Hey, look: Some thoughts of mine

I've been thinking a lot about not only what's been going on in the US over the last couple of weeks but alos about how I have a unique perspective on it, being down here and all. I wanted to synthesize much of what I've been learning about contemporary Argentine histroy with some of my larger thoughts on globalization and such but I've ended up expressing how much I've learned about my own country from studying another. It's been awhile since I've written anything lengthy in English so I think a few spots are a little awkwardly worded. I'd like to expand on pretty much everything I've touched on here and explain, especially, a lot of the Argentine history and processes that I've been coming to understand but time demands that I save the tasks for another day. I hope you all read it and can get something out of it.

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We once had a president, Truman, who kept a sign on his desk that said "The Buck Stops Here." It's difficult to imagine today a president who actually took responsibility not only for his own actions but those of the entire government. That, however, might not even be possible today.

A phrase often batted around is that the hurricane zone "looks like a third world country." Its repeated utterings have also been widely reported in the foreign press (at least here in Argentina) not only for the naivité of its sentiment- that the USA was somehow invulnerable to disasters on such a grand scale- but also for the idea that the government could not, or would not, care for its citizens in a such a time. Yes, it is and was naïve to believe that the USA does not have mass poverty, or that race and poverty are still deeply intermixed. But the great naïvité comes from the expectation of the benevolence of our government.

We are the vanguard of the world, economically and politically. The neoliberal model and the dis-industrialization of the US has been followed faithfully by nations in the rest of the world, especially in South America after the so-called "Washington Consensus" of the early '90s which called for the implementation of the neoliberal project. Because we are so powerful, and so prone to using the rest of the world's resources, we have Trickle-down has indeed worked for us, but on an international scale. And today,
even with the dimunition and the disarming of the nation-state as a primary apparatus for the well-being of its populace, the US has continued to be powerful and wealthy, abiet in a far more disproportional manner, internally speaking, than ever before. This cannot be attributed to the fact that the most powerful and wealthiest elements of international society, not to mention the international government bodies such as the World Bank and IMF, are located in the US and work for the benefit of its corporations.

Its corporations- not its citizens- are and will continue to be the primary beneficiaries of the international politics and commerce, and any benefits that we recieve are recieve NOT because we are citizens of the USA, but because we are linked, in some way, to the chain of international commerce powered by this elite.

This is mostly not understood inside the US. Your government is not your government- it is a republic only in the strictest political sense, and does not work for your benefit. It is often thought that the US is unique because of the cleanness and the openness of its government, or for the generosity towards the populace. As I said, we are the vanguard of the world, and the rest of the world is just now catching up to the neoliberal march.

What is this neoliberalism, and is it not simply an economic philosophy? No, it is not. Look at the actions of the FMI and the World Bank, which grant loans with the stipulation that money be diverted away from projects that promote societal well-being- for example, healthcare and social security programs- to large scale development projects whose goal is the integration into the world economy. It is a deeply political philosophy that demands that the fundamental role of the government be changed and the weakening of the entire Nation-State paradigm. At its heart is the goal of making the government inaccessable to the people-who might disrupt the progress of their program- and severly curtail the role and even the ability of the government to act in its economy.The most severe consequence of the "shrinking" of the government (which is really not that at all), in terms of its effect on the populace, is the directing of the power and legitimacy that have been awarded the government to projects that benefit a few, an elite- which is now internationalized and beholden to no direct authority. This is readily apparent in Argentina and many other Latin American nations that have suffered drastically under neoliberal governments (such as Peru's Fujimori and Argentina's Menem).

In New Orleans, there much fuss about the looting of stores by desparate and hungary people. What remains unspoken of is the looting of the government by a well-disciplined and respectable mob. The war in Iraq is an example of the above-cited projects of personal interest taken by people who have a completely different conception of the role of government- that of the idea of the government as a personal tool to enhance ones' own well-being, or that of an elite. The government belongs to them, in their mind.

The future of the United States is the future of the rest of the world. If you want to see us, look at Argentina. The ninties were a decade of privatization, shrinking the role of the government, widening income disparities and a wealthy middle class who never denounced the corruption around them because they were too busy getting rich themselves. It fostered a "fuck you, I'm getting my own" attitude that fucked everyone in the end. It's the story of the total desintegration of the concept of a civilized society, were all tools available are fair game for personal gain and no one has a responsibility toward anyone, including (especially) those with the power to affect change.

It's total irresponsiblility.

And now we arrive at 2001, and the collapse of the rotten political and economic system that sneered at any notion of being beholden to, well, anything.

This government isn't about the USA, or helping Americans, or anything of the sort. It's about personal gain. It's about cutting taxes time and time again in the face of a weak economy and a costly war. It's about going to war for the benefit of your friends the Saudis; it's about appointing your college roommate to direct FEMA because you're still good buddies, credentials be damned; it's about dressing up as a fighter pilot and a cowboy, and having fun.

But it's not about Bush. It's about the entire system.

Government, god damn, it's good business. And incompetence is greed's next-door neighbor.

So why is anyone surprised?

The rest of the world isn't.