The Canadian National Newspaper: New Orleans and the Politics of Greed

The devastating impacts, and slow official response to the devastation from Hurricane Katrina on the New Orleans and southern Alabama areas of the U.S., shows a microcosm of the dysfunctionality of the prevailing capitalism. These dysfunctional effects are shown in worsening pollution including 'Global Warming', and ensuing effects on vital public health, institutionalized racism, marginalization and social injustice, basic disrespect for human life in an overall 'culture of violence', and inequitable "privatization".

The frequency and severity of hurricanes have worsened with 'Global Warming'. The waters of the Gulf of Mexico have reached new scorching height in excess of 30 degrees Celsius. The phenomenon of 'Global Warming' is itself a by-product of the production technique and priorities of a greed-oriented economic system. In American-led global capitalism, 'owners of capital' pursue the acquisition of insatiable commercial profits, status, and power, and ignore the on-going catastrophic effects of their activity on the integrity of vital ecosystem, that human beings depend upon for their quality of survival. The ignoring of the integrity of ecosystems has produced conditions for such worsening hurricanes.

Racism has been an integral part of the exploitative 'White Supremacist' context of capitalism. Although the U.S. Constitution supposedly protects the equality of rights, the responses to the damage from Hurricane Katrina, show the basic racism and disdain for the poor that characterizes the American political economy. The saving of lives of largely poor African-Americans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina has been a rather pathetic afterthought for a country that claims to be the "richest" and most powerful in the world.

Hurricane Katrina poignantly shows that America is not a 'democracy' in which its supposedly representative institutions serves the American people equitably, without prejudice. America is a "democracy" in name only. Substantively, America has become a 'capitalistocracy', where the poor is literally left out to rot and perish. It has been documented that Cuba, in having a comparatively "responsible government" of a "Third World" country, did a far better job of coordination efforts to minimize the loss of lives in Hurricanes that are experienced in that country. This terrible effects of the Hurricane shows America to be, by comparison a crude social Darwinistic "survival of the fittest society" which leaves behind "the masses" to fend for themselves, while its government services economic elites, via its domestic and foreign policy.

Poor people in the New Orleans and southern Alabama areas, have become so accustomed to the predatory nature of American society, that many were reportedly worried that they could not afford to pay rescuers to be saved from rising disease-infested flood waters. This could be viewed to be a perfectly reasonable response in light of America's mercenary private healthcare system. Its for-profit healthcare system, neglects treating the sick, who cannot afford to pay the prices of exploitative private "health management" corporations. Millions of Americans are without basic healthcare insurance, and experience horrific illnesses, and death because they do not have the insurance premiums to pay for healthcare coverage. Indeed, America's prevailing religion is not Christianity. Jesus Christ, in the Bible, treated the sick without any demands for financial compensation in return. America's prevailing religion appears to be service to the Church of Mammon called Capitalism, that is jaded to human suffering.

Speaking of human suffering, the wake of Hurricane Katrina also shows the basic 'culture of violence' that has become such an integral part of American capitalistocracy. Poor people who have repressed by the basic oppressive context of American capitalism which keeps them into being a subservient underclass, turned to violence as a survival strategy. The shooting rampages in New Orleans reflect the overall disrespect of human life, that characterizes an economic system, which values 'commercial profit', crass materialism, and 'capital', over facilitating the quality-of-living of all human beings, without prejudice.

The wake of Hurricane Katrina has also shows what happens under capitalism, when a society is driven by "privatization". Infrastructure, in areas where the commercially "rich" are concentrated, are kept relatively secure, because the capitalistocratic economic system is designed to principally respond to their political and their purchasing power. In contrast, areas where largely poor minorities reside, without endowed political and purchasing power are left to crumble under neglect. Under "privatization" government withdraws from the maintaining vital civic infrastructure on behalf of all citizens, and instead, pre-occupies itself with schemes that benefit elite "owners of capital". Such a political economic prism led to oversight of the rapidly rising flood waters, and to a pathetic rescue effort response by government agencies.

The contemplated further political economic integration of Canada by the Paul Martin government into the United States, would only further expose Canada to adopting the type of dysfunctional policies and mentalities in America, which has led to a largely avoidable horrific human tragedy. Unless 'Global Warming' can be halted and reversed, along with other dysfunctional effects of American-led 'global capitalism', more avoidable tragedies like New Orleans appear to be likely.

It is vital that Canada champion the development of a quality-of-living and people-oriented international economic system that minimizes social and environmental costs. The current orientation of economic policies in Canada, toward a capitalistocratic American prism of thinking under so-called "Free Trade", will arguably likely create spiralling ecosystem conditions for more devastating impacts on human quality-of-survival in Canada, and internationally.

Are you interested to read more on this subject area? Recommended reading: Capitalism is Not Democracy , Parts I, II, and III by Raymond Samuels. Available from Agora Book Cafe, and from the Canadian Association for Research on Economics, Politics and Capitalistocracy.