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

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Posts that I especially recommend for Tuesday, June 15, 2021

The censorship of information is at an all time high, but do people really recognize the extent to which it has been and is being carried out? A recent article published in the British Medical Journal by journalist Laurie Clarke has highlighted the fact that Facebook has already removed at least 16 million pieces of content from its platform and added warnings to approximately 167 million others. YouTube has removed nearly 1 million videos related to, according to them, “dangerous or misleading covid-19 medical information.” 
This is the latest panel discussion hosted by the International Manifesto Group on Sunday 13th June 2021.
 
Economic sanctions are becoming an increasingly popular foreign policy instrument in Western countries, deployed alone or in conjunction with military and/or diplomatic interventions to achieve strategic political and policy goals, such as ostensibly protecting individuals and states from the behaviour of wrongdoers. Because economic sanctions are considered less violent than direct military assault, they are often supported by many on the left and the peace movement, who reluctantly accept the policy as a necessary evil.

This panel, part of a broader series on sanctions, will focus on their public health effects, through an analysis of five case studies: Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Syria and Iran. All but one of these countries are currently under sanctions by both Canada and the United States.
 
(Note: This post is only Beeley's contribution to this discussion regarding Syria as a victim of economic sanctions that was a part of the general discussions about the effects, particularly on small countries, from the use of economic sanctions. Only large, financially stable nations like Russia and China can prevent sanctions from doing major damage to their nations.)
 
My reaction: The weapon of economic sanctions is the 21st century's weapon of choice that formerly was accomplished by what Gen. Smedley Butler referred to as a "racket" that was the weapon of choice for the US prior to WWII. (After WWII such invasions were replaced by subversive actions. Economic sanctions were added to subversive efforts in the 21st century. This was especially evident in Syria, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran.) Butler was referring to the invasions of Latin American countries, much like organized crime used in major North American cities, to threaten small businesses with harm if they didn't financially dole out bribes to Mafia figures to prevent further harm. 
Naomi Karavani focuses on Jeff Bezos and Amazon.com, Inc. in this Weekly Offensive. Bezos recently announced his plan to head to space on a commercial flight with his company Blue Origin. The announcement of his space flight came amid a flurry of bad press over tax evasion, questions about antitrust violations, Amazon's $8.45 billion purchase of MGM, and a global corporate tax proposal from the G7 that could leave Amazon out.
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