I hope my readers realize that my post about Chechnya was serendipitously written before the Boston Marathon attack. I'd like to know whether my point about Russia's way of dealing with Islamic terrorism - as opposed to ours - came across, so please comment on this story.
Today all I had to do was turn on the TV for another story to impose itself.
RT is running a documentary about an area in northern Greece where inhabitants are fighting an international company that wants to mine gold. What’s striking about this story is that in northern Columbia, locals have been mining gold for centuries, and they too are fighting an international company that wants to close down independent activity. The Columbians scoff at the health risks involved in separating the gold from the rock, and seem oblivious to the larger environmental risks, while the Greeks are concerned about the damage to the land and water.
Aside from these differences in detail, what’s notable is that in both countries locals are pitted against powerful international interests. One could also mention the Niger Delta, or areas of Africa being taken over by foreign agricultural companies to grow food for export. Or any number of other places where the local many are pitted against the international few.
Who was it that said ‘Workers of the world, unite’?
No comments:
Post a Comment