Tag: corruption

is it just me?, near and dear, politics, public health, tragic, venting, well?, wtf?!

why don’t we help the sick?

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I read this article this morning, and frankly, it made me mad. I mean, we spend so much money on so many things that we shouldn’t, and yet, we cut funding that provides for those suffering from AIDS (which I definitely think anyone can agree that is something that is important). The weird thing about these cuts, is that AIDS cases, and the needs of those afflicted with HIV/AIDS, are increasing every year. It is estimated that 40k new cases of HIV a year are diagnosed in the US alone, and of those cases, many of them are being found among the minorities and poor of this country. Adding insult to injury, the drugs, treatment, care, and supplies that they need to live on are exuberantly priced, and as such, they are in a lose-lose situation.

Since we know this, where is the (moral?) justification for cutting the funding provided for these things, that work to provide people with services? This is a clear example of how we lack a basic sense of true social security in our nation. Frankly, it scares me on another level, because it shows how, as a society, we are lacking the area of compassion, even when we have more than enough means to make it reality. What’s probably worse, is that this happens to those that are in an area where it is truly deserved; because of the nature of the system that our society operates within.

When I read things like this, I think, what’s next? Throwing old people out of their homes, and using their social security checks to beef up military contracts? When are we going to focus more on the “homeland” that we are supposedly doing so much to protect? I ask, because we constantly hear about protecting “this great nation”, and securing freedom and safety for the citizens of this country, all while we constantly shift our efforts away from the actual people that need our help in this country. It seems that we are only securing the “homeland” for a select few; those that are lucky enough not to get sick, and that have found themselves in a position of wealth without bad luck, or worse, failure.

The scary thing, is that the rich will be just fine, and the poor will just die out, if this continues. The middle class will become the new poor, and eventually, we will die out too. This is a bleak and realistic future for our country if we continue down this ridiculous track; so I ask, why don’t we help the sick? Is it inconceivable to think that, not only do we have the money to take care of every medical funding problem we currently face, we give it to contracts and a handful of corporations, instead of our own people? I don’t think that these are shocking revelations, so why isn’t it something that is being taken care of? Oh yeah… why would you give money to a poor person, when you are too greedy to do so, and instead, want it, and more, for yourself?

Earlier today I was misclassified as following current democratic trains of thought with regards to the war, and as I stated, I don’t always agree with what anyone in politics does. I find a lot of corruption, and not a lot of true philanthropic action. As of right now, I feel alone. The politicians are not people that truly represent the little guys (and increasingly, not even us “middle” guys), and funding cuts like this make it more and more clear that there is no interest in actually making this nation great for anyone other than the elite. There is no definitive compassion that comes without a bribe, an accompanying lobbyist, or greedy grin. I think that I am going to be sick the more I think about this; I just hope that I can afford to take care of myself, because my society is not willing help me out.

I feel helpless right now, and that just sucks. I am having the same feelings I had when I read Joseph’s post the other day, because it comes from the same line of thinking, only his has a specific focus on what we will do when we get older. If you don’t have the money, and your family will not, or cannot, take care of you, you are seriously fucked; the government is probably not coming to your aid. That is what these AIDS patients are facing, and I just don’t understand how that is okay. That is scary, but real, and I frankly am worried as hell.

Speaking of helpless, I read this article, and it made me so utterly sad for that kid (as well as other people that are disregarded in the name of “saving” them). Sometimes, I question what people really are doing when they say that they are working for the good of mankind; because sometimes (and more often than not it seems), it seems that they got it so wrong, that by their method of “helping”, they are causing way more harm than good. Frustrating.

is it just me?, politics, venting, well?

absolute power? wait a second…

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I didn’t comment on the fact that Cheney and Bush (with a comment about where they work) believe that they are not required to follow laws, and as such, are not subject to the regulations and sanctions that those laws require; but this is hilarious. Since Cheney doesn’t think that he is a member of the executive branch, they are introducing a bill to limit the funding his office gets from that branch. LOL. Can’t have the paycheck if you don’t work there, buddy.

Additionally, it just really gets my goat that not only are there people still think that the war in Iraq had something to do with 9/11, but the cover ups and perjury that has been going on for the last 6 years is still not seen as real. I just don’t get people. If Cheney and Bush are not held accountable for the crimes that have been committed under the guise of “executive order”, what message does that send to the rest of the world? The people of the world are already tired of our BS, and if we just keep letting the president’s office rape the middle east, we are certainly going to lose some of the fledgling sympathy they have for those of us that don’t agree with what he is doing. I think that, even if it is just a slap on the wrist, and no one is actually removed from office (oh, but how awesome would that be), they should both be impeached. I mean, if you commit a crime, you should have your day in court, right? Why is it then, that the president and the vice president are immune to that? They aren’t, and I am crossing my fingers that someone with the balls to do it is going to step up and make it happen.

We seriously need to ask ourselves what we are gaining by staying in Iraq. Seriously, what do we seek to gain? Are we preventing violence in the Middle East? No, we are causing it to become more concentrated and organized. Are we saving the people of Iraq? No, we caused a civil war, and we are killing them to get them to stop it. Are we helping the people of Iraq, Palestine, Israel, or Iran do anything to better their lives, and enrich their countries? Not that I can tell, because we are making ourselves more and more of a threat each and every day. It becomes clearer and clearer to me each day, that Iran, Iraq, and the other “dangerous” nations in the world aren’t the threat; we are. We are doing to them exactly what we want to prevent them doing to us. It doesn’t change that fact, just because you call it something else, like “helping them rebuild”. Whatever.

While I think that it is important to help prevent violence in the world; when is the time that you actually investigate what your role in that prevention is? When everyone is dead? The whole thing just frustrates me, which is probably why I haven’t said much about it lately.

I can only DREAM of the day that politicians aren’t elected because of their donations and campaign contributions, and as such, we have have a true democratic government that is built by, and for, the people. Until then, none of OUR best interests will ever be in the forefront of anyone’s minds other than our own. That’s enough to make you want to just move somewhere secluded, where you hope you can remain untouched by all of this corruption, greed, and thirst of power. We will be the cause of our own demise, and watching it happen is sickening; especially when we have the ability to stop it.

I guess the greedy really will ruin it for the rest of us that just want to live, breathe, and be happy. Gah.

is it just me?, listen up!, politics, venting, well?, wtf?!

vulture funds? WTF!

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I have been reading about the battle to end “vulture funds” today. Vulture funds are funds that shatter the possibility of debt relief, where an investor will buy a defaulted loan from a poor nation, and take them to court, forcing them to pay the loan in full plus interest (even though they couldn’t pay the loan to begin with). What happens at that point, is that these countries that owe the debts, siphon funds off of the aid the government provides to them, and the debt cycle and need for aid only grows. See, it is a catch 22, the money is loaned to them, and they spend it (unfortunately, with a lot of political and governmental corruption involved in that spending), and when they can’t pay it back, the defaulted loan is sold very cheaply to someone who goes to court, and demands that they pay back the full loan with interest (!!!). The problem lies in the fact that these countries are forced to take money that we give them for things like AIDS relief, and use that money to pay off the debt collector (i.e., the vulture), who gets rich in the process, making way more than he invested in the defaulted loan. But why accept the loan, right? Well, these countries are given these loans as a fake promise that they can use this money to step into the 21st century. It is like those low interest, high risk home loans, that allow people to buy houses they can’t afford; they end up defaulting, and losing more than they had before the loan, yet, they are convinced in the beginning that they will be able to get by and improve their lives. It is a vicious cycle.

There is a serious issue here, because this practice, especially with relation to foreign countries and federal funds, is illegal. Currently, there is a call for debt cancellation in these cases, but there are still a few people over here (in the US) getting big bucks from this swindling game. They know these people can’t pay back the debt, yet they force them to with whatever they can come up with; which ends up being the aid we provide in the name of AIDS relief and other federal aid programs.

Even though these people go around buying these loans, and use courts to force these countries to pay back these loans, President Bush can sign a statement locking all federal aid funds into place. This would work to prevent the siphoning of those funds to corrupt government schemes and wealthy debt collectors; but that hasn’t happened yet. I hope that he will, and protect funds like the great AIDS relief that I spoke about a little while back. I can’t believe that people are able to do things like this in the first place, and that the system doesn’t do something to protect those that really need protecting. Until the governments of other nations stop the corruption, and the wealthy vultures stop collecting defaulted debts with interest (debts that the people were never going to be able to pay in the first place), the aid is not going to those that need it, and as such, we aren’t helping the situation at all. That is really depressing, because we really can help, we just have to have a multi-tiered approach, addressing these issues in the process. This is great reporting from Greg Palast, as usual, which is how I found out about all of this. It really makes you wonder what is going on with these uber-wealthy people that literally have no problem taking money from those that simply do not have it, just for the sake of getting richer. When is enough money really enough?

I know that this is going to stir up a few bee’s nests, but I just think that there is a point when you have to say that someone is rich enough, and let that be that. There should be limits on how you can swindle money, and the consequences of your actions should be held accountable. Do I think that people don’t deserve the right to be rich? Of course not! If you are rich, good for you! But, if you gained your wealth by literally taking it out of the hands of the disenfranchised poor, especially in a way that is illegal, or at a bare minimum ethically questionable, should you be allowed to just keep raking it in? I certainly don’t think so. I know that the world isn’t fair, but the least we can do is try to make it more likely to swing in a fair direction. If not, we aren’t really doing anything but making rich people richer, and that certainly is NOT the goal of world wide aid, is it? Perhaps it is just a personal thing, but I don’t think I could sleep at night knowing that I am forcing a foreign government to cough up money that it doesn’t have, just because I could afford to buy their defaulted loan. The government of that country may not suffer (because of corruption, remember), but the people certainly do, and that is something that I couldn’t have on my conscience.

I agree that we should definitely cancel the debts of these poor countries that have suffered from corruption, colonization, and disenfranchisement. Punish those that seek to gain profit from their misfortune, by siphoning funds off of federal aid that we provide them. Or, at a bare minimum, we must prevent them from siphoning off those funds, and make sure that the money goes for what it is supposed to go for. The least we can do, if we aren’t going to stop corruption, is be accountable for the money we are handing out, right?