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"In
view of the current state of our planet the capital-oriented
neo-liberal 'laisser-faire' policy called globalization must
be regarded as sheer vandalism sanctioned by the
governments."
BSE
and Continuing Madness
Politicians
and their Wrong
Mandators
By
Wolfgang Fischer
(german)
(spanish)
(pdf.printfile)
In
view of what happened around BSE we may bury our last hopes
of expecting responsibility or competence from the caste of
politicians.
So
as to remain honest, those who have been able to retain some
measure of critical judgment in the midst of all the
political madness, are being forced to turn against the
ruling political system. Otherwise they run the risk of
being totally numbed by the political lies and, whether
willingly or not, sharing the guilt of complicity in the
sacrifice of Life for the benefit of Capital.
On
the national as well as the European level it is becoming
increasingly obvious that the prime concern of politics is
not the welfare of the citizens and safeguarding of basic
necessities but solely the welfare of a seemingly insatiable
agricultual/ industrial/ capital conglomerate.This same
tendency is evident world-wide. MAI (the Multilateral
Agreement for Investment) may have failed to succeed for the
time being; however, we are now witnessing attempts, to set
the course for the vital requirements of Capital in contrast
to those of Life via WTO, 'humanitarian wars' and certain
other hypocritical programmes such as 'Plan Colombia'.
So
far nationally in Germany at least the appearance and
façade of a democratic legitimation of the
politicians has been maintained, whereas on the European
level not even an attempt to do so is being made. New
members of the E.U. are required to submit to laws and
regulations which contradict any understanding of democracy
whilst destroying grown and proven social structures. But on
the national level, too, democratic process is being merely
regarded as a nuisance and thus consistently disregarded -
as is proven by the restructuring of the German army - in
secret and without parliamentary approval - into a military
force that can be used outside our boundaries although
according to the constitution it was set up for national
defence.
Individuals
and institutions who have never held a mandate from the
people are creating guide-lines and regulations which,
lacking any regulatory function concerning the welfare of
the community, can even break national, democratically
evolved laws. A mere glance at the set of regulations
relating to food or the purity standards concerning the
water we drink and the air we breathe will show how we are
all being deceived. The price we'll have to pay in the end
will be our health, and by now even the health of our
children and grandchildren.
It
ought to be the task of politics to work out the guide-lines
for a healthy development of public welfare, and then
sensitively to guard this general welfare and its
foundations against harm coming from any side. However,
besides the liberalisation of public enterprises and the
privatisation of necessary social structures, the recently
planned privatisation of schools and universities in
particular shows that nothing is sacred any more to our
politicians. Educational institutions providing the mental
nourishment for each new generation are to be transformed
into private companies making profits or being supported by
industrial or other lobbies. To believe the freedom of
teaching will remain untouched by this development is to
ignore the reality of financial interests on the side of the
sponsors. Apart from one-sided reporting in the media, the
emphasis in teaching will tend to favour those interests,
which is endangering the unrestricted spiritual and mental
potential that helps us cope with the increasing challenges
and complexity of everyday living. The threat to academic
freedom through generating financial depency must
necessarily lead to a curbing of the vital ability to voice
criticism. This kind of manipulation at the foundations of
free societies is the ultimate proof that politics has long
begun to pursue goals of an entirely different order.
This
will become evident once we expose the lie that politicians
are acting according to the mandate of the electorate.They
do act as they are told to by the industrial lobby; it seems
they have chosen to be the slaves of Capital for
good.
In
the final resort it is ERT (the European Round Table
of Industrialists) who determines the course of the ship
Europe, without any democratic control and in many ways
against the common interest.
Apart
from many other scandals, the scandals around BSE, too, have
for years been proof of the ingrained greed and lack of
responsibility of the protagonists, in this case the Mafia
of the meat and pharmaceutical industries.
Instead
of accountable, large-scale scientific research designed to
recognise and ward off any dangers, with an open sharing and
discussion of the results, we are given consistent
mis-information. Scientists and vets are facing interference
and obstruction on the both theoretical and practical
levels, as well as threats (Dr. Margit Herbst in Schleswig
Holstein) or even murder (a Belgian vet opposing the
antibiotica Mafia). Information is being falsified or
withheld in the interest of the agro-pharmaceutical industry
to the detriment of public health and wellbeing. The
strategy is successful. BSE and related diseases are
spreading and certain important questions are not being
asked.
Who
is today questioning the statement that BSE is an
epidemic although to this day no causative organism has
been able to be identified?
Who
has knowledge concerning the open questions regarding
prions and their origin? The theory published in 1996 in
the magazine
'raum&zeit'
according to which prions are not the cause but
themselves already the consequence of contamination
through a neurotoxic agents (Phosmet) is being officially
ignored and finds no echo in the rest of the
media.
In
the case of proof of intoxication the producing
pharmaceutical company could expect liability claims
amounting to billions of dollars. By contrast, an epidemic
or infectious disease is an expression of force majeure, is
fate!
Are
we then the victims of Fate - or are we being exposed to
risks which are accepted by the politicians in full
awareness?
The
British government is expecting quite calmly that around
250,000 people will die as a consequence of the BSE risk. It
must be asked what right German politicians have to be
demanding today that consumers should carry the cost of BSE
testing since they wanted high quality meat. Is the widening
disaster the fault of the consumers, or is it not in fact
the politicians who are truly to blame, having for years
denied that there was any danger? Wo will hold them
responsible, if not at last the people?
Article
20 of the German constitution reads: "The Federal Republic
of Germany is a democratic and social federal state. All
executive power emanates from the people. The legislature is
bound to the constitutional order, the executive power and
the jurisdiction are bound to law and justice. Against
anyone undertaking to remove this order, all Germans have
the right to opposition if no other solution is possible."
European
right which contravenes the constitutional right of
individual member states turns to wrong. Not least of all,
the European Union Charter of Basic Rights is proof of a
regression concerning the quality of rights: the adjudging,
through a special act of volition - here amounting to an act
of grace on the part of the European Union, of human dignity
"also" to old people, "also" to children: this in itself
amounts to dividing and violating the (according to the
German constitution) sacrosanct and indivisible human
dignity of a being meant to be free.
It
might help if through boycott of the elections as well as
through other actions the politicians and political parties
were stripped of all legitimation. Maybe the threat of being
exposed through the loss of the last remaining fig-leaf of
democracy would remind them of their real mandate and their
mandators.
Let's
make it happen:
All
power emanates from the people!
Recommended
Reading:
-
Belen Balanya, Ann Doherty, Olivier Hoedeman, Adam Ma' anit
& Erik Wesselius, EUROPE INC: Regional & Global
Restructuring and the Rise of Corporate Power. London,
Pluto Press, 2000
-
Veronika Bennholdt-Thomsen, Nick Faraclas und Claudia von
Werlhof (Hg), There is an Alternative. Subsistence and
worldwide Resistance to Corporate Globalization, London,
zed press, 2001
Emanzipation
Humanum,
version 5.2001, translation form german to english by
Rainer
Taëni.
Criticism, suggestions as to form and content, dialogue,
translation into other languages are all
desired
http://emanzipationhumanum.de/english/resistance.html
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