Resentment Breeds Contempt No Help For Darfur

When government is run strictly in the image of a large corporation the ultimate goal is to get a large return on investment. In the case of a government profit is not the measure of return, but usually some intangible that benefits society. The conservatives have touted this model of government as being the best for assuring that tax payers receive the most for their money.

This model is also the reason the Bush administration will do nothing to aid the people in the Darfur region of Sudan. Darfur has nothing to offer in return for aid. No seaports, no oil, no worker class that might support manufacturing and deliver cheaper goods to Wal-Mart, in short there would be no return on the investment. Conservative thinking doesn't allow for delivering aid just to make life better or even just possible for poor people who have nothing to offer in return. The conservative always look for a return on their investment. This ultimately is the root of terrorism.
Resentment builds when people see nothing but suffering and struggle on one side and nothing but profit taking, greed and aggression on the other. In this country we used to know that, resentment seethed in an underclass that had limited opportunity and was treated poorly. Rioting and looting became almost regular occurrences in the 1960's. Around the world people watch Americans, living at a level incomprehensible to third world citizens. In many countries our corporations only provide minimal income in lousy working environments. Or we buy oil and natural resources from countries run by dictators who provide only poverty and degradation to their citizens. How could these people not resent America? American workers are resentful when the annual raise isn't enough to provide a second big screen T.V. Imagine the resentment of the worker making thirty cents a day in India sewing together the clothes you are wearing. Resentment breeds contempt, and contempt breeds violence. This is why the people of Darfur will receive no aid from the Bush administration, this is why the level of violence in the world is escalating, and this is why the conservative model is morally bankrupt.

•  good insight

  but i think you're also missing the obvious racism angle...

  by Turkana on Mon Sep 25, 2006 at 11:20:40 AM PDT

•  Yes that is

  the heart of it after all.

  by ckerst on Mon Sep 25, 2006 at 11:24:33 AM PDT

  •  "nothing to offer...no oil"...

    That's just plain incorrect. Google is your friend here.

    by luckydog on Mon Sep 25, 2006 at 11:54:38 AM PDT

    •  You're right but

      My arguement remains that the people of Darfur have nothing to offer, they are just in the way.

      by ckerst on Mon Sep 25, 2006 at 12:04:01 PM PDT

      •  Actually, it's more that...

        ...your argument changes - from "Darfur has nothing so it gets nothing"...to "Darfur has oil, so the people get tossed aside".

        by luckydog on Mon Sep 25, 2006 at 12:18:58 PM PDT

        •  The arguement is

          why aren't the people valued? regardless of natural resources there is, i believe, a moral obligation to help people in need.

          by ckerst on Mon Sep 25, 2006 at 12:23:29 PM PDT

•  For whatever reason, the genocide continues

  and the international community must act.  See today's diary on the California divestment event.

  I urge you to focus on what we can do -- which is to continue to apply pressure on the US Congress and this Administration and the United Nations.  The time to look at why the international community didn't do more or more quickly will be when the Darfuri people are safe again. (and before the next crisis begins)

  by edgery on Mon Sep 25, 2006 at 05:21:12 PM PDT