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, November 28, 2012

Why is Obama Silent Over the New Congo War?

Click here to access article by Shamus Cooke from Worker's Action

Once again we see surface manifestations of deeper economic activities that are playing out in central Africa over its rich supply of minerals. Obama, often described as an African-American president, is, of course, only the public relations officer hired by capitalist decision-makers well-hidden in our shadow government. And his African-Americanism is only literally skin deep. He was mostly raised by his white banker grandmother and further socialized in US elite private schools.

Cooke uncovers the deeper forces at work here--and, guess what? Capitalist corporations in the West and China are competing for access to valuable metals existing in this area.

The electronics industry is one of the main destinations for these metals, which end up in mobile phones, laptops, and other consumer products.  Tin is used as a solder in circuit boards; colton goes into capacitors, small components used to store electricity; tungsten is used in the vibrating function of mobile phones; gold is also used by the electronics industry as a coating for wires.

World prices for each of these metals have been rising over the past year, giving armed groups in the eastern Congo all the more incentive to target or keep hold of the mines.


See also this and this.