My Mass Genocide

Hundreds of villagers gather in the city fighting over a parcel of rice as world leaders gather in Johannesburg discussing poverty alleviation and curbing environmental degradation. The numbers are staggering and disturbing as three thousand die daily in Africa of the Aids epidemic. Millions more are expected to die of the ravages of famine and war. Africa is dying a slow and painful death as we sit idly by. We are witnessing the greatest genocide in human history and yet I sleep peacefully.

The Americans, the great defenders of freedom are preoccupied fighting men in caves, as child soldiers in Sierra Leone become child amputees. They are the lucky ones, the others become just another casualty of a fratricide infested war. Human rights observers have warned us about the horrors of Africa but the President tells us he’s “fighting evil”; I didn’t know the U.S government declared a war on poverty. CNN informs me of the dangers of Anthrax while civil war claims more victims in the Sudan. I guess CNN forgot about Sudan or maybe Sudanese children dying just isn’t newsworthy. David Lettermen weeps on air about the death of his fellow Americans as a widowed mother copes with the estrangement of her eldest son to local guerrilla rebels. We, the western parasites live a jaded existence observing what we choose to notice and disregarding all else. And for us there is contempt and we wonder why?

The melodrama which is my life was stunned by another shocking epiphany recently. I was not only a witness but one of the millions of perpetrators of the mass genocide.

Africa like the rest of the developing world encounters the common enemy, the enemy of scarcity. Through the mechanism of capitalism we have advanced from a cultural of subsistence to a surplus society. Developing nations of the globe would be lucky to reach a level of subsistence as most operate under the de-humanizing level of scarcity. Resources are scare; many of the forgotten, the poverty stricken of the developing world go without food, shelter and clean drinking water while managing to survive on less than a dollar a day.

Then there is capitalism and its central feature of expansion; proliferating its philosophy throughout the globe. Yes, capitalism has elevated to the heights of global impact, they refer to it as globalization. Globalization, the merging of the world’s markets into one solitary colossal market. That’s the definition but the consequences are still in dispute.

The creation of clandestine networks like the drug trade and blood diamonds have been directly linked to globalization. Global markets provides a vehicle for the unrestrained trade of clandestine goods via the global market place. Guerrilla rebels can exchange diamonds for arms to wage war against their government. Moreover, these governments which have a complete disregard of human rights have used their lucrative resources like oil reserves to purchase arms to silence political adversaries. Angola’s government and the U.S government have an oil for arms pact that has paralysed the collapsed African nation-state. Oil reserves should be a source for societal economic advancement but they have accelerated the rate of genocide.

Who’s to blame? Is it the Global Corporate Capitalist? About old time Religion? Maybe Despotic Leaders? Or is it Me? I’ve arrived at the conclusion that all four actors are working in a tragic collaborative concert to produce the “Genocide”. My complicit involvement sent chills up every bone in my body. The culture of consumerism and conspicuous mass consumption as left us hedonists. Nihilism is the idealogy we subscribe to and our members are deeply committed.

Genocide, the systematic and planned extermination of an entire national, racial, political, or ethnic group. We, the consumers of the world have been more accommodating in our modern genocide; we accommodate all the worlds voiceless and hopeless. The 300 million Africans living on less than $1 a day, the 1.1 billion that don’t have access to fresh drinking water, the 2.4 billion that don’t have appropriate sanitation, the 36 million Africans afflicted with AIDS and the millions of others who are characterized by their collective despondency are our victims.

Somebody once told me that “Life is like being shipwrecked on a foreign island and you’re suddenly caught between conflicting emotions of hope and despair”. They forgot to tell me that despair is the human condition, we are all freakin parasites. Fortunately for us we are institutionalized parasites, preying on the impoverished via capitalist schemes like privatization is our moral obligation as capitalists. But we are so goddam transparent, they can see through our masquerading conscience. Our greed, our belligerence, our apathy and our wealth is what they see. Do we really need gas sixty cents on the litre if that means that we have to do business with an Islamist patromonarch who believes stoning women for adultery is just.? Why do we salivate over SUV’s? Why don’t we give hybrid cars a chance? Why do we elect leaders who believe that vacationing at his Texas ranch takes priority over poverty eradication?

This is my mass genocide! If you have the ability to read this, consider yourself lucky! You aren’t like the 70% of Angolans who are illiterate. You and I together can prevent further escalation of the systematic massacre of our marginalized populations. We are all members of the faculty of choice, choose wisely. I implore you to not walk away from the cries of the voiceless!!!!

Meet U at the Front Lines of the Revolution!!!

Regards,

But my question is this: is capitalism the true enemy?

I don't beleive so. Apathy is the real enemy here. So many people just seem not to care about what is happening in Africa. We don't need to destroy capitalism in order to send some of our money towards helping the less fortunate (overseas or here at home).

You name "old time religeon" as one of the problems, and to some extent that may be true. However I do know that true believers of Christ cannot sit idly by while people are dying of disease and famine. "What you to the least of them, you do to me" and all that.

capitalism=expansion=globalization(convergence of world markets + liberalization)
i'm not going to engage u in a biblical argument because to be honest i've given up on organized religion. but do u really think Christ would advocate capitalism? intrinsic to capitalism is "competition", intrinsic to socialism is "cooperation"; so do u choose competition or cooperation?

[ 20 May 2003: Message edited by: Deception ]