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Vol. XVII No.8 The University's Late Night Feature Paper January 29, 1996 { Page 1I ·-916--anrRla~is~·tr~8~~11~4~~ 0STATET EMP lSSIREA I By Chris Sorochin ing, hockey-playing nuts are just similar enough to have previously done so. One CNN commentator us culturally to provide what Noam Chomsky calls on the Russian Duma elections was typically Well, its another New Year and the anniversary the "threat of a good example": they're what we Orwellian: "They've voted to reject democracy." of the January 1 rebellion of the Zapatistas in could be if we got our act together and that realiza- Figure that one out. I always thought democracy Chiapas, Mexico. Unwilling to see their centuries- tion might give folks here some funny ideas. was supposed to reflect the will of the people and old communal agrarian way of life destroyed so Wouldn't it be great if instead of Gingrich and the how they're governed and how their economy agribusiness could move in, and unwilling to rest of the Dickensian knaves shutting down the runs. I guess the "demo" must refer exclusively to become part of the impoverished masses of excess government to inflate their egos, the American the people on Wall St. and their equivalents in labor swelling the shantytowns of Mexico City, people got together and stopped the music, just to London, Tokyo and other financial centers. Mayan peasants supported the uprising, which let'em know we won't be trifled with? No, I don't think anybody wants to see the return began on the day NAFTA went into effect. But the real dirt I have to dish with you is our lat- of repressive Soviet totalitarianism. But among Meanwhile, besides using our tax dollars to est glorious rescue mission, to Bosnia, where we'll Eastern Europeans I speak to, there's a palpable bail out investors in the crashed Mexican econo- charge in like knights in armored vehicles and stop nostalgia for the security and predictability of the my, jobs are lost here and inflation pauperizes those irrational, blood crazed Slavs (especially the "good old days." In Russia, especially, economic the average Mexican. The US has been providing heavily demonized Serbs) from taking out their "shock therapy" insisted upon by the World weapons to the Mexican government as they ancient hatreds on each other. Bank/IMF has succeeded in enriching a few- wage a low-intensity war against the Zapatistas Well, get this: it seems that in November, 1990, mainly criminals and bureaucrats, while the aver- and their indigenous sympathizers. Once again, when Yugoslavia was still intact, the US Congress age citizen has been plunged into poverty as sub- we're helping a corrupt, undemocratic govern- passed a little measure, the 1991 Foreign sidies and social programs are cut or abolished. TA T a. - - - - . - - - _ _ __ - - - _.__ - . 9._ ment make war on its own people. Western companies are pouring in to Next door in Guatemala, Jennifer take advantage of the situation. Harbury, a US citizen whose hus- Suddenly, all the Marxist dogma they band was kidnapped, tortured and were forced to absorb all those years murdered by the US trained isn't quite so much hogwash. Maybe Guatemalan military, considered the they can synthesize the best aspects of most brutal in the hemisphere, con- both systems... tinues to pursue her case against the Well, I think it's pretty obvious that Guatemalan commanders and their that's not going to fly in the New World CIA enablers. In Washington DC, in Order. The Western Europeans are early January, Harbury's US being given the word that their flirta- lawyer's car was destroyed by a tions with socialism which have pro- bomb and shots were fired into the vided them with such a high standard house where Harbury is staying. of living, are over. During the Cold One mainstream account I read sus- War, "Our" Europe had to look better pected "international terrorists." than "Their" Europe. No more. Now In Honduras, judges have had the we're treated to the spectacle of courage to indict members of the mili- Swedish banks and companies trying tary, a dangerous thing. The Honduran to unravel Sweden's impressive and military is also known for its brutality much-envied safety net. and is also cozy with the CIA. I humbly submit that the US now has The US iovernment refuses to turn a massive military presence, which over to the Haitian government doc- some estimate at about ten times the uments seized from ousted coup leaders. I won- Appropriations Law 101-513. To get the Yugoslav 25,000 usually reported. For the first time in histo- der what they say about US connections to the government to open up to privatization, the US- ry in Eastern Europe, just in case the natives get coup. We already know that Emmanuel dominated World Bank/IMF cut off all financial aid, any notions about not holding still for being Constant, leader of the FRAPH terror organiza- causing the economy to implode. In addition, the "restructured" into a new Third World. tion, was on the CIA payroll and allowed entry law demanded separate elections for each of the six On the home front, the government has ground into the US. republics and offered election funds only to "demo- to a halt twice now, as our fearless leaders attempt In Haiti, there also continues to be widespread cratic" (i.e. capitalistic) parties, meaning ultranation- to shove down our throats the idea that cutting opposition to the World Bank/International alist, separarist parties, like the reconstituted neofas- everything that benefits us is good and we'll just Monetary Fund policies of privatization of state- cists who now control Croatia and have promoted have to get used to it, like the punishing parent's run industries, which is sure to cause more poverty some heavy duty ethnic cleansing with US help. classic line, "You'll thank me for this some day." and pillage in the poorest country in the Americas. Here we go again. As in the Persian Gulf, Panama, Last fall, the Black and Progressive Caucuses pro- Across the Atlantic, French government workers Vietnam, etc, the US power structure creates an posed a seven-year budget balancing plan that succeeded in paralyzing the entire country for unstable and dangerous situation, and then claims centered on cuts in military spending and weeks in opposition to their government's plan to that as the world's enforcer we have to go in risking increased taxes on the rich. It was ignored by both start cutting benefits and privatizing. But unlike the lives of countless people, including US soldiers, the bulk of Congress and-the media. Corporate other countries I could name, the French are refus- because them dern furreigners just can't behave. welfare escaped the tough-love budget ax ing to see their standard of living sacrificed on the UN health organizations estimate that approxi- unscathed. Surprise, surprise. altar of financial markets and let their leaders mately 4,000 children a month die in Iraq due to Not that there's no hope. A group of doctors got know who really makes the country go. What's sanctions. That's every month. Happy fifth together and publicly burned their AMA cards and particularly terrific is that people outside the pub- anniversary. The one million or so that they risked arrest to protest the insurance industry's lic sector supported them, realizing that their slipped into the military budget that the Pentagon sabotage of health-care reform. The Congressional whole welfare state is threatened and eventually didn't even ask for? Now I guess we know why. Budget Office determined that a Canadian-style they'll feel the wolf at their backs. And to what end? Well, there's the perennial jus- single-payer system would be the most cost-effec- Most of the US corporate media couldn't under- tification for astronomical military spending tive and efficient, one of those funny ideas I spoke stand why those silly French would refuse to take the Eastern Europe is also the new frontier for eco- of earlier. Isn't it mysterious that this option never bitter medicine everyone (except big business and nomic colonization. Western European interests entered into the lobbyist driven "debate" that once related profiteers) is being prescribed these days. are anxious to move in and exploit, so it behooves again denied us what the rest of the First World Just north of the border, workers shut down the US to have some firepower on hand to assure has? London, Ontario for a day to protest the policies of that "we" get "out" our piece of the baklava, the Cheer up, though, George Pataki is soon to carry the premier of Ontario, not so affectionately referred biggest and gooiest piece being the most desirable. out the campaign promise that got him elected; he's to as "Newt of the North." Again hardly reported. I Yet another factor is the mood throughout going to execute some wretch who didn't have the truly believe that the main reason US media doesn't Eastern Europe these days At the end of last year, money to hire a good enough lawyer to get him off. cover Canada isn't because it's a boring place or both Russia and Poland voted putative commu- That'll do wonders for state morale. Soon we'll look nothing happens there, but because those beer-swill- nists back into power. Hungary and Lithuania just like a cold-weather Bible ]continued on page 8 -s ----~I " - -·I --~ - I - __ The Stony Brook Press page 2 Peace And Brown-Nosing For All By Anne Ruggiero watch, and a system which would rate television lic behavior from Sen.