Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Unearthing the IFC's links to mining abuses

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

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Unearthing the IFC's links to mining abuses

Click here to access article from Bretton Woods Project.

This article provides details on the role that international finance played in the recent platinum mine massacre of striking workers in South Africa by police (enforcers hired by the One Percent). In this case it was the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a private-public sector arm of the World Bank. Whenever you see this sort of arrangement, you can be sure that the private sector benefits at the expense of public revenues in one form or another: subsidies, tax exemptions, government grants, etc. But, of course, these arrangements are always advertised as benefiting the public. From IFC's website we see this same justification expressed as follows:

Our work in more than a 100 developing countries allows companies and financial institutions in emerging markets to create jobs, generate tax revenues, improve corporate governance and environmental performance, and contribute to their local communities.

IFC’s vision is that people should have the opportunity to escape poverty and improve their lives.

From their website we also learn that Jin-Yong Cai, a Chinese citizen, is the head of this organization. From Wikipedia we learn once again, that where big money and power are involved, we also find the fingerprints of Goldman-Sachs.

Jin-Yong Cai to serve as the new Executive Vice President and CEO of the IFC. Cai is a Chinese citizen who formerly served as a managing director for Goldman Sachs and has over 20 years of financial sector experience.

From IFC's website we are told that their participating member nations engage in a collaborative decision-making process:

Established in 1956, IFC is owned by 184 member countries, a group that collectively determines our policies. Our work in more than a 100 developing countries allows companies and financial institutions in emerging markets to create jobs, generate tax revenues, improve corporate governance and environmental performance, and contribute to their local communities.

From Wikipedia, we learn that they are governed according to the capitalist version of "collective" decision-making:

The IFC is owned by its 182 member governments which pay in capital, vote on matters of policy, and approve all of its investing activities. Each member country is a shareholder of the IFC, and the percentage of each member's ownership share is determined by the amount of capital it pays into the IFC. As of 2011, the United States is the IFC's single largest shareholder with a share of 24%. Japan holds a share of 6%, while each of Germany, France, and the United Kingdom hold 5%. The IFC's share capital amounted to approximately $2.4 billion as of 30 June 2011, of which 51% is controlled by the seven largest member governments of the OECD.

With the One Percents in control of all the governments of the dominant capitalist countries, we can see how public money finances the global projects of private corporations which, in turn, benefits the Empire's One Percents.