Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Exposing US-Funded "NGOs"

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

Friday, August 12, 2016

Exposing US-Funded "NGOs"

Click here to access article from The New Atlas (based in Bangkok, Thailand).

The author(s) illustrate how an NGO supported by US funding has penetrated Myanmar's Ministry of Information via training of their staff. Then details are provided about another US-funded NGO media organization in nearby Thailand that is involved in political affairs and is in close contact with the US Embassy.

There are a number of foreign NGOs that provide non-political services to aid their host countries, but the US has been increasingly using them to subvert host countries to align with US foreign policy interests. This, of course, means aligning them with the neoliberal and hegemonic interests of the US-led Empire's capitalist class.

Host countries need to learn some basic lessons about NGOs:

To put it simply, any organisation or institution serves only the interests of those who support it. An NGO supported by local donations and volunteers serves its local community. A foreign-funded organisation posing as an NGO serves foreign interests.

And simpler still, an organisation funded by a foreign government cannot possibly be characterised as "nongovernmental." Even at face value, this notion strains credibility.