democracynow | A longtime anti-eviction activist has just been elected mayor of
Barcelona, becoming the city’s first female mayor. Ada Colau co-founded
the anti-eviction group Platform for People Affected by Mortgages and
was an active member of the Indignados, or 15-M Movement. Colau has
vowed to fine banks with empty homes on their books, stop evictions,
expand public housing, set a minimum monthly wage of $670, force utility
companies to lower prices, and slash the mayoral salary. Colau enjoyed
support from the Podemos party, which grew out of the indignados
movement that began occupying squares in Spain four years ago. Ada Colau
joins us to discuss her victory.
4 comments:
Brother CNu:
The last time I was in MoBay I went out on my own to do a shopping trip in the downtown area where the residents live.
SUMMARY: Jamaica is a tale of a large consumer Lumpen Proletariat and a "Commercial Class" consisting of:
* Business owning (brown skinned Jamaicans)
* Business owning Jamaican citizens post-colonial immigration (Chinese, Syrians, Koreans, Indians)
* Corporate owned infrastructure businesses & retail franchises - owned by rich Jamaican families
* Corporate owned infrastructure businesses & big box retailers - owned by foreign corporations
* Lots of mom & pop owned roadside restaurants and home based "candy & soda stores"
You can't fairly condemn these "Colonial Masters" and their ownership without also looking at the monies invested because they were members of the "British Commonwealth".
When Jamaica accepts financing for airport improvements, road improvements, sewer treatment systems BECAUSE they want to attract more European tourist dollars - YOU HAD BETTER BELIEVE that this is not just given for altruistic purposes.
The bottom line with many of these small nations that can't sustain themselves - until the CARRICOM alliance gets serious about operating as a "fiscal nation" - these external forces from USA, Europe and now China and Taiwan are going to always have ultimate control because they provide the economic safety net and control them through trade and financial assistance.
Rum a scam for 6 years, net $85b, and pay a $5.7b fine. That's one helluva deal. But really, what consigliere prosecutes the Don of her crime family? Underboss Obama may start dumb wars, but he's not about to incite an inside job.
You can't look at Jamaica as such.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Lee-Chin
For example Michael Lee-Chin is a billionaire and he clearly has Black and Chinese ancestry.
Trust me bro - after several hotel stays in the Caribbean in which I note that there is a skin tone code between those who work the front desk versus those who service the rooms, despite their common reference to being "Real Jamaicans" and "Not White" - there is still class stratification that is enforced.
What about this "coolie" girl who was the face of Jamaica during the 70's and 80's?
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/23/65/75/236575f911a6a85c51199b1fa92ab110.jpg
There is a class of cultures.
After 10 days in Jamaica, on the one hand you feel like a fool in America, organizing your life around MS Outlook and efficiency as compared to the free spirits who get to enjoy the environment as a standard way of life as compared to your exception.
Yet we must agree that "Irie Mon" comes at a dollar cost.
While they have a high amount of free will, when it comes to command of financial resources to live up to the standard of living that we are used to in the USA, the SYSTEM that we are so used to in America that demands:
* Uninterrupted Electricity 24/7
* Potable water when you open the valve (and not after walking 2 miles with a pot on your head)
*The world news delivered upon your driveway each morning
Its called Economic Trade Offs or Opportunity Costs.
Thomas Sankara implemented social democracy at the state level before he was assassinated by neo-colonial puppets of the tribes of the North Atlantic.
[Sankara purged corruption from the government, slashing ministerial salaries and adopting a simpler approach to life. Journalist Paula Akugizibwe says Sankara “rode a bicycle to work before he upgraded, at his Cabinet’s insistence, to a Renault 5 – one of the cheapest cars available in Burkina Faso at the time. He lived in a small brick house and wore only cotton that was produced, weaved and sewn in Burkina Faso.” In fact the adoption of local clothes and local foods was central to Sankara’s economic strategy to break the country from the domination of the West. He famously said:
“’Where is imperialism?” Look at your plates when you eat. These imported grains of rice, corn, and millet - that is imperialism.” His solution was to grow food - “Let us consume only what we ourselves control!” The results were incredible: self-sufficiency in 4 years. Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Jean Ziegler says that a combination of massive land distribution, fertiliser and irrigation saw agricultural productivity boom; “hunger was a thing of the past”.]
http://thomassankara.net/spip.php?article1413&lang=fr
http://www.pambazuka.net/en/category.php/features/89307
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF_0-guD38M
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