Thursday, October 25, 2012

Hand of God

While theft of the public treasury is an agenda item Obama and Romney both support, how they would go about achieving that deserves greater attention. Given Romney's running mate Paul Ryan's close ties to the ultra-conservative Koch brothers and the Chilean fascist economist Jose Pinera, the Romney version of creating poverty adds another dimension to neo-liberal, free-market greed. Part of that dimension is the religious-based glee of inflicting punishment on the poor.

As Bruce Wilson reports, Romney's ties to Latin American financiers with links to government-backed death squads might help shed light on the Pinochet style privatization he and Ryan envision. As one of the most brutal of South American dictatorships to emerge under U.S.-backed state terrorism in the 1970s, Pinochet and Pinera, his Secretary of Labor and Social Security, invoked the Chicago School plan that plunged half the Chilean population into poverty, and terrorized everyone but the ruling elite.

While Romney and Ryan may see the hand of God in their vision, others see a brutal and feudal society of rape and ruin. Oddly, that doesn't seem to bother them. 

2 Comments:

Blogger Bruce Wilson said...

Jay - It had been a long time since I'd waded into the territory, the horror that was going on in Latin America / Central America in the mid-70s through the early 90s. I hadn't been aware of the huge document trove on Condor discovered in the early 1990s. Best, BruceW

10:51 AM  
Blogger Jay Taber said...

Given the choice between an acolyte of Reagan and a devotee of Pinochet for the next US president, it isn't hard to understand the outrage and despair that now characterize the sentiments of many Americans. Still, a choice is a choice, and an informed choice is better than none at all. After the Church hearings, the Iran-Contra hearings were probably the most eye-opening public events. I wonder if either are taught in high school social studies?

11:03 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home