Man of the Century

I think I was trying to be a little too ambitious in doing a lot of research for my posts. Then again shooting from the hip isn't always the best approach either. My goal was to try to begin to understand why we (the world) care very little about abuses and atrocities committed in Africa. There's the current genocide in Darfur, the past genocide in Rwanda, numerous civl wars where people are butchered because of ethnicity or beliefs, and not to mention the pandemic of AIDS. Increasingly the cause of saving Darfur attracts more and more people and there are a host of websites dedicated to the horror, various celebrities support the cause, and even Kofi Annan has given the situation lip service. But no action has been taken. When the world learned of genocide and even concentration camps in the Balkans during the 1990s we responded. We created a homeland for the Jews after WWII. It can be argued that not only have we not helped in the case of African genocide, but as former colonial powers on the continent we created many of these situations where tribal or ethnic rivals are competing for power. Is it because the Balkans was the doorstep of Europe, well it is Europe I suppose? Did we help the Jews because they too are white? Do we shun Africa because they are black? Certainly there are those who feel Americans do not care about the "Dark Continent" because its inhabitants have dark skin pigmentation. I have come to a very different conclusion which brings me, finally, to the title of this post.
Dwight D. Eisenhower isn't known for much more than leading the nation into Korea to fight the communists and playing a lot of golf during his tenure in the White House. But after reading his farewell speech the other day, I've decided to name him Dinosaur's Egg "Man of the Century." If you've never read it, I stronly suggest it. Instead of "Ike" we should call the man Nostradamus. What does this speech have to do with African genocide and the AIDS pandemic? Everything. Ike warned of the "growing military-industrial complex" and its influence on government, society, and every other facet of American society. I believe that complex is the reason we don't care that Rwandans are butchering each other in the street, or why refugees are pooring out of Sudan by the thousands. It is part of the same reason why AIDS is tearing the continent apart, and is perhaps a larger problem than ethnic conflict, civil war, and political corruption combined. We don't care about African problems because there is no strategic or economic interest on the continent. Those are really one in the same, strategic and economic interests that is. Western Drug companies have the means to treat AIDS, to make those living with the disease more comfortable and even able to support their families. African countries cannot get access to these drugs, why, because there is no profit in helping those who have nothing. I understand businesses are in business to make money, whether you're selling pharmecuticals or tires, but we're all human. How can you have the means to help people and not do it? Ike's "growing military-industrial complex" is worth billions upon billions of dollars, and forget lobbies, leaders in these industries walk the halls of government. Dick Cheney is the former head of Halliburton, who has been scrutinized for cheating the government as a contractor in Iraq, and still owns stock in the company that is greatly profiting from the conflict created by the current administration. Former President George Bush, and other White House insiders, sit on the board of the Carlyle Group which is a conglomerate that owns large defense contracts. How long has this been going on? Is the military-industrial complex responsible for the arms race of the early 1980s? If so, do they deserve credit for bringing down the Soviets? How many conflicts, whether in the Balkans, Korea, Vietnam, Central America, or the Middle East, were entered into, not because of national security interests, but to protect American industry? And if not to protect American industry, help them greatly profit from bloodshed, chaos, grief, and misery caused by war by selling the arms and supplies of war. I'm convinced these global conglomerates have helped shape policy for decades and we sit by and take it. It is utterly ridiculous to believe we are in Iraq to protect national security. The Bush Administration lost all credibility, whether W's intentions were true or not. There is too much evidence saying we were misled, duped, deceived. Is it about oil? Is it about making Humvees, helicopters, feeding troops, guns, smart bombs, missiles, and tanks? Is it about rebuilding the war-torn country? It is about anything other than our country's security interests and interests of the men who have died on Iraqi soil. Where the fuck is Osama Bin Laden? Why in the fuck haven't we blown every mountain between Afghanistan and Pakistan looking for that murderous son-of-a-bitch? Why? I'll tell you why, because there's no fucking money in it. Thanks Ike, too bad we're too anestithized by television and pop culture to listen.