[Reader-list] matters to consider
Craig Bellamy
milkbar at milkbar.com.au
Sat Nov 10 16:15:12 IST 2001
Hi,
Thanks for this Monica, I always like these things, but when you take these
figures out of any historical or socio-political context, they don't really
mean that much. This is just anti-American rhetoric, if we are going to be
critical of this political entity, lets be a little more sophisticated. The
world is unequal, yes, but take for example this one fact that you circulated.
In 1998, the global starvation rate
among children reached its 600 year peak.
Source: UNICEF,
State of the World's Children, 1998.
The obvious questions here is what was the world's population 600 years
ago, indeed what was India's population at the end the start of the 1950's?
How has life expectancy lifted in India in this time, or in Western
countries? I don't know the answers to these questions, but I certainly
can't reduce 600 years of global history to two sentences and one fact. I
am interested in all sorts of global perspectives, this is what I study, I
am politically minded, but am more interested in searching for the truth.
The US is an easy target, and yes it has many social fractures. But how
does this intersect with the equally disturbing problems with distribution
of wealth in India? I would be interested on your opinion of this, how do
the networks of power work, how are they transferred?
best regards,
Craig Bellamy
Melbourne, Australia.
>=========
>|||||| matters to consider
>
>Blacks and whites in the U.S.
>are victims of murder in almost equal
>numbers, yet 82% of prisoners executed
>since 1977 were convicted of
>the murder of a white person.
>
>Source: U.S. Department of Justice,
>Bureau of Justice Statistics.
>1998 USA Human Rights Report,
>Amnesty International.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>In 1998, the global starvation rate
>among children reached its 600 year peak.
>
>Source: UNICEF,
>State of the World's Children, 1998.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Over 3,000 drugs are withdrawn annually
>due to unforeseen side effects in humans,
>which do not appear in animal tests.
>
>Source: U.S. National Institute of Health,
>Report on Animal Testing, 1998.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Responses to 1972 and 1999 Gallup polls asking,
>Do you have a great deal of trust in:
>
> 1972 1997
>
>The US Congress 13% 6%
>The US mass media 18% 10%
>Candidates for US political office 7% 5%
>
>Source: Gallup News Services,
>Poll Releases, 1997.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>In 1997, the US maintained 13,750 nuclear warheads,
>5,546 of them on ballistic missiles.
>
>Source: US Department of Defense,
>1997 Annual Defense Report;
>Natural Resources Defense Council,
>"Nuclear Weapons Databook Project," 1997.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Since 1995, the U.S. has designated
>2,500 targets for its nuclear ballistic
>missiles.
>
>Source : The Brookings Institution, 1998.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>An estimated 100 million landmines
>laid in 68 countries
>kill or maim over 26,000 people a year,
>90% of them civilians.
>
>Source: United Nations Secretary General, 1996.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>I'm running out of demons.
>I'm running out of villains.
>I'm down to Castro and Kim Il Sung."
>
>- US General Colin Powell
>
>Source: Defense News, April 8, 1991
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>The impact of the average US citizen
>on the environment is approximately
>3 times that of the average Italian,
>13 times that of the average Brazilian,
>35 times that of the average Indian,
>140 times that of the average Bangladeshi, and
>250 times that of the average sub-Saharan African.
>
>Source: UNICEF, The State of the World's Children, 1994.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>The typical US citizen is exposed to between 50
>and 100 advertisements each morning before nine
>o'clock. American teenagers are typically exposed
>to 3 to 4 hours of TV advertisements a week,
>adding up to at least 100,000 ads between birth
>and high school graduation.
>
>Source: World Watch Institute,
>State of the World Report, 1991.
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>1 in 8 women will develop
>breast cancer in their lifetime,
>a 3-fold increase in the last 50 years.
>
>Source: National Cancer Institute, 1999.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>"Television was our chief tool
>in selling our policy."
>
>- Richard Hass
>US National Security Council,
>on the US war with Iraq.
>Source: New York Times,
>Nov. 5, 1991, p. B3.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>"By God, we've kicked the Vietnam Syndrome
>once and for all!"
>
>- US President George Bush,
>on the success of shaping public
>opinion for the US-Iraq War.
>Source: Newsweek, March 11, 1991.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Annually, 600,000 women,
>99% in developing countries,
>die from complications during
>pregnancy or childbirth.
>
>Source: World Health Organization, 1998.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>25% of women living in developing nations
>suffer from pregnancy-related disabilities.
>
>Source: World Health Organization, 1998.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Half of the world's 1 billion
>reproductive-age women are
>anaemic and malnourished.
>
>Source: World Health Organization, 1998.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>The first 15 days of NATO bombing
>in Yugoslavia cost the U.S. an estimated
>500 million dollars.
>
>Source: CNN News, April 22, 1999.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>The average NATO jet incurs direct
>costs of about $10,000 per sortie.
> From March 24 to April 20, NATO flew
>more than 4300 bombing sorties over
>Yugoslavia.
>
>Source: Center for Strategic and
>Bedgetary Assessments, April 22, 1999.
>
>Costs from 1997 figures in
>General Accounting Office (GAO),
>Operation Desert Storm:
>Evaluation of the Air Campaign, June 1997
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>In 1992, the U.S. government spent only 7% of its
>drug-control budget on treatment, the remaining 93% of
>its budget went to programs of source control,
>interdiction and law-enforcement.
>
>Source: Rydell, C.P. & Everingham, S.S., (1994),
>Controlling Cocaine, Prepared for the Office of
>National Drug Control Policy and the
>United States Army, Santa Monica, CA:
>Drug Policy Research Center, RAND, p. 5.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>"We shall demolish, destroy, devastate, degrade . . .
>and ultimately eliminate the essential infrastructure . . . .
>We shall relentlessly grind them down and it will continue
>as long as it takes to accomplish our objectives."
>
>- US General Wesley Clark, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe,
>on the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
>
>Source: International Herald Tribune, March 26 1999.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> From 1980 to 1997, the US federal government
>reduced spending on education
>by more than one-third.
>
>Source: US Department of Education,
>National Center for Education Statistics,
>December 1997.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>About 1 in every 20 Americans is expected to serve
>time in prison during their lifetime.
>For African-American men, the number is greater than
>1 in 4.
>
>Source: U.S. Department of Justice,
>Bureau of Justice Statistics,
>Lifetime Likelihood of Going to State or Federal Prison,
>March 1997.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>"The United Nations Security Council has the primary
>responsibility for the maintenance of international
>peace and security."
>
>-NATO Strategic Concept, North Atlantic Council, April 1999.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>An estimated 11% of drug users
>in the US are black;
>however, blacks constitute
>37% of those arrested for drug violations,
>42% of those in federal prisons for drug violations,
>and 60% of those in state prisons for drug felonies.
>
>Sources: SubstanceAbuse and Mental
>Health Services Administration,
>National Household Survey on Drug Abuse:
>Population Estimates 1996, Rockville, MD:
>Substance Abuse and Mental Health
>Services Administration (1997);
>Bureau of Justice Statistics,
>Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 1996,
>Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1997);
>Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 1996,
>Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1997),
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>``What we are in effect seeing is that war-making
>has become the tool of peacemaking. In the NATO
>bombing . . . large numbers of civilians have been
>incontestably killed, civilian installations have
>been targeted on the basis that they are, or could be,
>of military application. And NATO remains the sole
>judge of what is or is not acceptable to bomb.''
>
>-- U.N. Human Rights Commissioner, Mary Robinson,
>at press conference, Geneva, April 30,1999.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>In 1997, US states spent $29 billion
>in state funds on corrections,
>and $14 billion on social welfare for the poor.
>
>Source: National Association of State Budget
>Officers (NASBO). 1997 State Expenditure Report,
>Washington, DC: NASBO (May 1998), pgs. 50, 80.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>"The demonization of Milosevic is necessary to maintain
>the air attacks."
>
>Source: US State Department, San Francisco Chronicle,
>March 30, 1999, p A10.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Every dollar invested in substance
>abuse treatment saves taxpayers
>$7.46 in societal costs.
>
>Source: Rydell, C.P. & Everingham, S.S., Controlling Cocaine,
>Prepared for the Office of National Drug Control Policy and
>the United States Army, Santa Monica, CA: Drug Policy Research Center, RAND
>(1994).
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>21% of US children live in poverty.
>
>Source: US Bureau of the Census,
>Current Population Surveys, 1998.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Worldwide, 115 million women,
>have had their genitals mutilated.
>
>Source: United Nations Population Fund, 1998..
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>In 1996, the U.S. Department of Defense
>dedicated 6,000 employees and $450 million
>to promote U.S. arms sales overseas.
>
>Source: World Policy Insitute,
>Arms Trade Report, 1996.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>The United States, with less than
>5 percent of the world's
>population, consumes 25 percent
>of the world's petroleum.
>
>Sources: Population Reference Bureau,
>World Population Datasheet, 1997.
>British Petroleum, BP Statistical Review of
>World Energy, 1997.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>During the Gulf War, the United States
>suffered 148 soldiers killed in action,
>and 458 wounded.
>
>The U.S. estimated that more than
>100,000 Iraqi soldiers died,
>300,000 were wounded,
>150,000 deserted, and
>60,000 were taken prisoner.
>
>Source: U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, 1992.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Farm animals slaughtered in the US during 1998:
>
> # slaughtered
>Cows 35.6 million
>Calves 1.50 million
>Hogs 101 million
>Sheep 3.86 million
>Eggs 79.7 billion
>Chicken 7.76 billion
>Turkeys 284 million
>
>Source: United States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural
>Statistics Service, 1998 Summary.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>In 1998 CEOs earned an average 36% more than in 1997.
>White collar workers during the same period, 4% more.
>Blue collar workers, 3% more.
>
>Source: Business Week, ^Executive Pay Survey,
>April 19, 1999.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>More than 70% of the US grain harvest is fed to farmed
>animals, as is 33% of the entire worlds grain harvest.
>
>Source: US Department of Agriculture,
>World Cereals Used for Feed, 1997;
>Worldwatch Institute, State of the World, 1997.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>In 1965, CEOs earned on average
> 44 times more than factory workers.
>In 1998, CEOs earned on average
> 326 times more than factory workers.
>In 1999, CEOs earned on average
> 419 times more than factory workers.
>
>Source: Business Week, Executive Pay Survey,
>April 19, 1999; Business Week, April 20, 1998.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>In the US, more than 200 million handguns, rifles,
>shotguns and high-powered weapons are currently in
>circulation.
>
>Source: Amnesty International, 1998 Report on the US.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Women and minorities comprise 57% of the US
>workforce and 3% of US CEOs.
>
>Source: US Dept. of Labor, Glass Ceiling Commission 1997.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Weapon manufacturers' stock price increases since the initiation of the
>Yugoslavia war on March 24 1999:
>
>Rockwell International: +48% (manufacturer of the Lancer B-1 bomber, etc.)
>
>Boeing Aircraft: +30% (manufacturer of the B-52 Stratofortress, KC-135
>Stratotanker, etc.)
>
>Raytheon Systems: +37% (manufacturer of the Tomahawk cruise missile, AGM-88
>HARM Missile, etc.)
>
>Lockheed Martin: +18% (manufacturer of the F-117A Nighthawk, F-16 Falcon,
>etc.)
>
>Northrop Grumman: +16% (manufacturer of the B-2 bomber, EA-6B Prowler, etc.)
>
>Sources: U.S. Department of Defense, May 26, 1999. New York Stock Exchange,
>daily historical data, 1999.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>In 1998, more than 400,000 personnel from US Armed
>Forces occupied foreign countries, more than one-third
>of all US Armed Forces personnel.
>
>Source: US Department of Defense, Defense 98.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>"I don't see this as a long-term operation. I think that this is . . .
>achievable within a relatively short period of time." - U.S. Secretary of
>State Madeleine Albright, March 24, 1999.
>
>"We never expected this to be over quickly."
>- U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, April 19, 1999.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>--
>Monica Narula
>Sarai:The New Media Initiative
>29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110 054
>www.sarai.net
>
>
>--__--__--
>
>_______________________________________________
>Reader-list mailing list
>Reader-list at sarai.net
>http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
>
>
>End of Reader-list Digest
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20011110/77967854/attachment.html
More information about the reader-list
mailing list