What has happened in Egypt is what has happened in many Arab countries:  Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen to name three.  These people have a very similar situation to the one that we have here in the USA. Quite simply that situation is multinational corporations and a minority of wealthy investors draining their country dry by claiming the majority of the resources and assets for themselves while the rest of the country go barefoot and starve.

Egypt has posted solid economic growth numbers, particularly in the past half-decade, but that growth has failed to improve the quality of life or income of most of its 80 million citizens.  Just this morning I heard Joe Scarborough report about the “outstanding” gains in the GDP–as if GDP measures anything more than how well the upper 2% are doing in any country–including the USA. Go here to read more about the GDP and what it does NOT measure.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports that  the worldwide food price index surpasses its 2008 peak which resulted in global rioting and pushed as many as 64 million people into poverty.  Egyptians on average pay 40% of their income for food.  Unemployment in their nation is estimated at 40%.

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When the USA and European nations colonize nations like Indonesia, Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen, they do not bring democracy.  They impose a form of capitalistic serfdom on the majority of the people. This same serfdom exists and is growing in the USA.  It is managed from the top by Wall Street, the upper 2% and their Congressional patsies which include most of the 261 (almost half) of the elected officials in our Congress.

Declining wages have put housing out of reach for many workers: in every state, more than the minimum wage is required to afford a one- or two-bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent. For example, in Miami – Dade county a family needs to work 126 hours a week at minimum wage in order to afford a moderately priced two bedroom apartment.  Think about it! 126 hours a week!  That is humanly impossible  That works out to about a 16.5 hour workday, seven days a week.  AND THAT DOES NOT EVEN COVER FOOD, UTILITIES, CLOTHING, ETC.  Two bread winners, working 7 days a week for 8 hours at minimum wage can pay the rent–but who pays for the food, the clothes, the incidentals for the children’s school such as note paper, pencils, etc.

In El Paso Texas, we have U.S. citizens today risking their lives by crossing the border daily into Mexico in order to work as slaves in maquiladoras for $65 a week.

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HOW ECONOMIC PROSPERITY IS BROUGHT TO OTHER COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD LIKE EGYPT

First of all the International Monetary Fund (IMF) comes in and set up the rules for the new casino.  These rules are harsh and they are designed–not for the majority of the people of the nation. They are set up to favor the multinational corporations and a few of the wealthiest people in the country who are willing to sell out their people.

The IMF is run by a cartel of international financiers and it is funded by taxpayer money from the USA and other western European countries.  In the USA the funding for IMF is slipped into other bills so the citizens don’t notice.  In June of 2009 funding for the IMF was slipped into a military appropriations bill by the Obama administration.  The Bush Administration did the same sort of thing and the Clinton administration before that. So don’t get side-tracked into the propaganda that party has anything to do with it.  There is no degree of separation between a millionaire Democrat and a millionaire Republican.  To draw up such differences is to  engage in the good cop/bad cop political party game that the rich have been playing on the rest of us for 30 years–ever since Reagan came into office in 1981.

In 1991 Mubarak agreed for Egypt to undergo the IMF structural adjustment. Its principles are at the heart of economic-neo liberalism that has dominated USA Politics for 30 years beginning with Reagan.

“Structural adjustment”, the standard IMF/World Bank policy package calls for slashing government spending, nurturing privatization, and opening up countries to exploitative foreign investment.  These measures have deepened poverty around the world. In the two regions with the most structural adjustment experience, per capita income has stagnated (Latin America) or plummeted (Africa).  Structural adjustment has also contributed to wealth inequality in the developing world.

Privatization–the sell off of government-owned enterprises to private owners, often foreign investors.  Privatization is typically associated with layoff and pay cuts for workers.

Cuts in government spending–These reductions frequently reduce the services available to the poor.

Promotion of exports--Under structural adjustment programs, countries undertake a variety of measures to promote exports, at the expense of production for domestic needs. In the rural sector, the export orientation is often associated with the displacement of poor people who grow food for their own consumption, as their land is taken over.  (Look no further than Madagascar for a recent example.  This fall, their leaders signed a 99 year lease with South Korea, handing over half of all the arable land in Madagascar.)

Imposition of user fees–Many IMF and World Bank loans call for the imposition of “user fees” charges for the use of government provided services like schools, health clinics and clean drinking water. For very poor people, even modest charges may result in denial of access to services.

Higher interest rates–(like the ones that Americans pay on their credit cards) Higher interest rates exert a recessionary effect on national economies, leading to higher rates of joblessness.  Small businesses, often operated by women find it more difficult to gain access to affordable credit to survive.

Trade Liberalization — The elimination of tariff protections for industries in developing countries often leads to mass layoffs.  In Mozambique, for example, the IMF and World Bank ordered the removal of an export tax of cashew nuts.  10,000 adults, mostly women lost their jobs in cashew nut processing factories.  Most of the processing was shifted to India where child laborers shell the nuts at home.

IF YOU WANT TO SEE AN EXAMPLE OF THIS IDEOLOGY UNLEASHED ON US CITIZENS IN ITS HARSHEST FORM, LOOK NO FURTHER THAN ARIZONA.

Proclaim the Queen!

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