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

Monday, March 4, 2013

Debt Trial of the Century: NML Capital, LTD. v. Republic of Argentina

Click here to access article by Eric LeCompte and Bhumika Muchhala from MR Zine.

The brief article includes a 4:18m video which provides a concise explanation of vulture funds and how they function to intimate national governments into agreeing to pay onerous debts incurred by past leaders. 

This Western capitalist racket was so well explained by one its participants, John Perkins in his Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. Government leaders can rather easily assume debts on behalf of their nations through all kinds of direct or indirect bribes, and then leave their citizens saddled with paying off these debts for many years. 

If after viewing the video, you wish to gain more information on this racket, I recommend this report from the University of Iowa entitled, "What Is a Vulture Fund?".