War! Money! Capitalism! Exploitation! Yes, as Salon’s Glenn Greenwald writes, privatisation is bringing goodness to the peaceful land of Afghanistan: As the Obama administration announced plans for hundreds of billions of dollars more in domestic budget cuts, it late last week solicited bids for the construction of a massive new prison in Bagram, Afghanistan.… … Posted on…
Showing all posts tagged privatisation
Talking about the role of Serco negatively affecting public freedom
It’s a discussion that rarely occurs in Western countries where Serco (and other corporations) are increasingly intruding on our lives. As citizens we are meant to silently accept the influence of these unaccountable firms. Privatisation will set us free, apparently. Resistance is most certainly not futile. Take this recent piece by Zoe Williams in the…
Hiring private thugs in Afghanistan and hoping for the best
It’s so hard to see why the Western-led war in Afghanistan is failing miserably: An Afghan-owned security company accused of operating an illicit protection racket received “a slap on the wrist” from the Defense Department despite ample evidence of wrongdoing, according to a senior House Democrat critical of the military’s efforts to combat corruption in…
Capitalism in crisis but rulers of the world whistling in the wind
Will Hutton in the London Observer: Eighty years ago, faced with today’s economic events, nobody would have been in any doubt: we would obviously be living through a crisis in capitalism. Instead, there is a collective unwillingness to call a spade a spade. This is variously a crisis of the European Union, a crisis of…
Our world is outsourced and who cares if benefits few and far between?
The Western world is now infested with privatisation as the supposed ideal of society. In reality, the opposite is true. Take the recent report by the US-based Project on Government Oversight: Federal government employees were less expensive than contractors in 33 of the 35 occupational classifications POGO reviewed. In one instance, contractor billing rates were…
Killing people remotely with drones is their American dream
How long before machines or robots are selecting targets from America in war zones across the world?
Who is dreaming of a completely privatised America?
Project of Government Oversight give us the facts and the public/media/political response is minimal. Simple question: at what point will a totally privatised world cause concern for society (hint: now)? The U.S. government’s increasing reliance on contractors to do work traditionally done by federal employees is fueled by the belief that private industry can deliver…
ABCTV News24 on climate change, Murdoch thuggery and asylum seekers
I appeared last night on ABCTV News24’s The Drum (video here). The Federal government is introducing its carbon tax legislation into the parliament and yet I argued it’s legitimate to ask why so many polluters are receiving such concessions. It’s an attempted political fix that hasn’t convinced many Australians. Simply put, many people are skeptical…
Are we training Afghan forces to torture and kill?
We are constantly told in Australia that our brave boys in Afghanistan are training the local army. A new Human Rights Watch report reveals the reality of so much Western training (some of which is privatised); corruption, torture and death squads is what we appear to be leaving behind, presuming we ever depart: Militias and…
Nothing like a good war that enriches the leeches
The list of private companies gouging America and its allies since 9/11 is long and dubious. For example (via Mother Jones): In 2007, US planners decided to pave a 64-mile mountain road between the Afghan towns of Khost and Gardez. They figured it would take $69 million to complete, but the cost swelled to $176…