April 3, 2005
Commodification
and Privatization B
First Steps in the trimming of the Human Species
The view that human beings are commodities is age-old
Slaves can be used for work, sex, breeding, and as soldiers
There are now more slaves in the world (27,000,000) than
Ever before. Some 800,000 change owners yearly on the
International market B 20,000 of these in the United States
But recent advances in medical science have raised the level
Of the commodification of human beings to vastly new heights
Humans come as clones, designer babies and days-old embryos
Body parts for sale include blood, kidneys, corneas, hearts
Livers, inner ears, hormones, eggs, sperms, spines and limbs
Not only are humans themselves seen as objects, but so also
Are the basic necessities on which they depend for their life
Currently, 400,000,000 people rely on corporations for fresh
Water B a quarter of these (100,000,000) being supplied by one
Company (Suez). Increasingly, the haves drink bottled water
Our oceans are of rapidly growing commercial value as dumps
For land wastes, repositories of resources, providers of energy
Pathways for trade and refugee interception, missile ranges
Fish farms, sites for testing nuclear bombs, and battlegrounds
For future wars. Dolphins can be harnessed to carry explosives
Like water, air is fundamental to life, and it too is being lost
To the commons. The earth=s atmosphere serves as a sink
For refuse, a source of energy, a grid for air traffic, and a
Medium for 2,500 satellites used in communication, navigation
Intelligence, vehicle control, warfare, and space monitoring
Large-scale corporate agribusiness is transforming farming
Into assembly line operations where livestock and crops are
Under the control of engineers. In the U.S., cattle-raising
And meat-packing form the 4th largest manufacturing industry
Chickens, pigs, calves, grains and trees are mere products
And life itself is becoming a commodity as biotechnologists
Develop new life forms to which their employers then claim
Property rights. Compliance with awarded patents is enforced
By the World Trade Organization and bilateral treaties, only
Scant regard given to human well-being or planet biodiversity
What is the message behind the privatization
of water
But that the poor are expendable at the whim of the wealthy?
What is the message behind the
trading in Apollution
credits@
But that the air we breathe is subordinate to corporate profits?
What is the message behind the
weaponization of space
But that the planet itself is fair game for dominance by a few?
The poor and the ill, having
lost the competition, will be let die
The rebellious and the
recalcitrant will be Atoasted@ from space
Thus the human species will be trimmed and tamed for the rich.
References
Slavery:
Bales, Kevin, p. 240. Data are for the end of the 1990's.
Ridgeway, p. 167. Also, pp. 167-176.
Advances in Medical Science:
Ridgeway, p. 176. Also, pp. 167-190.
Silver, Lee, pp. 13, 266 and 293.
Fresh Water:
Ridgeway, p. 5. Also, pp. 1-8.
Oceans:
Ridgeway, pp. 198-204.
Air:
Ridgeway, pp. 191-197.
Food, Forests and Fiber:
Ridgeway, pp. 100-109. Also, pp. 81-88, 89-96, 97-99 and 109-142
Life:
Ridgeway, pp. xvii and 205-209.
United Nations Environment Program, AMillennium Ecosystem Assessment.@
The poor are expendable:
Reuters Foundation, AlertNet, AAlerting Humanitarians to Emergencies.@
All 53 emergencies which are listed are in poor countries.
Will be Atoasted@ from space:
United States Air Force, ATransformation Flight Plan, 2004.@
The following quote appears in the section on solid state directed energy for laser and microwaves:
AThe Air Force is... looking for ways to provide measured global force projection via high-powered microwaves (HPM). Within HPM, it is investigating how to enhance the lethality of HPM systems... The Service is... identifying enabling technologies for directed energy for >from tap on the shoulder through to toast= against those we wish to coerce.@
Bibliography
Bales, Kevin, Disposable People B New Slavery in the Global Economy (University of California, Berkeley, CA), 1999. Data are for the end of the 1990's.
Reuters Foundation, AlertNet, AAlerting Humanitarians to Emergencies,@ March 31, 2005, http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/emergency.
Ridgeway, James, It=s All for Sale B The Control of Global Resources (Duke University, Durham, N.C.), 2004.
Silver, Lee, Remaking Eden - How Genetic Engineering and Cloning will transform the American Family (Avon Books, New York, N.Y.), 1997/1998.
United Nations Environment Program, AMillennium Ecosystem Assessment,@ March 30, 2005. The document is summarized in Taiwan News Online, AWorld Resources decimated by Man, says Report B Largest Study yet finds Humans have used up to 60 percent of Earth=s Natural Resources,@ March 31, 2005, http://www.etaiwannews.com/World/2005/03/31/1112232252.htm.
United States Air Force, ATransformation Flight Plan, 2004,@ online, January 6, 2005, 176 pages.
The Plan describes strategies for global dominance, including some which would rely on new laser- and microwave-based space weapons. The document vaunts the advantages of nuclear power in space. The full text is at the following site: http://www.af.mil/library/posture/AF_TRANS_FLIGHT_PLAN-2004.pdf.
Analyses of the Plan are available at the following sites:
David, Leonard, senior space writer, http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/higher ground 040222.html.
Gilardin, Maria, AArming the Heavens B Reading from the U.S. Air Force Transformation Flight Plan,@ TUC Radio, April 1, 2005. http://www.tucradio.org.
Hitchens, Theresa, AThe U.S. Air Force Transformation Flight Plan 2004 B A Kinder, Gentler Space Strategy? Not Really,@ Center for Defense Information, January 12, 2005. http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=2829&from page=../index.cfm.
Nuclear Policy Organization, http://nuclearpolicy.org.
Space for Peace, http://www.spaceforpeace.org.