatrists working in the US.
Crime in America
Rise in prison population has not made America a safe country & its statistics on crime paints a very alarming picture of a country that takes pride in deploring crimes in other countries!
The crime rate in the US is experiencing a massive surge. Millions of Americans find themselves prisoners in their own homes, many find it unsafe to go out at night is this not strange in the land of dreams? The most dangerous cities include Detroit, Michigan, Illinois, Chicago, Phoenix, Arizona which has become famous for car theft. Approximately 12million crimes are committed every year in the US other nations at most have 6million reported crimes. There are supposedly over 1million members of criminal gangs operating throughout US & they are responsible for 80% of crimes committed each year.
Over 100,000 rapes are committed in the US every year that is the highest the world has seen. One out of every 5 persons becomes a victim of crime in the US this again is the highest for any country.
Between 2006-7 violent crime increase by 1.0% & property crime increased by 2.7%. 1 in every 45 Americans is on parole or probation, 1 in every 100 Americans is in prison, 1 in every 11 African American adults is in prison, 1 in every 27 Hispanic American adults is in prison, 1 in every 45 White American adults is in prison. Black Americans account for nearly 50% of the total US prison population. However, of the estimated 36,500,000 crimes reported annually Black Americans are involved in less than 9% but have the highest conviction rate. This clearly shows how America judicial system holds minority Americans accountable with a different code of justice as against the majority population! One way to solve this would be to reinstate the Habeas Corpus where a crime is only committed when there is injury to a person or property. Can the US remove victimless consensual crime laws because it appears that incarceration has become big business in America.
Americans in prison
The US has more people in prison than any other nation in the world! America prisons population stands at an alarming 2.2million. 1 in every 31 adults is either in jail or on parole or probation (7.3million Americans costing $68billion annually excluding costs for juveniles). The US prison population is 153% higher than Russia, 505% higher than Brazil & 550% higher than India & more than 2000% higher than Nigeria, Bangladesh or Indonesia. $50billion is spent annually on the prison population & some prisons surprisingly remain overcrowded & unsafe. Harsh prison sentences for nonviolent offenses makes up a key factor that is bankrupting the nation.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Discrimination in America
America loves to chide nations for all types of discriminations & human rights violations but lets see its own record. May we also remind America it is one country that needs to always remember the inhuman ways that blacks had been treated not too many years ago. When blacks had no right to sit on a bus that whites were traveling in, when blacks had no right to even drink water in public places, when blacks had to even make way for whites to walk on common roads this is the extent of discrimination that prevailed in a country that is now talking as if none of the discriminations that exist globally ever existed in America.
Statistics reveal a rise by 12% in lawsuits related to discrimination cases. People of color do have a hard time buying property. Racism occurs in US universities where there are fascist slogans & posters. Racial prejudice most often directed at black people was behind more than half of the nations 7489 hate crimes in 2003. Following the 9/11 attacks, there has been an increase in anti-Muslim sentiments in the US. Following 9/11 the US openly restricts the rights of citizens under the cloak of homeland security & uses methods like wire tapping of phone conversations & secret investigations, checks on all secret files, monitoring & transfer of funds of ethnic groups, foreigners & immigrants. 32million have been investigated out of this racial prejudice. US Homeland Security in 2004 had repatriated 157,281 immigrants & that same year foreigners arrested went up by 112%. Moreover it has now become a trend to illegal immigrants like criminals.
MNCs in America
The recent global economic crisis left the US Government spending $538billion to bail out 308 public sector organizations & 527 private sector bodies. $245billion was apportioned to banks & other financial institutions $145b to Fannie & Freddie & auto companies, $80b by AIG. So what was the rationale behind the bailout for it is a surprise that these firms have failed! A study by Mckinsey indicates that 2270 MNCs in the US generate 60% of total sales, employ 2/3 of workforce & maintain 60% assets in the US alone.
US MNCs account for nearly 50% of US exports & 1/3 of imports, they directly employ 1/5 (19%) US workforce & provide an average compensation of $63270. They account for 28% of US private sector workforce & its direct contribution to GDP is 23% & indirect contribution to US private sector GDP is 11% (contributing overall 34% of US private sector GDP)
Media in America
Public opinion today is molded through manipulation & the media is the best apparatus to achieve this objective. Electronic & print media has the power to virtually change the minds of virtually any citizen by forming an image & telling us what to think about it. Thus, psychological techniques are used to guide opinion. The average American spends an unhealthy portion of time watching television but majority of these Americans are oblivious to what is happening in the real world & is focused towards reality entertainment. The US news channels are often pro-Israel because these media corporations are owned by Jews (AOL, Walt Disney Co, Seagram, Universal Studios, Viacom, News Corporation, ABC, NBC, CBS, the Turner Broadcasting System, CNN, MTV, Universal Studios, MCA Records, Geffen Records, DGC Records, GRP Records, Rising Tide Records, Curb/Universal Records, and Interscope Records, “Si” Newhouse, Vogue, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Allure, GQ, and Self; the publishing firms of Random House, Knopf, Crown, and Ballantine, Time Warner Inc to name just a few).
60million daily newspapers are sold each day. The 3 most prestigious & influential newspapers are the New York Times (jv with International Herald Tribune the most widely distributed English daily in the world), Wall Street Journal (selling 1.8m each weekday is America largest circulation daily & is owned by Dow Jones also a jew) & the Washington Post & all these newspapers belong to Jews. Newsweek published by the Washington Post is also under Jews with a weekly circulation of 3.2million. The lists of other print & electronic publications belonging to Jews with staff majority of which are Jews is too long a list to mention & easily foretells readers that the US media is controlled by Jews. When media is the single most powerful element to control the minds of a nation & when that powerhouse lies in the hands of external forces which determines the foreign policy of the United States rather than the interests of the American people, it is a dangerous precedent.
Was it not because of Jewish interests that the Persian Gulf war took place? Is it not because of Jewish interests that US media fails to accurately report from the Palestinian perspective or even a balanced human-rights perspective?
Was it not because of Jewish interests that NATO massacred Serbian civilians? Was it not because of Jewish interests that Iraq was invaded? How can Americans change this or will America be able to bring media into the ownership by Americans? Are Americans not aware that Jews are controlling & influencing American political system & even its Government as well as the entire American populace?
Is it because of Jewish influence that the American populace is degenerating? Where natural laws are replaced with a wave of absurd free thinking where homosexuality is projected as normal & acceptable making it now into a fashionable trend or single sex couples adopting babies? Is it not because of Jewish influence that majority of Americans view all Muslims as terrorists?
America at war
It was between 1945 & 1954 that the Vietnamese waged an anticolonial war against France. Vietnam received $2.6billion from the US to defeat the French which was followed by Vietnam receiving independence along with Laos & Cambodia. Vietnam was temporarily divided between Communist North & anti-Communist South which had the backing of the US in 1956 & refused to unify. The Viet Cong began attacks on South Vietnam in 1958 & to assist the South 2000 US military advisors were sent & by 1963 the numbers went up to 16,300. By 1965 President Johnson commenced air strikes on North Vietnam & US ground troops increased to 536,000 by 1968. President Nixon advocated Vietnamization & began withdrawing US troops & arming South Vietnamese to fight the North. By 1973 US were withdrawn from Vietnam & US POWs were released. South Vietnam surrendered to the North in 1975 & Vietnam was reunited. Following the withdrawal the War Powers Act of 1973 declared Congressional approval before committing US troops overseas.
The cost of the Vietnam war to the US was 58,000 lives & 350,000 casualties with 1.2m Vietnamese deaths. Even today Americans question why US troops were sent to Vietnam! The Vietnam war lasted 10 years & has cost the US $662billion, yet the War on Terror has surpassed this five times over.
War on Terror was declared in 9/11 following the surprise attacks on the US. Has it achieved its objective a decade later remains the key question. Between 2001 & 2006 the US had spent $400billion to fight terrorism (covers expense on Afghan war & operations in Iraq since March 2003 & includes other wider global terror In 2007 an additional $70billion. In total the US would have spent $670billion on the War on Terror without knowing where Osama bin Laden is! As such politicians from both sides have been cautious not to criticize the costs of war lest it should unsettle American citizens. What can’t the US Government spend this wisely on US citizens who they know are in need of Government financial assistance. The cost of the war effort will top $3trillion! $900billion of US taxpayers funds spent on a war that sees no end.
Notwithstanding the military expenses involved there are costs for taking care of the wounded US soldiers, hundreds of US war veterans need to be given disability pensions for the rest of their lives (20% of injuries been to the brain 20% critical injuries & 6% amputations) 30% of US troops develop serious mental health problems within 3 to 4months of returning home.
By 2010 end there were 47,000 US troops in Iraq while all other nations have withdrawn their troops. US troop casualties stand at 4439.
There are more than 180,000 private contractors in Iraq. 145 journalists have been killed with 14 dying from US fire. Civilian death toll stands at over 100,000 whereas some reports put the loss at around 600,000! Only 55,000 Iraqi insurgents have been killed though! Insurgent attacks have increased from 14 attacks daily in 2004 it has increased to 163 daily by 2007. Insurgent strength is estimated at 70,000 against 47,000 US troops!
Whatever the US tells the world & however many Iraqi hate Saddam Hussein 82% of Iraqi strongly oppose the presence of coalition troops.
We now come to Afghanistan, a country that was attacked for no reason following the 9/11 attacks. US President Barak Obama has committed 40,000 additional troops to Afghanistan which is likely to additionally cost $20billion a year. The cost of keeping 1 US troop in Afghanistan is now $5m a year (includes personnel operations, maintenance costs, equipment & hazardous duty pay). It will cost the American taxpayer $250billion.
The War on Terror was supposed to be a quick win yet the costs are piling up & US is spending $12billion monthly & the US tax payer is going to be indebt for generations because the money for the war is being borrowed & interest payments will add another $615billion.
However, putting aside the monetary costs for the war what is more valuable is the manner in which the lives of Americans are being sacrificed. Close upon 5000 Americans have died in Iraq & Afghanistan (in contrast 500 US troops died in the 1st Gulf War, a little over 50,000 troops died in Vietnam while 291,557 US troops died during World War 2)
To avenge the deaths of 2792 people who lost their lives on September 2001 a country has invaded two nations & committed thousands of troops for a war on terror that has killed close upon 5000 US troops? What is the rationale & where is the wisdom in this futile exercise!
Did Iraq pose a threat to the US, was it really necessary to invade Iraq? Was there any need to dethrone Saddam Hussein? If the US was so committed to overthrowing all rulers it felt were against the people of those nations the US should be invading & occupying all the countries of the world! Why does the US only invade countries of choice as such why Iraq, why Afghanistan, why Kosovo, why Sudan & now why the interest in democratic rights for people of the Middle East?
The answer is Arms Trade the industry that profits from death. The world spends $1000billion annually on military expenses (more than what is spent on public services & welfare) It is big business for arms firms & any militia with cash. Arms triggers debate between security & freedom with some arguing that arms are needed to defend terrorist attacks thus the excuse by US & Britain to own dangerous military arsenal & atomic weapons. Why cant people think along the lines of the world being a safer place if no one had a firearm!
The key is in the word defense it actually connotes to mean attack because wars today are being fought for commercial interests. It is not the wars that were fought during ancient times, where even the enemy respected his opponent. Governments are influenced into defensive actions by arms companies. The invasion of Iraq, occupation of Palestine are good examples & depict how large firms have benefited from arms sales to US, UK & Israel as well as other Governments. UK is the 4th largest arms supplier & sells arms close to $27billion to mostly developing nations. The US exports half of all arms manufactured. There are 500m small arms in circulation throughout the world.
ƒWhile a handful of people make billions of pounds & dollars from arms sales one in 5 people live on less than a day.
If we notice a consistent increase in wars & conflicts it is purely based on greed for greater profits through arms trade. Thus the term defense industry is a hoax to make people believe that weapons are needed for security. Similarly the threat of terrorism has become a perfect ploy to invade countries in take over their oil, land & other natural resources. Sadly some politicians & businessmen in these countries become party to these manoeverings as they want to become the puppet regime leaders following dictates of these larger Western powers.
No arms manufacturer cares who they sell arms to as long as the purchaser pays the price. Arms analysts are quick to read the local politics & global interests & to strategize on how to pitch their sales flow. It is within this context that we see corruptions taking place through illegal arms deals, bribery & government payoffs.
The arms supply is only dividing the people & bringing greater destruction to the world at large. That is why we see more arms sales, more military invasions & occupations & more violent deaths. What hat the custodian of Peace the United Nations done to stop this & how can it because its Permanent Security Council members are the one manufacturing these arms! The firms that involve themselves in R&D to enhancing the types of weapons to be manufactured are the one who should be put on trial for war crimes, for they are deliberately thinking of ways to kill! Why are these firms not banned!
How logical is the need to increase weapons & ammunition to stop terrorism? Cannot the money being currently spent on manufacturing arms & then taking care of the wounded & providing pensions to the dead not be used towards education for children, better health for all & employment opportunities for the unemployed? Can the leaders of the world rather than spending time on strategizing how to take over nations or how to arm insurgents of those countries against legitimate Governments not think of how to equally distribute wealth so that there will be no people below the poverty line? If human rights is believed by world leaders can they not impartially draft programs that would stop racism, fascism, fanaticisms & ensure all the people of the world enjoy equality in ethnicity, class, color, sexuality while respecting countries cultural norms?
Any investments being made should be towards combating resource depletion, water shortages, solving energy crisis, providing better homes, better infrastructure etc.
Yet so long as Governments & large business corporations decide to spend billions of the tax payer money on military weapons ordinary people are unlikely to see any significant changes taking place. The US signed $21billion in arms sales agreements from Sept 2005 to 2006.
The US remains the only country inhuman enough to not once but twice use nuclear weapons to kill & the people of Nagasaki & Hiroshima will forever remember the carnage that resulted when the US bombed Japan.
Similarly, it was a falsehood about the Gulf of Tonkin that got US involved in Vietnam & that cost the US almost 60,000 deaths. Falsehoods again has sacrificed the lives of US troops in Iraq, Afghanistan & may soon be compromised if the people of America do not wake up & take stock of the miscalculations, the lies & the pretence that are being committed by their leaders. Unless the American people demand that there is an end to being hoodwinked the American tax payer will continue to pay for generations to come. The only parties that are making merry from wars are the oil companies, the weapons industry, the banking industry & the private security firms. First share of the pie is taken by the arms industry then on the pretext of rebuilding nations the finance & security firms take over.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Who are leading the people astray? It is the World Bank & IMF that control oil, minerals, agriculture, natural resources & other sellable goods as a condition for loaning these countries money. The IMF clearly tells any country that it must privatize its resources to be given money. The World Bank facilitates the sales of weapons & privatizes a country natural resources creating debt securing the control of that country for generations. Why do any country fall prey to these traps is the question!
Then there is the media & other think tanks who enjoy painting a threat, advancing policies & molding the people minds. How many country leaders really have the power to stop arms purchase?
Today, over 200,000 US troops are stationed in Iraq & Afghanistan additionally 2.5million troops & 750 military bases are set up in 130 countries. The occupation facilitates big business for private US firms who will compromise quality for services since their services will continue to be made use of so long as US occupation prevails. US firms are becoming richer at the cost of the US taxpayers money.
The American empire is facing turbulence. From the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492 through 4 centuries, the empire has expanded. At its peak leaders run amok with imperial visions. Soon greed, arrogance & desire for power consume them. Great wars are fought at great cost leaving huge debts, breakdown of civilized infrastructure. Great powers like great men are born, they rise, they reign & they gradually wane. $3trillion or more cannot protect the empire from falling nor will invasion of countries & occupation by US troops. The clock is ticking for the empire & its eminent fall unless it puts its house in order.