Trash May Hold Vital Clues about People and Places

On a daily basis the average urban household disposes an enormous amount of garbage that includes both organic as well as inorganic waste. In the market-driven economy today, the consumer is said to be the ‘King’ and all product innovations are essentially aimed at getting the consumer to buy and consume more. Not surprisingly, it has been found that consumption levels and patterns depend on the buying power of the consumer to a large extent. The consumer with more buying power has access to more products than the consumer with lesser buying power. It follows, therefore, that consumers with more buying power are those that litter the environment more than their counterparts who are not able to buy as much as they do.

Waste disposed by the average middle class household daily

In the United States, the vast majority of people belong to the different segments of the middle class and their daily trash generation levels are not likely to be strikingly different from each other unless they are at the extreme ends of the middle classes. Let’s take the case of a suburban middle class family and here’s a list of items that ended up in their household trash can on a particular week – 4 bread wrappers, 15 egg shells, 5 large pizza boxes with some leftover including polythene pillow packs of salt and spices in all of them, two dozen instant coffee pouches, 24 beer cans, 2 dozen banana peels, 8 cigarette cases, 5 chocolate wrappers and a 1 liter floor cleaner bottle.

From the list of items it is clear that this kind of waste is generated mainly by a working class family where nobody really has the time to cook anything in the kitchen during an average week day. They don’t seem to have any children in the family despite the chocolate wrappers; the absence of milk bottles, candy and fancy confectionery wrappers or diapers make it clear. By all accounts, they are middle class workers with normal eating habits. Older people generally avoid junk food like pizza or instant coffee; so, they don’t appear to be seniors either. It would be difficult to ascertain the religious belief or political affiliation of these people on the basis of the garbage they generated in this case.

Significance of garbage in archeology

It is true that historical garbage has had a significant impact on the progress of archeology and still does. A wide range of trashed objects from pins to pottery products and from bullets to brandy bottles among multitudes of others have contributed immeasurably to archeological studies and research. It does not end there as archeology has a very big impact on history in the form of empirical evidence which these trashed objects from antiquity, carry (Baguchinsky, Jill. FGCU.edu.) Carbon dating of any object reveals its approximate age and that is today considered to be the most acceptable evidence to substantiate any historical claim.

Humans have been creating and collecting an endless multitude of objects and articles of varied uses and values through the ages. Interestingly, it is these very objects that give us an idea of the kind of mind the makers of these objects possessed. For instance, the curved daggers of the Middle East and their straight counterparts from Europe have surely been studied in detail by experts trying to get a peek into the mind of the medieval Arabs and Europeans. Similarly, there are scores of other objects that point toward the cultural characteristics of communities on the fringe of mainstream society or those that are forgotten.

References

Baguchinsky, Jill. “Adventures in Garbology: What Trash Can Tell Us.” FGCU.edu. <http://itech.fgcu.edu/&/issues/vol2/issue2/garbology.htm>

Neocolonialism is Essentially a Subtle Form of Colonialism

Neocolonialism as a term was first used by Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana after the country gained independence from the colonial rule of Britain (Yew, L. 14 May 2002). He implied that neocolonialism is essentially another form of colonialism practiced by the colonial powers over their former colonies that gained formal independence from their direct rule. The objectives of neocolonialism are almost identical to those of colonialism wherein the powers had pursued direct rule and brazen economic exploitation of the colonies. Colonialism, which is essentially direct and coercive rule and exploitation of one country by another or of one people by another, is clearly manifested in neocolonialism where they rule by proxy while economic exploitation continues as before.

Nkrumah further emphasizes that “the methods of the neocolonialists are subtle and varied” as “they operate not only in the economic field, but also in the political, religious, ideological and cultural spheres” (Nkrumah, K. 1965). All the colonial powers had groomed an influential section of the subjugated native population of their colonies in a way that made them clones of their masters, so much so, that they resemble the latter in almost every way except in physical features. These groups of people is in most cases, the elites and the ruling classes in most former colonies and willingly represent the proxy efforts of their neocolonialist masters in exploiting their own nations.

Defining neocolonialism would be impossible without first understanding what colonialism is all about. Colonialism essentially means the subjugation and domination of one nation by another or of one people by another. Most experts agree that it is very difficult to distinguish colonialism from imperialism, which in turn, means coercive economic and political control of one nation by another (Kohn, M. 2012). In between colonialism and imperialism, certain malpractices like racial and cultural bias also gets embedded among other things.

What is neocolonialism?

In the second half of the 20th century, when nationalist independent movements across most of Africa and large parts of Asia, wiped out colonial rule, many people thought that a new era of development and prosperity would prevail over most of those areas. However, their optimism was short-lived as most of these newly independent nations failed to live up to the expectations their independence ignited. The elites, who became the new rulers, actually took their countries on the path of destruction by following in the footsteps of their colonial masters to brazenly loot their very own countries.

Such elites are found in almost all the former colonial countries and they generally act as the proxy of their former colonial masters, who discreetly control them from behind the scene. This is neocolonialism at work. The objectives are the same as they used to be during colonial rule – brazen, indiscriminate and wholesale loot of the resources of the subject nation and people. The only difference is that while colonialism was overt exploitation of the subject nation, neocolonialism is by and large, a covert operation. Across much of the third world, scores of countries are run by a privileged group of people that work very closely with multinational and transnational companies based in countries that used to be colonial powers.

Manifestations of neocolonialism

The scale and dimension of the involvement of the vested neocolonial interests in the internal affairs of the target country is vast and complex. They target decision-makers at all levels from policy-making legislators to justice-dispensing judges and from armed forces commanders to business leaders among others. Once the significant elements from the vital institutional framework of a nation are in the net, the entire country is compromised. This is a time-tested method that has consistently delivered results to the colonialists when they first targeted a country and it is delivering results with equal or more efficiency to the neocolonialists today.

Philanthropy and its contemporary equivalent, development volunteering, is another significant approach of the neocolonialists today. Large numbers of development volunteers representing INGOs or International Non-Governmental Organizations based in countries that are former colonial powers, have fanned out across the third world to carry out the agenda of the neocolonial entities that fund them. They penetrate the socio-cultural sphere of the target countries, primarily academia, media, community welfare, as well as relief and rehabilitation among others and before long, begin influencing local affairs significantly.

In a sense, it is a combined effort of the transnational and multinational corporations along with the INGOs, many of which are directly funded by these corporations. It is a complex web of interests covering lobby groups that influence government decisions in the countries where these corporations are based. For instance, the military industrial lobby in the United States is considered to be very powerful and is known to influence US foreign policy to a large extent. Similarly, huge multinational corporations dealing in other core products, also have lobby groups that influence government policy both at home and overseas.


There isn’t much to choose between colonialism as it prevailed before and neocolonialism as it has evolved today if the objectives are considered. Both aim to ruthlessly exploit a weaker third world country that is rich in natural resources. In the olden days, the colonial masters ruling these poor countries carried out the exploitation openly as they claimed to be rulers of these countries. Today, it is being discreetly done by the transnational and multinational corporations based in countries that were colonial powers, through proxy elites in their payroll, running these countries.

Instead of the brute power of the state machinery that the colonial dispensations used in the olden days, the neocolonialists today use the soft power of persuasion, bribery, underhand dealings, and every other method to lay their hands on the resources in the target country. The eventual objective is to control all the levers of power in the target country by controlling the very people that are running the country. Occasionally, if any opposition to the corrupt ruling elite develops, the neocolonialist masters prod their henchmen to crush such opposition. In case, things go out of hand, they try to buy the opposition leaders. Many of the civil wars in third world countries could be attributed to the involvement of multinational corporations in the internal affairs of these countries. Whichever way we look at it, colonialism or neocolonialism, it is increasingly being related to what has come to be known as crony capitalism where a group of privileged people rob the resources of an entire nation.

How Multicultural Authors Enrich American Literature

Literature, like most other things in the United States, has its fair share of contributors from a cross section of ethnic backgrounds. From authors to readers, there have always been patrons and enthusiasts of literature of all hues in the US. Ever since European discovery of the ‘New World,’ waves of immigrants from different parts of the world have been moving into this country. Most of them merely don’t merge into the melting pot that is the United States, but also add to its richness with some of their distinctive characteristics and contributions. Literary art forms, that involve storytelling, are one of their many contributions to the cultural mosaic of this country.

One of the areas where an individual’s ethnicity gets truly reflected is while narrating a story. In addition to getting cues from his immediate environment a writer also looks for ideas from the particular sub-culture by going into his heritage. In a heterogeneous society as the one in the US, writers belonging to myriad sub-cultures have been producing not just nationally acclaimed but also internationally appreciated literary work. Many have left lasting memories with their distinctive prose while others ignited debates and raised questions.

The Toughest Indian in the World – Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie, a Native American author, is highly acclaimed for his works and has received the PEN/Hemingway Award for Best Fiction (“The Toughest Indian in the World” IIP Digital. 06 Feb. 2009. Web. 12 Nov 2010). “The Toughest Indian in the World” is the writer’s short story collection which offers a background into his mind. From the excerpts it is quite clear that the emphasis of his narrative is inclined toward ethnic identity and how it conditions his behavior towards white people among others.

Alexie takes us back to the late seventies when he was travelling with his father who was driving. If they saw a hitchhiker up ahead in the distance, and if his father said, “Indian” the hitchhiker would invariably turn out to be Native American! He marveled at his father’s ability to get it right every time and goes on to add that if the “distant figure happened to be white;” his “father would drive by without comment.” And then he makes his point – “That was how I learned to be silent in the presence of white people.”

Alexie explains that this silence was not “about hate, or pain or fear. Indians just like to believe that white people will vanish, perhaps explode into smoke, if they are ignored enough times.” As if by implication, he seems to be referring to the sheer helplessness of the situation the Native American finds himself in after the storm has subsided. It is almost like a bad dream which you want to avoid, although you know that dreams die hard. There’s no rhetoric here; just plain articulation of what a Native American mind resembles.

Gerald Early analyses where Afro-American literature is headed

There is an undercurrent of unease among traditional and elite Afro-American authors and litterateurs about where contemporary Afro-American literature is headed. Early cites the unease of Nick Chiles, a highly respected Afro-American author, who severely criticized contemporary black literature in a New York Times opinion piece titled, “Their Eyes Were Reading Smut” (Early, Gerald. “What is African-American Literature?” 05 Feb. 2009 IIP Digital Web. 12Nov.12). In the column, Chiles targeted the “publishing industry, young black women readers and the current state of African-American writing” for creating an undesirable perception about African-American literature that reflected an overdose of sex and violence in an urban environment.

It scandalized Chiles to see what passed for African-American literature – the covers of these novels displayed “all forms of brown flesh, usually half-naked and in some erotic pose, often accompanied by guns and other forms of criminal life” (Early, Gerald. 05 Feb. 2009). These novels had titles like “Gutter, Crack Head, A Hustler’s Son” etc. which Chiles found unacceptable in terms of their economic scale as it could lead to the formation of a lop-sided and erroneous perception of black America. He also doesn’t agree with the generic branding of such literature as “Urban or Hip-Hop Fiction” (Early, Gerald. 05 Feb. 2009).

Reflecting the concern showed by Chiles, Early argues that despite their claim of portraying realism, these novels are pulp fiction at best. They are fulfilling a market driven demand as publishing of African-American literature has been gradually slipping out of the hands of the elites of the community who were conscious about morality and ethics as long as they held the leash. Despite the poor taste and quality they reflect the pulp fiction produced by writers like Ronald Quincy, Joy King, and Vickie Stringer among others, do convey “the complicated roots of African-American literature and of the construction of the African-American audience” (Early, Gerald. 05 Feb. 2009).

The Illuminati – an elusive but enduring saga

The term Illuminati generally refers to a secretive group of extraordinary individuals who are intellectually and spiritually enlightened. A lot has been said, written, rumored and sensationalized about who these individuals are but till date, there is no clear explanation of the mystery surrounding these people, their whereabouts or where and how they meet and coordinate. Most of the discourse on the Illuminati revolves around speculation about their grandiose universal agenda of saving mankind from a looming destruction visualized only by them; their secretive methods, or how they manage to protect their members and their secrets.

A conspiracy theory

Most normal and ordinary people would be intrigued by the supposed rationale, objectives and methods of the Illuminati. Nonetheless, they continue to discuss about this mysterious group of intellectuals with an intensity that indicate a certain amount of intrigue and paranoia about this group. Those who are passionate about the Illuminati in the present day, try to connect numerous events with a global impact, to the Illuminati that is operational even today, as they believe.

There is even a best seller novel, titled ‘The Illuminati – Facts and Fiction,’ written by Mark Dice where he paints the Illuminati as a harmful and dangerous group of secretive and controversial people (The Illuminati: Facts & Fiction. Illuminatifacts.com.) There is hardly any definite or empirical evidence suggesting the existence of the Illuminati and most of what is available is at best, opinion of certain conspiracy theorists. Any study of the Illuminati therefore, would have to be a balanced and unbiased summary of all that is known about this secretive group of individuals.

History

Going strictly by the term ‘Illuminati’, the generally accepted view is that this organization or network of individuals began operations sometime between 1765 and 1780 in the Bavaria region of present day Germany, which was known as Prussia during that time. This period corresponded to the enlightenment movement in Bavaria when a Jesuit cleric named Adam Weishaupt, broke ranks with the Catholic Church and went his own way to establish this organization of like-minded individuals which they called the Order of Illuminati. The professed objective of this organization was to replace the existing order and power structure with a new world order through secrecy, conspiracy and control of the levers of power.

Over a period of time, their network grew far and wide to include many eminent individuals who generally upheld the code of secrecy that the members were known to swear by. There have been numerous theories about who exactly are the Illuminati and since when they are in existence. For instance, certain theorists say that the desire to overturn the existing order and replacing it with a new world order, which the Bavarian Illuminati wanted, have existed since the dawn of civilization. As it was specifically documented in Bavaria where the group with this very name and style emerged merely two and a half centuries ago, it is known today by the name it was known at that time – Illuminati (“The Historical Bavarian Illuminati.” BavarianIlluminati.com.)

However, the secrecy and intrigue surrounding the what, when, where, who and why of the Illuminati is enormous and most of the material connected to their objectives and assumed involvement in conspiracies shaping major events, are at best, speculation. Most of what have been written about the power of the Illuminati and how they control everything from heads of states around the world to the biggest business empires, doesn’t qualify as historical data. For instance, there are stories doing the rounds about how the Illuminati supposedly got rid of pop legend, Michael Jackson, who they say, was letting out too much about the group. Such theories would never be accepted as historical data unless empirical evidence is provided to substantiate them.

Objectives of the Illuminati

The founder of the Bavarian Illuminati, Adam Weishaupt, was a liberal of the French school of thought and he visualized a much more liberal order not just for the people of Bavaria but far beyond. The basic objective of the Illuminati was to overthrow the existing autocratic dispensation in Bavaria and replace it with a more liberal system of society and government where people would be free to follow their thoughts and speak about them without any fear. The movement was barely a few years old when the Bavarian monarch, Karl Theodor, ordered the closure of all secret societies and Weishaupt had to run away from Bavaria as he was unwilling to sacrifice personal freedom for a peaceful but subservient life (“The Bavarian Illuminati” 18 Oct. 2012. Seceret Society News.)

The Bavarian Illuminati apparently didn’t achieve much before the movement withered away but it did fire an unintentional parting shot on the way out that spiraled into a never-ending string of conspiracy theories lasting to this day and looks good to last longer. This was literature containing all that the group stood for and intended to do. It comprised letters left behind by one of the members that created alarm and anxiety among the ruling dispensation and the elites of Bavaria during that time. The Illuminati would truly have been buried in the depths of history had it not been for the French Revolution that broke out barely 3 years after the movement was outlawed in Bavaria.

The events of the French Revolution shook up the powers that be, in Bavaria as it did elsewhere in Europe and around the world. The conspiracy theorists, of course, lost no time in concluding that the Illuminati had a major role to play in fomenting the revolution that crushed the French monarchy and overturned the existing order. There were striking similarities between what the Bavarian Illuminati expounded and what influential sections of the French revolutionaries especially the Jacobins, stood for. However, it must not be forgotten that all schools of radical revolutionary thought converge at a certain point because their eventual objectives are similar – overwhelm the existing order. In the case of the Illuminati, the conspiracy theories never stopped from this point, and continue to this day (Muirden, G. IHR.org.)

The Illuminati – are they real?

As a metaphor, the Illuminati and their likes would always exist in the imaginations of conspiracy theorists not merely because they make for good story telling but also because certain events that happen in the world are occasionally thought to be orchestrated by some mysterious force. If we consider the opinion of the different conspiracy theorists spinning tales about who really are the Illuminati, then we cannot just confine this group to the Bavarian Illuminati of the 18th century. They probably existed from the time humans began living organized social lives under a powerful authority. Going by the adage, “Power corrupts,” it is not unlikely that the authorities that be, throughout the ages, misused or abused their power and triggered anti-establishment feelings among certain sections of the people they ruled.

There has clearly been an overkill of the theory about the existence of the Illuminati in the contemporary world and it has now taken on outrageous proportions with literally every person of eminence being branded as a member of the Illuminati. These concocted theories attach totally unfounded “connections” of this elusive group with every major incident that impacts the world (Shearer, S.R. AntipasMinistries.com.) The new media has made publishing easier than ever before and the conspiracy theorists have taken full advantage of it by publishing a whole lot of absurdities about the Illuminati triggering events around the world. However, it cannot be denied that there are self-interest groupings of influential people like business and industrial cartels, strategic think tanks and numerous other entities that influence events to a certain extent.

Why this matter is still relevant

To say that the people giving shape to all major incidents are all part of a single entity (Illuminati that continued from historical times) wherever they are, and operate as per laid down rules formulated ages ago, would be untrue without empirical evidence to substantiate the theory. There have been attempts to expose the inadequacies of the Illuminati story with a certain amount of success but it is necessary to tackle this issue with more intensity at the academic level. The barrage of conspiracy theories cannot be tackled by counter propaganda alone as it will lack credence. Few other issues have generated as much controversy as the Illuminati continuing to this day and influencing all major events around the world. I would like to look into the reasons why such conspiracy theories are finding a ready audience that is gobbling up every piece of unsubstantiated insinuation directed against leaders and eminent personalities who are condemned to be the Illuminati. It is necessary to get to the bottom of this issue and the more it becomes a subject of research, the closer we will get to the truth about the what, when, where, who and why of such conspiracy theories.

Drug Related Violence in Mexico – Is there a Way to Control it?

Mexico today is helplessly caught up in an unending cycle of violence and vendetta let loose by the deadly drug mafia which seems to have an unusual reservoir of men, money and material to carry on with their activities, unhindered. They have resolutely continued with these activities despite a relentless war against them by the government of President Felipe Calderon. It is estimated that over 50,000 people have been killed in the last 5 years since Calderon took over as president and began using the armed forces to combat the powerful drug mafia (Tovorov, “Mexico’s Drug War Hurting Tourism” 20 January 2012).

The scale and intensity of the violence unleashed by the ruthless drug barons has already begun affecting Mexico’s reputation as one of best holiday destinations in the Americas. The mafia is never known to be respectful toward the dead, especially those who become their victims. One of the many objectives of the killings they carry out and the way they do it, is to create a stunning and lasting impact on those who are unfortunate enough to witness their macabre handiwork. For well meaning tourists, out to relax in many of the spectacular holiday destinations of Mexico, nothing could be more jarring than to come across a dead body hacked into pieces or hanging from a street light post.

There is no doubt that the criminals running the drug cartels are responsible for the bloodletting that has thrown normal life out of gear in Mexico. However, there are a number of other critical factors that contributed to the worsening situation in this country. Any rational analysis of the situation in Mexico would suggest that with corruption within the government running as deeply as it does, efforts to counter the cartels will continue to be severely compromised till corrective action is taken to clean up the system.

Besides, it is generally accepted that the United States has a very big stake in the evolving situation in Mexico. On the one hand, it is the massive US market for illicit drugs and on the other, it is the easy availability of lethal weapons in the US that the cartels are after. On both counts US society and government is in the midst of a raging debate about the likely policy the country must adopt.

Easy availability of US-made lethal weapons

One of the main reasons that have been attributed to the alarming rise in drug related violence in streets across cities in Mexico is the ease with which the cartels acquire lethal US made weapons. Two factors are found to be mainly responsible for making lethal arms like assault guns, easily available to the drug cartels in Mexico. First, after the federal ban on assault weapons in the US, lapsed in 2004 (Birney, S, “Stop Guns to Stop Violence in Mexico Drug War” 25 May 2012), there was no renewal of the ban thus far. Consequently, these lethal weapons continue to be available across the US as easily as any other gadget. The Mexican drug cartels have taken full advantage of this and acquired the arms in large quantities.

The other factor that has contributed to the easy availability of lethal weapons for the drug cartels in Mexico is the US arms assistance to the Mexican government. This arrangement allows US arms manufacturers to sell weapons to Mexican security forces legally and as easily-sold merchandize over-the-counter. With military corruption running deep in Mexico, over 25% of the arms and ammunitions sold to the Mexican authorities end up with the cartels (Birney, 25 May 2012).

US policy on firearms production, supply and licensing has long been an issue of national importance with increasing sections of the society demanding stricter gun control laws. However, opponents of the ban on the supply and sale of lethal assault weapons still enjoy considerable support which was good enough to thwart any moves to reintroduce the ban. After the Mexican armed forces officially procure these lethal weapons the corrupt elements of the army that are in the payroll of drug cartels, merely have to haul the merchandize over to the other side.

The long recession has changed priorities in the US with the Obama administration setting focus on increasing manufacturing capability to eventually increase exports. As the world’s leading producer and exporter of weapon systems, the defense equipment manufacturers naturally took full advantage of the administration’s policy initiative. The resultant increase in production of lethal assault weapons among other things, with a ready market in Mexico, led to the proliferation of these weapons like never before. The problem in Mexico got complicated when huge quantities of these weapons supplies were smuggled out from the armory of their intended users to the cartels.

Widespread corruption in the military

When President Calderon declared war on the drug cartels, he ordered the army, which is one of the country’s most respected institutions after the Roman Catholic Church, to lead the battle against the drug cartels. However, it wasn’t long before the embattled nation discovered that corruption ran very deep into the heart of their beloved army. There have been instances when sections of the army were found escorting drug consignments and even attacking honest police officers at the forefront of the government’s war against drug cartels.

The other dangerous outcome of influential sections of the military colluding with the cartels has been illegal arms trade and gun running. As per provisions of US-Mexican cooperation in the war against drugs, large consignments of lethal weapons including assault guns are supplied to the Mexican army by the US manufacturers under government supervision. Over a fourth of these lethal weapons ended up with the cartels resulting in most of the deaths caused in this unending cycle of violence (Birney, 25 May 2012).

High demand for drugs in the US

Perhaps the root cause of all the drug related violence in drug producing countries like Mexico as well as other transit countries is the abnormally high demand for illegal drugs in the US. There are over 22 million confirmed drug addicts in the US (Cooper, A. “Study: 22 Million Americans use Drugs” 08 Sep 2011) which is almost one in every ten individuals in that country. Considering the high price of such illegal drugs in the US market, it is just too lucrative for the cartels to not try and get a slice of the pie. As in any contraband supply chain, unscrupulous criminals take over, stopping at nothing to get their share, resulting in the bloodbath that is prevalent in Mexico today.

This has led to demands for legalization of drugs by large sections of US citizenry, which in turn, triggered a major debate on the issue. Right now, US society is divided between those who want the use of such drugs legalized and those who want stricter control to contain the proliferation of these drugs. There are also voices that cite the bloodshed in Mexico as an immediate reason for the war against drugs to be intensified. The US government appreciates the problem and has been assuring concerned citizens that they will do all they can to help. In the meantime the debate on legalization of drug use in the US rages on while the lethal US made guns are used by the cartels to kill scores of innocent people every day in Mexico.

Implications of drug-related violence on the Mexican economy

Although economic growth in Mexico did not get seriously affected by the war against drugs, the cycle of corruption and crime that results from drugs, can prove to be a dangerous precedent for the country. About two-thirds of the municipalities across Mexico are affected by organized crime (Miller, S, Brodzinsky, S, “Halting Drug War Corruption: What Mexico can Learn from Colombia,” 12 Jan. 2010) including drug peddling and smuggling along with a host of other unlawful activities like illegal flesh trade rackets among others.

The sheer volume of money that drug trade generates for the cartels is good enough for them to diversify into other forms of criminal activities. Therefore, drug trade is their ‘flagship business’ supporting all other activities they get involved in. As long as the drug dealers are confined to the shady world of organized crime, it is at least possible for the authorities to identify them on the fringe of society.

The problem arises when the cash surplus with the cartels reaches a level where they seriously begin to consider diversifying into ‘legal’ forms of business such as manufacturing and the services. That was what had happened in Colombia with devastating consequences for the country before a combination of sound strategy, serious policies and courageous counter attack gave the upper hand to the government there.

Can Mexico learn from Colombia’s experience?

In any war against organized crime, especially when the rackets to be dealt with, are sustained by illegal drug trade, the main strategy of the authorities should be to decimate the economic structure the crime syndicates operate in. Mere brute force is unlikely to yield results as it requires a multi-pronged approach to deal with a problem of such magnitude and diversity.

The government in Colombia had realized this and went about systematically destroying the economic structure that sustained organized crime (Miller, S, Brodzinsky, S, Para. 8, 12 Jan. 2010). Thus far, the government of President Calderon in Mexico hasn’t been able to convince observers that it is serious about making policy changes that will help the government win the war against the drug cartels.

Despite the similarities with Colombia, it is understandable that Mexico would most certainly have her own set of difficulties to deal with. Reginaldo Sandoval, leader of the Mexican Labor Party, quotes a popular perception of the comparative situations in his country and Colombia – “in Colombia, drug traffickers want to become politicians; in Mexico, politicians want to become drug traffickers” (Miller, S, Brodzinsky, S, Para. 22, 12 Jan. 2010).

Either way, when law breakers become law makers, organized crime gets embedded into the body politic of a nation. In Mexico, it is still not as widespread as it was in Colombia during the heydays of the cartels there. However, this is no consolation for the government of the day in Mexico and the sooner they get their policies and strategies right, the better off they will be in their war against the drug cartels.

US domestic policy shift on drug use and arms sales will be a critical factor

Not just Mexico, but a number of countries across Latin America, that are affected by drug related organized crime, are eagerly awaiting to see some path-breaking US legislation that will positively impact their efforts at containing the illegal drug business. After a series of indiscriminate shooting sprees in cities across the US along with distressing news of innocent deaths from Mexico next door, the debate has reached a point where US policy makers cannot delay it any longer. The violence could well spread into the US.

An increasingly large number of Americans feel that the best way to deal with illegal drug use is to decriminalize it in the same way the ban on liquor was lifted in the early 20th century (Druglibrary.org). They say that if drug use is legalized under well designed regulations, it would not just bring prices down and take the profits away from the cartels but will also earn the government a substantial amount in tax revenues. When drug prices stabilize far below the level where the cartels find it worthwhile to deal in, the violence surrounding the business will fizzle out. Gun ownership has historically been a very big issue in the US and a very large number of gun owners still don’t think it is more important to control guns than to own them. Their voice is backed by the NRA (National Rifles Association) which has stamped out all talk of stricter gun control till now (Cohen, Tom. 26 Jul 2012).

All the shooting sprees across the US, killing scores, have not affected the NRA’s position one bit. Under the circumstances, it is difficult to visualize the kind of understanding the NRA would show with respect to over 50,000 deaths in Mexico where almost 70% of the guns used by the killers were sourced from the US (Ross, Janell. “Mexico Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan Says U.S. Fuel Violence, Denies Mexico is infringing upon Gun Rights” 01 Jun. 2012). One of their arguments is that it is not so much about stricter gun control as it is about preventing these weapons from ending up in the hands of criminals.

References

1. Tovrov, Daniel. “Mexico’s Drug War Hurting Tourism” International Business Times. 20 Jan. 2012. Web. 07 Nov. 2012. <http://www.ibtimes.com/mexicos-drug-war-hurting-tourism-213786>

2. Birney, Spencer. “Stop Guns to Stop Violence in Mexico Drug War” The News. 25 May 2012. Web. 07 Nov. 2012. < http://thenews.choate.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1396:stop-guns-to-stop-violence-in-mexico-drug-war&catid=4:nationworld&Itemid=3>

3. Cooper, Aaron. “Study: 22 Million Americans use Drugs” CNN Health. 08 Sep. 2012. Web. 08 Nov. 2012. < http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/08/study-22-million-americans-use-illegal-drugs-3/>

4. Ross, Janell. “Halting drug war corruption: What Mexico can learn from Colombia” The Christian Science Monitor. 12 Jan. 2010. Web. 08 Nov. 2012. < http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2010/0112/Halting-drug-war-corruption-What-Mexico-can-learn-from-Colombia>

5. Druglibrary.org. History of Alcohol Prohibition. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. < http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/nc/nc2a.htm>

6. Cohen, Tom. “Candidates show little appetite for new gun control laws” CNN.com 26 Jul. 2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2012. < http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/26/politics/gun-control-debate/index.html>

7. Ross, Janell. “Mexico Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan Says U.S. Fuel Violence, Denies Mexico is infringing upon Gun Rights” Huffington Post Latino Voices 01 Jun. 2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2012.< http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/01/mexico-guns-arturo-sarukhan-us-weapons-mexico-violence-gun-rights_n_1563250.html>

Role of Lynching in Race, Class and Gender in the US Deep South

Frenzied White supremacist lynch mobs of the Deep South are an unfortunate reality which exists even to this day although they may not be as easily visible as they were a couple of decades ago. The embers of the lynch mob bestiality are still burning although the flames are dimmer than they used to be but they are still some way from being completely stubbed out. Going back a hundred and fifty years when the slave-running Confederacy had been defeated, the newly-freed Black Southerner found himself slipping into another dark hole of uncertainty with vindictive and vengeful Whites, that were till recently his master and tormentor, unable to accept him as an equal even on basic human attributes.

Almost as if by design, the White majority literally swooped down on the Blacks like birds of prey at the slightest pretext and many times, even without any pretext, which anyway, never merited even an admonishment that is given to little children. For the Black man, it was a hostile wilderness where bands of bloodthirsty White hooligans lurked at every corner, waiting to pounce on him and lynch him. They would usually lynch him on a fabricated pretext but many a time they didn’t need even that; just the fact that he was Black, was good enough (Gibson, Robert. A). For the Black individual, the post-Civil War period of Reconstruction was as much a living hell as the pre-Civil war years of bondage, if not worse. At least as a slave, he had some value and there was an attempt to sustain that value, howsoever meager.

The other intriguing aspect of the reactionary approach of the southern Whites toward people of color was that the minority White elite no longer played a major role in antagonizing the Black people. Defeat in the Civil War resulted in large scale loss of wealth among the land-owning White elites in the south. It was the ordinary and underprivileged White folks that began to perceive the freed Blacks as a direct competition for jobs and petty businesses. This mass of Whites gradually gained control of the streets as the federal forces withdrew by the 1870s. Suddenly the Blacks were all on their own against a vitriolic White majority that didn’t want them around if they couldn’t own them as slaves.

This White majority was in no mood to uphold the rule of law as envisaged by Congress, legislating slavery as unlawful and former slaves as equal citizens enjoying equal rights. By all accounts, this bunch of vengeful Whites took the law into their own hands as the federal forces left for good. As they took over the streets, highways and marketplaces, it became increasingly difficult for the Black folks to even move around freely let alone feel the freedom that the US constitution gave them. There was a lurking sense of terror that engulfed the hearts and minds of the newly freed slaves as they struggled to deal with the new situation.

How Ida B. Wells saw the truth behind lynching

Ida B. Wells was a straightforward and straight-talking Black woman who was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi in 1862. She was a pioneering female writer and an investigative journalist who can be rightly credited with bringing out to the public, the horrible saga of indiscriminate lynching of minority Blacks by the majority Whites in the Deep South. For a woman, that too, a Black woman, to have successfully broken through what is today called the ‘glass ceiling’ at a time when women, Black or White, did not even have the right to franchise in the United States, Wells had etched her name in golden letters in the history of this period.

As a local of the Deep South, Ida Wells had a better insight into the southern White male psyche. In many ways she identified this group as the cause of all race problems in the South and rightly asserted that this group stood to lose all the privileges they enjoyed if the Blacks began to compete with them for opportunities. The vast majority of the White males of the South were paranoid about the likely consequences of intermingling of races, especially White women cohabiting with Black men. This last possibility would almost drive the southern White man into a blinding rage that triggered the worst form of beastly behavior whenever a White mob descended on one or a few Black men identified as the scapegoat or the sacrificial lamb for lynching.

Before she identified the real reason behind this White penchant for lynching hapless Blacks, Wells was content to stereotype incidents of lynching to prevention of horrific crimes like rape even though she dreaded the very idea of lynching. However, one incident involving the brutal lynching of three Black men, who were close friends she knew to be eminent citizens of the Black community in Memphis, pushed her into investigating the matter during the course of which, her entire perception of the lynching of Blacks by Whites turned around on its head. She realized that lynching was a carefully thought out strategy to terrorize the Blacks from harboring any thoughts of progressing socio-economically or try to acquire a more refined profile. Her friends were lynched not because they ‘raped’ any White woman, but because they were successfully running their business (Wells-Barnett, Ida. B.).

It was a crude and barbarous strategy and could only be defined as terrorism. The White majority of the Deep South was not prepared to allow the Blacks to progress economically because economic empowerment would result in speedier social parity which the White male dreaded. Defeat in the Civil War had effectively shut the door on persecution of Blacks with legal sanction and although the several attempts were made through the shady Jim Crow legislations to return the Blacks to their pre-Civil War status, there was no question of fundamentally altering the constitution of the United States to accommodate the wishes of such jaundiced minds. It was the last major gasp of the monster before it went down.

Ida Wells found through her research into the overdriven zeal of the lynchpins that they carefully introduced the pretext of ‘rape’ of White women by Black men to gain acceptability for this heinous crime among the White population at large. Apparently, there must have been a sizable number of Whites, mainly women that did not approve of the beastliness that went with the lynching although they were far from accepting Blacks as equals. It was just a case of individual incapacity to stomach the horrifying beastliness of the lynch mobs. A Black man just had to look at a White woman a few seconds longer than the eyes take to blink, to be branded a ‘molester’ and if conditions permitted, a ‘rapist.’

A 1915 silent film that fanned White penchant for lynching Blacks

Among the many reasons that can be traced to how this perception of a free Black man as a perfidious and lustful sex maniac got embedded in the southern White imagination was the film “The Birth of a Nation” directed by D.W. Griffith, a talented southern White film-maker who couldn’t rise above the racial fault-lines of his upbringing. If the film was a hit among Griffith’s fellow southern Whites it was equally condemned by all others, all over, for projecting the disgraceful, amoral and immoral excuses to extoll the horrific excesses of southern White supremacist racism (Ebert, Roger). It fanned the vitriolic passions of the racist southern Whites and could largely be held responsible for the subsequent lynching outrages that kept occurring right up to the latter years of the twentieth century.

The film is in many ways, a tribute to the terrorist White vigilante grouping, Ku Klux Klan, infamous for the horrific lynching of Black victims whose agonizing screams of unspeakable pain from brutal torture can depress any civilized human within earshot. Films do leave a lasting impression on many and it was particularly true of the southern White audience in 1915 when “The Birth of a Nation” was released. It affected the thinking of entire generations of White southerners, many of whom stubbornly refuse to accept people of color as equal humans even to this day, and would gladly resort to the worst form of barbarism to drive his point. 

Works Cited 

1. Wells-Barnett, Ida. B. 2005. “Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases.” 08 February 2005. Archive.org. Web. 16 April. 2015. <http://archive.org/stream/southernhorrors14975gut/14975.txt>

2. Ebert, Roger 2003. “Review: The Birth of a Nation.” 30 Mar. 2003. RogerEbert.com. Web. 15 Apr. 2015. <http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-birth-of-a-nation-1915> 

Ethical Dilemmas in Archeology - Dealing with Ancient Human Remains

Archeology usually carries the possibility of controversy because it digs up the truth that is buried not just under the surface of the earth but occasionally, also under layers of myths and false impressions. The controversies in many cases arise due to the way history is written by specific groups of historians bent on twisting facts and presenting them in a way that suit the vested interests they represent. The other major area of controversy in archeology is the cultural sensitivity of a specific group of people against digging up the graves of their ancestors in areas they consider scared. 

Archeologists are also likely to face opposition while digging up old battlefields such as the locations of trench warfare such as those that took place in Belgium and France during World War I (Ethics and archaeology. March, 28. 2002). The ethical issues related to the Native American burial grounds across much of North America are some of the most complex in archeology, both in terms of history and cultural assertion of today’s Native Americans. Striking a balance between the need for better affirmative action requiring deeper study of the remains of long dead Native Americans and appreciating the spiritual and cultural sensitivities their descendents today, is an enormous challenge for archeologists.

The United States is one of those few countries where archeological excavations and studies are facing some of the toughest hurdles put forth by those favoring the complete wind-up of all archeological activity in Native American burial sites. The argument on the other side, led by eminent archeologists like, Clement W. Meighan is that archeology itself is in danger of becoming extinct in the US if the study of thousands of years old human remains are prohibited entirely (Pettifor, E. 1995). This is essentially an ethical dilemma in archeology, dealing with ancient human remains that are claimed by groups of Native Americans, the oldest inhabitants of the land.

Basic differences in mainstream American and Native American points of view

Like many other indigenous peoples in different parts of the world, the Native Americans are also a deeply spiritual people and live in close harmony with nature. Today, they are reasserting their cultural rights after a catastrophic and long drawn struggle for survival stretching centuries, in the wake of large scale migration from Europe to all corners of the New World. However, Native American culture is yet to be properly understood by the mainstream American society including archeologists and that is the cause of the dilemma facing archeology in the US.

Native American culture is based on their spiritual beliefs to a large extent which is something that mainstream America have struggled to come to terms with. Contemporary American psyche makes a clear distinction between religion and spiritualism on the one hand and the study of science and matter on the other. For Native Americans, the burial site of their ancestors should not be disturbed howsoever old it is; they believe that the spirits of the buried ancestors are a part of the ecosystem of the burial site and disturbing their graves could lead to serious misfortune (Pettifor, E. 1995). Contemporary archeologists believe that any grave that is hundreds or thousands of years old could be dug up for studies to ascertain prehistory.

Indigenous spiritual beliefs must be understood and appreciated

It would be a mistake to simply dismiss Native American spiritual beliefs as mysticism, and having no scientific basis unless there is clinching evidence to contradict their claims (Pettifor, E. 1995). After all, they are the indigenous people of this land and many of their traditions are steeped in history known to them. Merely pointing out a perspective on the basis of historical accounts that completely ignore the Native American version of their history will be as erroneous as it will be insensitive and unethical.

Therefore, instead of propagating a hostile and adversarial approach as Clement W. Meighan suggests, it is necessary to adopt ethics as a tool to deal with the dilemmas rather than ignore it to drive an agenda at odds with Native American traditions. The prehistory of the Americas in general and that of the United States in particular, is essentially the history of the indigenous people of this land. While contemporary archeologists like Meighan have the liberty to presume otherwise till they see sufficient empirical evidence, they would be wrong to presume that their view is based on truth, and should therefore prevail over those of the indigenous people.

Ways to deal with ethical dilemmas in archeology

The SSFC (Social Science Federation of Canada) has adopted a policy that is not just rational but also pragmatic in addressing issues of ethical dilemma in archeology as well as other social sciences. They identified the major factors that cause the ethical dilemmas [Pettifor, E. 1995. Ethical Decision Making for Practicing Social Scientists (Cannie Stark-Adamec and Jean Pettifor, 1995)]

o Conflicting interests of different stakeholders

o Conflict of principles

o Complex nature of stake holders and challenges they face

o Neglect of ethics, poor knowledge and foresight

The SSFC has adopted certain approaches toward finding durable solutions to vexed issues of ethical dilemmas in archeology. Such solutions cover identification of:

o Ethically relevant issues, principles, standards, rules and practices

o Stakeholders affected by institutional decisions and their interests

o Alternative courses of action

o Personal values, biases, beliefs or self-interest that may influence archeological decision-making

The SSFC approach does appear to be the right way to move forward on the issue of dealing with the remains of the ancestors of Native Americans. While there is clearly a need to adopt a much more inclusive approach than what has been seen so far, it is also true that the issue does touch raw nerves among Native Americans. For them it is not just a question of preserving the remains of their ancestors who lie buried since hundreds and in many cases, thousands of years; it is also as much, their culture which they feel is threatened by archeologists going around digging up the bones of their ancestors. Using the SSFC approach, all stakeholders, especially the indigenous peoples and the archeologists, can definitely find ways to work out a solution which can only evolve over a period of time (Pettifor, E. 1995). 



References

1. March, 28. 2002. Can you dig it? The Economist. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/node/1056932 

2. Pettifor, E. 1995. The Reburial Controversy: A General Overview and Exploration of a Method for Resolution of the Ethical Dilemma. Retrieved from http://www.wynja.com/arch/reburial.html

Power - Do We Realize How it Influences Us and Our Behaviour?

Power simply means a force that causes change in a given situation. Thereafter, it acquires a character of its own depending on the situation and source it came from. Power in physics is directly computed as energy and quantified in terms of voltage and wattage while in mathematics it means a number that multiplies many times over e.g. 10³ and other denominations. But, nowhere is power as pervasive as it is in politics where the maxim, ‘Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ held true since the earliest days of recorded history when man exercised power for the first time.


Power transcends the individual


According to Michel Foucault, the post modern philosopher from France, power is a pyramidal superstructure that transcends individuals and is characterized by a solid micro level base from where it works its way right up to the pinnacle. This definition is in tune with the ideal structure of the state where power depends on the masses at the bottom of the social pyramid although cynics would argue that power actually flows from the bullet of the gun rather than the ballot of the voter. This implies that it flows top down. Those at the top are said to be addicted to power and there are scores of instances to prove that as people go up the pyramid and get closer to the pinnacle, they sense the strength of power and the innate possibilities that it presents which in most cases is difficult to resist for an ordinary individual.


Another remarkable truth that comes out of this analogy on power is that it invariably weighs down on those at the bottom that support this superstructure. Therefore, it is the very nature of the phenomenon that those at the very bottom of the pyramid would be worst off as is exemplified in the law of the jungle where only the fittest survive. This applies equally to those at or near the pinnacle as well as those further down and closer to the base. Here is an analogy: when the sun rises in African wilderness, a gazelle wakes up and remembers that it will have to outpace the fastest lion to see the next sunrise; in another part of the wilderness, a lion wakes up and remembers that it will have to outpace the slowest gazelle to see the next sunrise.


Power is like electricity; always searching for a lesser resistance to travel towards


In the analogy of the African wilderness it was power as an all-encompassing level playing field where only the fittest survive. Yet, the lion which is at the pinnacle of the jungle pyramid uses its immense power to hunt down the slowest gazelle, not the fastest. Why won’t it compete with the fastest gazelle on speed if not for anything, at least to prove that it is the king of the jungle? The very nature of power is that it is like electricity; always searching for a lesser resistance to travel towards. It is not clear why this is so but the truth is when two or more equal forces clash or run against each other, the impact is usually devastating. Does that mean power is naturally conditioned to try and avoid a clash of equal forces?


While it could be true that power is like electricity and moves in a direction of least resistance, it is no less true that electricity itself is produced when two equal or identical forces clash. When we apply this analogy to understand power play among humans it reveals some interesting parallels. In the run up to the climax of World War II, the two colossal forces of Germany and the Soviet Union were set to go at each other and when they did, the world saw a clash never witnessed before whether in terms of scale or intensity. Germany deployed close to ten times the number of armored divisions in its invasion of the Soviet Union as compared to its deployment in the western sector. The Soviet Union marshaled its vast resources in men and material to line up a juggernaut of a force that kept coming back at the German forces.


The epic clash that eventually decided which force would go down was the battle of Stalingrad where the Soviets dug their heels to break the German siege and turn the tide of the war. Both sides knew that the outcome in Stalingrad would turn the tide of the war and when the Soviets broke the German siege power shifted toward the Soviet Union. As the German led Axis weakened, the electricity effect took over with the Soviet forces overwhelming the Germans, driving them right into Berlin where the final nail in the German coffin was hammered in. It is well-known that all the areas under German occupation that the Soviet Union overwhelmed went under communist rule. For the next four decades these countries in Eastern Europe went behind the Iron Curtain of the Soviet Union. It was raw power play.


The unseen effects of power


According to Foucault, power has an all-encompassing effect on individuals who move up the pyramid of power and can turn individuals around in unseen and amazing ways. If we consider the case of Adolf Hitler, there are enough resources to prove that his transformation of megalomaniac proportions had astounded those who knew him in his younger days. For instance, the principal of the art college in Vienna regretted his decision to disqualify Hitler on the basis of his evaluation; he seemed to be suggesting that if he had the hindsight of what this innocuous-looking young man was going to become, he would have gladly admitted him into his art college from where Hitler would have graduated as an artist and acquired a different set of values.


Hitler’s commanding officer during his tenure in the German army observed that he was among his most obedient subordinates and was known to stay clear of trouble as he mostly kept to himself. What could have turned such an individual into one of the most destructive fiends known to history? Of course, it was power but why did it have such an electrifying effect on Hitler of all people given his amiable nature as testified by authentic sources. Going further back into his early life, much of which was spent in poverty, we know that Hitler was a caring son to his ailing mother and occasionally wept at his helplessness to reduce her suffering.


The kind of steely and uncompromising determination that Hitler showed in acquiring power, much later, was nowhere in sight when he was disqualified by the art college. Didn’t he want to be an artist as desperately as he wanted to be the Fuhrer? He was known to be a man of few words, who kept to himself for the most part and seemed content with life. But he came into his elements as one of the most compelling orators of all time, swaying an entire nation to his whims and fancies, when he sensed power. It appears the electric effect of power had engulfed Adolf Hitler so completely that it not just transformed him 360° but also caused fundamental changes in his basic nature. The saga of this devil of a man is perhaps one of the most pertinent examples of the unseen effects of power.


The harmonics of power


As Foucault explained, individuals or groups of individuals up against forces that question their very existence on the basis of a specific line of reasoning, often take recourse to the same line of reasoning adjusted to suit their needs, and turn the table on their tormentors. In this regard, Nelson Mandela, the native South African leader who led his people’s freedom struggle, presents a good example. He turned the tables on the very forces that questioned the right of the native people of South Africa to be free from the bondage of the inhuman and barbaric system of apartheid or legally sanctioned segregation of races where the natives of the land got the worst deal.


Mandela had the stature to take on the centuries old White supremacist regime of South Africa on even terms albeit on a moral high ground rather than brute military power although in the long term every option was on the table. Just as the White supremacist regime had tried to justify its actions by pointing out to native South Africans that they were generations away from being in a position to qualify as equal citizens in their own country, Mandela told the White rulers of South Africa that their perceptions didn’t matter both among the silent majority within the country as well as the world at large. South Africa was getting increasingly isolated globally and the economy was becoming very difficult to manage.


The psychological effects of being oppressed


It was not long before the White supremacists went down and Mandela took over as the first president of free South Africa. It is notable that Mandela did not allow the situation to get out of hand even during the euphoria of freedom won after centuries of struggle through blood and sweat. He had a difficult job of controlling the passion of large sections of his fellow native South Africans who were brimming over with the ferment of ages-old retribution and successfully prevented any such outpouring of emotions to get out of hand. It was the measure of the man who had endured unlawful and indiscriminate imprisonment under the White supremacist rule and yet had the largeness of heart to pardon his tormentors and accept them as equal citizens of his liberated homeland.


Not many oppressed folks could be as generous as Mandela was, and within Africa there were examples of reversed oppression of White minorities by Black majorities in the newly independent countries of Zimbabwe and Kenya. In case of Mandela, power did not corrupt him and neither did he vie for absolute power. Was he an exception? It is quite likely because the electric effect did not work on him. How did Mandela sense power then? He must have sensed it long back even as he was cooling his heels in prison and his greatness must have given him the vision of freedom as a foregone conclusion in the foreseeable future. In other words, Mandela must have had the measure of the White supremacist regime in the humbling environs of imprisonment.