In South and Central America oppression is from military families who own ninety percent of the land and rule with cruel dictatorships. Dissidents have been kidnapped, tortured, and murdered for decades, including Catholic Jesuits, Nuns and a Bishop.
The Kennedy administration, with its' Alliance for Progress' policy, as documented by Arthur Schlesinger Jr. in his book, A Thousand Days, tried to change the policy of supporting these military families and supplying their armies with arms.
The Kennedy administration wanted to start supporting the progressives in the unions, churches, universities, newspapers, and human rights groups, who were trying to bring reform and democracy to change the conditions that caused widespread poverty.
President Kennedy was blocked from engaging his policies into action by professional bureaucrats. Entrenced bureaucrats in the State Department and the Department of Defense stationed in Latin America stonewalled the implementation of his policies.
In the Middle East, as Daniel Yergen points out in his book The Prize: The History of Oil, the problems started when the oil companies discovered oil in Arabia. It was a land of nomadic tribes with no real government or countries.
The oil companies had to find someone to get permission from to drill for oil and pay royalties to. They found the Saudi family living in tents with the title of king, more or less a figurehead, and made the deal with them.
After World War I the western governments took over relations in the Middle East, and the oil companies took a back seat. First the British government took over and provided security for the Middle East.
They divided it up into countries with borders established that exist today. After World War II the British could no longer provide security for the region, so the American government reluctantly took over.
The governments of the Middle East, with huge influxes of money coming from the west for the purchase of oil, had the task of bringing their countries into the modern industrial age. They formed police states and resorted to oppressive tactics like secret police and torture to maintain order.
The problems in the Middle East were structural; they would have happened no matter who would have got the royalties from oil. They had no industrial system to distribute the wealth. In the West we have jobs, wages, and private business to distribute the wealth, however unfairly it is. In the Middle East they had nothing.
Africa a continent of tribes of people with no history of civilization, is adapting to the modern world. Ruthless warlords and dictators with caches of leftover weapons from the Cold War, control things and oppress the people. They slide into chaos and open warfare at times.
It's time to do what should have been done after World War II. Apply the new prosperity from the new technology infusing the world economy, (as shown with the second wave of technology that ushered in new prosperity, the computer and the internet) toward relieving the indignities and suffering caused by oppression.
Theodore White, in his book, Fire in the Ashes, about the rebuilding of Europe after World War II, pointed out the Marshall Plan, the biggest giveaway in history, was only one tenth of our liquor bill that year.
Jesus said, in Martin Scorcesses’ film, The Last Temptation of Christ, “Justice is God’s love.” He was talking to a group of peasants about justice. They were yelling at him, they needed food, not justice. They were hungry. Jesus said, “Of course you need food, and if you had justice, you would have food. Yes you are hungry, you are hungry for justice. Justice is God‘s love.”
Justice is not going to come from the animals, and it’s not going to come from governments. It’s only going to come from the consciousness of individuals in the world.
It’s too late to try and stop the big governments with their military. It’s a waste of time and energy to try and change the world through elections, rallies or demonstrations. A way needs to be found to empower the victims of oppression.
spiritandpoverty.com