Surviving Capitalism (Not) : The Real 'Merchants of Death'

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

The Real 'Merchants of Death'

by Conn Hallinan from Foreign Policy in Focus.

The global arms trade is a $60 billion yearly business. The United States controls nearly 40 percent of this trade, defending its turf with the ferocity of a junkyard dog. The 10 biggest arms exporters are — in order — the United States, Russia, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, China, Israel, the Netherlands, and Italy. Sweden and Switzerland are close behind. This order shifts from year to year, but one thing never changes: The United States is always No. 1.

And notice the latest sales to Saudi Arabia--that Mecca of Middle East democracy and freedom: Blockbuster US arms sale to Saudi Arabia.

Arms sales enrich the military-industrial complex in the US and maintains the Empire under US control. Without this dominance, I suspect that US dollars would be worth much less simply because capitalists all over the world see US Treasury notes as a safe haven for the wealth they extract from working people.