politics and politicians
See other politics and politicians Articles
Title: Nightmare libertarian project turns country into the murder capital of the world
Source:
salon.com
URL Source: http://www.salon.com/2015/01/29/nig ... e_murder_capital_of_the_world/
Published: Jan 29, 2015
Author: MIKE LASUSA
Post Date: 2015-02-02 23:37:39 by Gatlin
Keywords: None
Views: 14675
Comments: 56
Even Ayn Rand would be taken aback Since the 2009 coup against President José Manuel Zelaya and subsequent election of Porfirio “Pepe Lobo” Sosa and his favored successor Juan Orlando Hernandez, Honduras has embarked on a devastating neoliberal economic program that has contributed to its status as one of the poorest and most unequal countries in the region. The privatization of Honduran society has been accompanied by a militarization of public security efforts in the country, both of which have been fueled by a network of U.S.-supported policies and programs. Despite the country’s crackdown on crime, violence in Honduras has skyrocketed in recent years. Honduras now has the world’s second-highest national murder rate and is home to two of the world’s five most violent cities. Unchecked gang activity has contributed to widespread corruption and impunity within police and government institutions. This weekend, a coalition of leftist opposition parties came together temporarily to defeat a proposed amendment to the Honduran constitution that would have given permanent status to the country’s militarized police force, known as the Policía Militar de Orden Público, or PMOP. This “elite” police unit, which serves under the direct command of the presidency, is intended to support President Hernandez’s heavy-handed crime reduction efforts. President Hernandez created the PMOP shortly after coming to office in 2014, with support from a legislature dominated by his conservative National Party. The Hernandez administration’s police militarization efforts also had the backing of the country’s business sector. According to one study, in 2013, only 27 percentof Hondurans expressed confidence in the civilian police while 73 percent thought the military should be involved in policing efforts. Nevertheless, both the military and the police have a long history of corruption and criminality as well as abuses committed against civilians in Honduras. The PMOP plan isn’t the only initiative with dubious implications for human rights put forth by Hernandez’s government. Honduras is also experimenting with Zonas de Empleo y Desarrollo Económico (special employment and economic development zones), also known as ZEDEs or “charter cities.” According to reporting by Danielle Marie Mackey for the New Republic last month, here is how the project works: “An investor, either international or local, builds infrastructure….The territory in which they invest becomes an autonomous zone from Honduras…The investing company must write the laws that govern the territory, establish the local government, hire a private police force, and even has the right to set the educational system and collect taxes.” An earlier article by Erika Piquero at Latin Correspondent described the law as “allowing the corporations and individuals funding the ZEDEs to dictate the entire structural organization of the zone, including laws, tax structure, healthcare system, education and security forces. This kind of flexibility is unprecedented even in similar models around the world.” George Rodríguez reported for the Tico Times that the plan was previously challenged and ruled unconstitutional in Honduras’ supreme court, but Hernandez “twisted arms, had the [dissenting] judges removed, and brought in obedient replacements.” Hernandez then re-tooled the bill and pushed it through the congress. As Mackey reported, “The ZEDE’s central government is stacked with libertarian foreigners,” including a former speechwriter for presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr., conservative political operative Grover Norquist, a senior member of the Cato Institute think tank, and Ronald Reagan’s son Michael, as well as “a Danish banker, a Peruvian economist, and an Austrian general secretary of the Friedrich Hayek Institute.” According to the official ZEDE website, the zones place a heavy emphasis on security, offering “a 21st century, business-efficient, non- politicized, transparent, stable, system of administration, plus a special police and institutional security to overcome regional issues and meet world standards.” A new bill introduced by Hernandez minutes after losing the vote this weekend would allow municipalities and ZEDEs to request that the PMOP or other branches of the Armed Forces provide them with security services. Honduras’ continuing militarization of security efforts appears to have the backing of the United States, which has provided more than $65 million in security aid to Honduras since 2008. President Hernandez has also met frequently with high-level U.S. officials for talks on security and migration issues. As the U.S. amassador’s Twitter account wrote on Friday, “U.S. cooperation with Honduras’ fight against narcotrafficking and crime is strong and continuing.” However, contrary to commonly held perceptions, most of the violence in Honduras is not caused by large, transnational drug trafficking organizations, but rather by smaller gangs fighting over territory (including street corners, neighborhoods and even prisons) in which to conduct extortion rackets, small-scale smuggling efforts and prostitution operations among other illegal activities. Privatization and paramilitarization are also concerns in Honduras, with one recent report estimating that there are three times as many private security guards as police in Honduras, up to a third of whom work for unregistered companies, some of whom reportedly employ off-duty police officers looking to supplement often-meager salaries. While international investors may be seeking to capitalize on Honduras’ voluntary surrender of its national sovereignty to make a “legal” profit, even more nefarious actors are already operating in a completely unregulated, free-market criminal underworld in Honduras—one that has helped turn the country into the world’s “murder capital” in recent years. Even Honduran schools have become scenes of rampant gang activity. In a recent chilling article for the Associated Press, journalist Alberto Arce wrote that gang members “rely on kids to do much of their illegal grunt work, knowing that even if they get caught, they won’t face long jail sentences…School administrators say that teachers generally are more afraid of the gangs than the remaining students are, because so many children admire gangsters.” Arce also writes that “a 14-year-old can earn $500 a month in prostitution — more than a police officer’s salary.” U.S.-backed policies in Honduras have fed a cycle of crime, violence, exploitation and abuse of vulnerable populations by state and non-state actors alike. According to the research organization Security Assistance Monitor, gang-driven “violence has been one of the primary drivers behind the surge in migration to the United States from Honduras,” but ironically, “ [t]he U.S. government practice of deporting thousands of Hondurans with criminal records, which began in the 1990s, has only fueled the growth of these gangs.” When these migrants, many of them women and children —along with those from El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and elsewhere—flee to the United States, they are routinely apprehended and “fast-tracked” for deportation. In the case of Honduras, migrants are sometimes sent back to some of the most violent cities in the world. Many women and children fleeing violence in Central America also experience abuses and violations of their legal rights at the hands of U.S. authorities if they are detained after crossing the border. And the future doesn’t appear to hold a change of course. In all likelihood, the new U.S. congress will continue to support efforts to militarize its southern border, as well as Me xico’s southern border with Central America, and to “deter” migration through the use of mass detention and deportation. The U.S. government also seems likely to continue supporting the privatization and militarization of Honduran society. As Maya Kroth wrote in September for Foreign Policy, “[c]ritics worry that evidence to date — the government’s opaque approach, the ZEDEs’ undemocratic features, the cast of characters backing the scheme, and the vulnerabilities of people likely to be affected by development — indicate that charter cities would be little more than predatory, privatized utopias, with far-reaching, negative implications for Honduran sovereignty and the well-being of poor communities.” The U.S. has coupled its neoliberal economic prescriptions with its drug war security framework in other countries in the Americas, including at home, with disastrous results. While the vote against the PMOP this weekend was an important victory for human rights advocates, from the perspective of many, much work remains to be done. It appears that the precarious situation of Honduras’ most vulnerable citizens could get worse before it gets better.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
Comments (1-1) not displayed.
.
.
.
#2. To: A K A Stone (#1)
"The biggest mistake that libertarians make is the way they view government and private sectors. Government is the root of all evil, and the private sector is the source of all good. Libertarians have never figured out that people are the same whether in the government or in the private sector." --Paul Craig Roberts
I never tried to google "libertarians suck." Let me try that in another browser....stand by. Here we go, first link hit: Why Libertarians Suck. Nothing new here....I have seen this one before.
But then maybe tpaine has not. "Ping" for tpaine to Post #3.
I am actually a "news hound." when things get slow and I am caught up on my trading and research for tomorrow, I have a list of names and topics I google for news to check out the latest. If I find something interesting or controversial, I post it whether I agree, disagree or have little knowledge about it and want to learn what others think.
Lol.... Nah, you're just a non stop troll. But nice try.
Seems the majority posting here do.
"The biggest mistake that libertarians make is the way they view government and private sectors. Government is the root of all evil, and the private sector is the source of all good. Libertarians have never figured out that people are the same whether in the government or in the private sector." --Paul Craig Roberts
Frequently, people confuse libertarianism with anarchism. It's anarchism that proposes no government whatsoever. Libertarianism, by contrast, advocates a need for government but only a minimal one. At least compared to what exists today in the USA.
Sounds like parts of California or Detroit.
Shhh....you might wake up his mind.... Hahaha! Who am I kidding! They all twist reality so much, that they would have you believe that Ayn Rand is revered on the left, rather than veiwed by them as the ultimate evil to ever put word to paper.
"Anarcho-capitalism (also known as “libertarian anarchy” or “market anarchism” or “free market anarchism”) is a libertarian and individualist anarchist political philosophy that advocates the elimination of the state in favor of individual sovereignty in a free market. Economist Murray Rothbard is credited with coining the term. In an anarcho-capitalist society, law enforcement, courts, and all other security services would be provided by voluntarily-funded competitors such as private defense agencies rather than through taxation, and money would be privately and competitively provided in an open market. According to anarcho-capitalists, personal and economic activities would be regulated by the natural laws of the market and through private law rather than through politics. Furthermore, victimless crimes and crimes against the state would not exist." "The biggest mistake that libertarians make is the way they view government and private sectors. Government is the root of all evil, and the private sector is the source of all good. Libertarians have never figured out that people are the same whether in the government or in the private sector." --Paul Craig Roberts
Your ignorance is like a bottomless well.
"The biggest mistake that libertarians make is the way they view government and private sectors. Government is the root of all evil, and the private sector is the source of all good. Libertarians have never figured out that people are the same whether in the government or in the private sector." --Paul Craig Roberts
You are aware that words have meanings and that anarchy means no government, right? You are also familiar with the Libertarian Platform, right? Dumbass
Notice above how he changes the terms of debate, instead of debating what you said, say an apple, he brings in his orange. Thats what they do everytime. Its simple dishonesty, and they cannot help themselves.
Anarchy www.colli nsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/anarchy Which Libertarian Platform? They have become more ambiguous over the years.
"The biggest mistake that libertarians make is the way they view government and private sectors. Government is the root of all evil, and the private sector is the source of all good. Libertarians have never figured out that people are the same whether in the government or in the private sector." --Paul Craig Roberts
"Anarcho-capitalism (also known as “libertarian anarchy” Put some ice on it. "The biggest mistake that libertarians make is the way they view government and private sectors. Government is the root of all evil, and the private sector is the source of all good. Libertarians have never figured out that people are the same whether in the government or in the private sector." --Paul Craig Roberts
Even in the orange you brought, the ANARCHO-CAPITALIST system does have a government. So, your orange is still an orange. Deal with it. Your method of lying has been exposed, and now we wait till you do it again. Over under is 8 1/2 hours for those placing bets.
"Anarcho-capitalism (also known as “libertarian anarchy” Is STILL, not anarchy. The word libertarian is a qualifier which changes the meaning of the second word. It's not the same thing. My apologies if you are too stupid to understand that.
Anarchy Short term memory problems?
"The biggest mistake that libertarians make is the way they view government and private sectors. Government is the root of all evil, and the private sector is the source of all good. Libertarians have never figured out that people are the same whether in the government or in the private sector." --Paul Craig Roberts
It's a major variety. Poor you.
"The biggest mistake that libertarians make is the way they view government and private sectors. Government is the root of all evil, and the private sector is the source of all good. Libertarians have never figured out that people are the same whether in the government or in the private sector." --Paul Craig Roberts
Anyways, am out for the night, you multiple handle using liars can say whatever you want now, dont let truth or reality stand in your way.
A major variety? Hahahhahahahahahahaha!!!!!!! Still, not THE SAME THING, dumbass!
Hahahhahahahahahahaha!!!!!!! The major variety. You know almost nothing about the Libertarian Party, its philosophy, or its history. "The first well-known version of anarcho-capitalism was formulated by Austrian School economist and libertarian Murray Rothbard in the mid- twentieth century, synthesizing elements from the Austrian School of economics, classical liberalism, and nineteenth century American individualist anarchists Lysander Spooner and Benjamin Tucker (rejecting their labor theory of value and the normative implications they derived from it). In Rothbardian anarcho-capitalism, there would first be the implementation of a mutually agreed-upon libertarian "legal code which would be generally accepted, and which the courts would pledge themselves to follow..." "Murray Rothbard, a student of Mises, is the man who attempted to meld Austrian economics with classical liberalism and individualist anarchism. He wrote his first paper advocating "private property anarchism" in 1949, and later came up with the alternative name "anarcho-capitalism." He was probably the first to use "libertarian" in its current (U.S.) pro-capitalist sense. He was a trained economist, but also knowledgeable in history and political philosophy. When young, he considered himself part of the Old Right, an anti-statist and anti-interventionist branch of the Republican party. In the late 1950s, he was briefly involved with Ayn Rand, but later had a falling out. When interventionist cold warriors of the National Review, such as William F. Buckley, Jr., gained influence in the Republican party in the 1950s, Rothbard quit that group and formed an alliance with left-wing antiwar groups, noting an antiwar tradition among a number of self-styled left-wingers and to a degree closer to the Old Right conservatives. He believed that the cold warriors were more indebted in theory to the left and imperialist progressives, especially in regards to Trotskyist theory. Later, Rothbard initially opposed the founding of the Libertarian Party but joined in 1973 and became one of its leading activists." http://wiki.mises.org/wiki/Anarcho-capitalism Continue wallowing in your deliberate ignorance.
"The biggest mistake that libertarians make is the way they view government and private sectors. Government is the root of all evil, and the private sector is the source of all good. Libertarians have never figured out that people are the same whether in the government or in the private sector." --Paul Craig Roberts
You can post whatever theories and definitions made by anyone you want, but the fact is the Libertarian Party platform does have a role for government, and does NOT call for it's abolition. This is possible because there ARE people who call themselves libertarians who similarly only call for a drastic reduction of government NOT it's abolition. If you have decided that anyone who calls themselves a libertarian is not allowed to define what that means to himself, then that certainly makes you an authoritarian. At least in my book. Feel free to post definitions of "authoritarian" that are similarly not widely accepted.
What is it?
"The biggest mistake that libertarians make is the way they view government and private sectors. Government is the root of all evil, and the private sector is the source of all good. Libertarians have never figured out that people are the same whether in the government or in the private sector." --Paul Craig Roberts
I agree that some libertarians believe in limited government and while they do not want to do away with it, they want to limit the powers of the government so that they do not take away our liberties and our rights defined in the Constitution. However, there are those calling themselves “libertarians” who are indeed anti-government across the board; they argue for what they call “anarcho- capitalism.” Sorry Libertarian Anarchists, Capitalism Requires Government . Gerard Casey presents a novel perspective on political philosophy, arguing against the conventional political philosophy pieties and defending a specific political position, which he identifies as 'libertarian anarchy'. Libertarian Anarchy: Against the State (Think Now) Paperback by Gerard Casey.
They're both the same in that they are delusional in surprisingly similar ways.
An earlier article by Erika Piquero at Latin Correspondent described the law as “allowing the corporations and individuals funding the ZEDEs to dictate the entire structural organization of the zone, including laws, tax structure, healthcare system, education and security forces. This kind of flexibility is unprecedented even in similar models around the world.” This has nothing to do with libertarian philosophy. Obviously you don't understand the first thing about it. This is some neoliberal/fascist regime with the usual repulsive Latin American elements like death squads. Wasn't Obama deeply involved in an international controversy involving this new El Presidente? Around the time he was meddling in the disastrous Arab Spring in Egypt, just before he unleashed the apocalyptic Arab Spring in Libya? I know he was deeply involved in one of these Central American countries at the time and was using our phony "intra-American" foreign relations bodies to do it. Another of Hitlery's failed projects.
That is exactly what he does. He has a long track record at LP. Quite often he'll post a half-dozen in a row, just to dominate the sidebar entirely. And Goldi was dumb enough to let him wreck her forum like this. Notice how he is serving one up here, then his Mini-Me (the perpetually horny and frustrated she-Palmdale) shows up to hound everyone. And have you checked Otter's IP address? It's obvious enough that he is a notorious retread that you've banned a half-dozen times already. Surely he doesn't have to start posting gay porn for you to get it. These Canaries always use the same tactics and hunt in a pack. And they do come here from TOS.
Minarchists. Admittedly, my eyes glaze over when someone announces they are minarchist and prepare to explain in 40,000 words or less exactly why they are a minarchist. But, absolutely, libertarians do go to some pains to distinguish themselves from any flavor of anarchist philosophy, particularly the old syndicalist-anarchists.
"All kinds of people today call themselves 'libertarians,' especially something calling itself the New Right, which consists of hippies, except that they’re anarchists instead of collectivists." -Ayn Rand
"The biggest mistake that libertarians make is the way they view government and private sectors. Government is the root of all evil, and the private sector is the source of all good. Libertarians have never figured out that people are the same whether in the government or in the private sector." --Paul Craig Roberts
However, there are those calling themselves “libertarians” who are indeed anti-government across the board; they argue for what they call “anarcho- capitalism.” Sorry Libertarian Anarchists, Capitalism Requires Government . The Libertarian Party platform is constructed through a formal voting process conducted by members of the Libertarian Party. It's the same process with the Republicrat parties. So while individual views vary, the party platform gives the typical, average, consensus views of Libertarians in general. Sure you'll find anarchist sentiments in LP ranks. True anarchists, by definition, are not going to form any organized political party any time soon, so anarchist sympathizers will, given a choice, naturally gravitate to the LP party as the one most in line with their views, even though the party is certainly not anarchist. Ron Paul was a Republican, but I doubt you'd cite his views as an example of what Republicans believe.
Should be able to find all at www.lp.org/platform
That sounds familiar. Oh, right, anarcho-capitalism. "In Rothbardian anarcho-capitalism, there would first be the implementation of a mutually agreed-upon libertarian "legal code which would be generally accepted, and which the courts would pledge themselves to follow..." And here's some icing for your cake. "All kinds of people today call themselves 'libertarians,' especially something calling itself the New Right, which consists of hippies, except that they’re anarchists instead of collectivists." -Ayn Rand
"The biggest mistake that libertarians make is the way they view government and private sectors. Government is the root of all evil, and the private sector is the source of all good. Libertarians have never figured out that people are the same whether in the government or in the private sector." --Paul Craig Roberts
You are as good at quoting things said or written by somewhat well-known people as some are at quoting bible verses. I suspect it's done with the same reverency as well. But unlike Christians, you have no reason to believe your "bible" verses are correct.
You are as good at quoting things said or written by somewhat well-known people as some are at quoting bible verses. I suspect it's done with the same reverency as well. But unlike Christians, you have no reason to believe your "bible" verses are correct. It's not done for any other reason than to paint small government types as being fringe. They use the biggest box possible, put anyone who desires smaller government into it, and mock them. They scream in fits of canary rage if you try and take their box from them.
Backwards. I hold Rothbard and Rand in low regard. Libertarians revere them.
"The biggest mistake that libertarians make is the way they view government and private sectors. Government is the root of all evil, and the private sector is the source of all good. Libertarians have never figured out that people are the same whether in the government or in the private sector." --Paul Craig Roberts
At less than 2%, Libertarians barely even qualify as fringe.
"The biggest mistake that libertarians make is the way they view government and private sectors. Government is the root of all evil, and the private sector is the source of all good. Libertarians have never figured out that people are the same whether in the government or in the private sector." --Paul Craig Roberts
These Canaries always use the same tactics and hunt in a pack. And they do come here from TOS. Doesnt sem like the canary experiment here at LF is working out to well for our feathered friends. The game is out in the open, and when you have mass dishonesty, head canary trying multiple handles, it seems as if the gig is up. If these guys wanna troll? Lol! I am definately up for that! My trolling of Yukon was what finally got him bounced from LP. Maybe next time I go to the store, I will buy a six pack of Sterno, and mark one Harrowup. Then, when another dies, I will put that name on another one. Then, when last canary has expired, has become an ex-canary, I will buy a bird cage, put the named cans of Sterno into it, place it in the back yard, and piss on it. I will leave it there forever, and when I wake up in the morning and have my coffee, I can look out the back window and smile.
To: Dead Culture Watch At less than 2%, Libertarians barely even qualify as fringe. And whats yer point? That effects my opposition to the growth of government power exactly how?
They are a failure in the marketplace of ideas.
"The biggest mistake that libertarians make is the way they view government and private sectors. Government is the root of all evil, and the private sector is the source of all good. Libertarians have never figured out that people are the same whether in the government or in the private sector." --Paul Craig Roberts
Comments (43 - 56) not displayed.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#3. To: A K A Stone (#1)
What do you do sit around and google libertarians suck or something?
#4. To: A K A Stone, tpaine (#3)
Nothing new here....I have seen this one before.
#5. To: A K A Stone (#1)
What do you do sit around and google ...
#6. To: Gatlin (#5)
#7. To: A K A Stone (#1)
libertarians suck
#8. To: Gatlin (#4)
#9. To: Palmdale (#8)
The biggest mistake that libertarians make is the way they view government and private sectors. Government is the root of all evil, and the private sector is the source of all good.
#10. To: Gatlin (#0)
smaller gangs fighting over territory (including street corners, neighborhoods and even prisons) in which to conduct extortion rackets, small-scale smuggling efforts and prostitution operations among other illegal activities.
#11. To: Pinguinite Palmdale (#9)
Frequently, people confuse libertarianism with anarchism. It's anarchism that proposes no government whatsoever. Libertarianism, by contrast, advocates a need for government but only a minimal one. At least compared to what exists today in the USA.
#12. To: Pinguinite (#9)
#13. To: Dead Culture Watch (#11)
Hahaha!
#14. To: Palmdale (#13)
#15. To: Pinguinite Palmdale (#9)
#16. To: Dead Culture Watch (#14)
You are aware that words have meanings and that anarchy means no government, right? You are also familiar with the Libertarian Platform, right?
Definitions
noun
1. general lawlessness and disorder, esp when thought to result from an absence or failure of government
#17. To: Dead Culture Watch (#15)
(Edited)
Notice above how he changes the terms of debate
#18. To: Palmdale (#16)
#19. To: Palmdale (#17)
(Edited)
#20. To: Dead Culture Watch (#18)
the ANARCHO-CAPITALIST system does have a government.
Definitions
noun
1. general lawlessness and disorder, esp when thought to result from an absence or failure of government
#21. To: Dead Culture Watch (#19)
It's not the same thing.
#22. To: All (#19)
#23. To: Palmdale (#21)
#24. To: Dead Culture Watch (#23)
A major variety?
#25. To: Palmdale (#12)
#26. To: Pinguinite (#25)
the Libertarian Party platform does have a role for government
#27. To: Pinguinite, Palmdale (#9)
(Edited)
#28. To: Palmdale (#12)
Yes I can see the difference now...
#29. To: Gatlin (#0)
According to reporting by Danielle Marie Mackey for the New Republic last month, here is how the project works: “An investor, either international or local, builds infrastructure….The territory in which they invest becomes an autonomous zone from Honduras…The investing company must write the laws that govern the territory, establish the local government, hire a private police force, and even has the right to set the educational system and collect taxes.”
#30. To: A K A Stone (#1)
What do you do sit around and google libertarians suck or something?
#31. To: Pinguinite (#9)
Libertarianism, by contrast, advocates a need for government but only a minimal one.
#32. To: Gatlin (#28)
#33. To: Gatlin (#27)
I agree that some libertarians believe in limited government and while they do not want to do away with it, they want to limit the powers of the government so that they do not take away our liberties and our rights defined in the Constitution.
#34. To: Palmdale (#26)
the Libertarian Party platform does have a role for government
What is it?
#35. To: Pinguinite (#34)
"The only proper role of government in the economic realm is to protect property rights, adjudicate disputes, and provide a legal framework in which voluntary trade is protected."
#36. To: Palmdale (#35)
#37. To: Pinguinite (#36)
#38. To: Pinguinite (#36)
#39. To: Dead Culture Watch (#37)
#40. To: TooConservative (#30)
And have you checked Otter's IP address? It's obvious enough that he is a notorious retread that you've banned a half-dozen times already. Surely he doesn't have to start posting gay porn for you to get it.
#41. To: Palmdale (#39)
#42. To: Dead Culture Watch (#41)
.
.
.
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]