Business as usual
Investments routinely lack human rights considerations
The challenge of the 21 st century is
to place social and humanitarian objec
tives above economic objectives.
They are not one in the same.
Economists and others in the busi
ness college often argue that they are.
They say a strong economy creates an
equally strong and healthy society with
the capacity to observe human rights.
Note - this does not mean that they
observe human rights. That kind of lan
guage annoys them, unless, of course,
you could put it into a grid shape that
begins with the word “price” and ends
in “quantity.” Now you’re speaking
their language.
I’m convinced that upon receiving
a degree from CBA, you must join a
secret capitalist misanthrope society
that makes it taboo to speak of humani
ty or human rights.
For instance, what do our business
friends say about corporate responsibil
ity? What about their responsibility to
claim right from wrong - to decide
what is a moral investment vs. an
immoral one?
It is exactly this idea of a moral
investment which they’ve forgotten
about.
Their lack of a moral consideration
in investments epitomizes the history
of financial relations with underdevel
oped nations.
Take the case of Africa. Almost
every country, not to mention the gen
eral history of the continent, has a gut
wrenching story of human suffering for
Westerners’ profit.
In Nigeria, in the southeastern
Niger Delta region, the Ogoni people
are blessed with an abundance of oil. In
fact there’s so much oil that investment
agents in Shell, Texaco and Mobil have
decided to take it from them without
any compensation.
The oil companies, in collaboration
with what was a despotic and illegiti
mate government, signed concessions
securing government payoffs for cor
porate ownership of Ogoni land.
When the tens of thousands of
Ogoni demanded some compensation
for their land and oil, Shell had their
homes razed to the ground, their lead
ers executed and other activists tor
tured, imprisoned and maimed in what
appeared to be a premeditated contrac
tual agreement with government “secu
rity forces.”
first to lock down a major deal on
southern Sudanese oil with the north
ern government. They surreptitiously
constructed a mutually inclusive agree
ment that not only gave them full power
to their protect oil investment with
deadly force if necessary, but the ability
to displace local tribes of wandering
nomads with gun ships and artillery
fire.
states delivered more man j l .0 billion
worth of weaponry to Africa, making it
No. 1 in global weapons exports
(www.africapolicy.oig).
In this optimistic time of nation
building and promised prosperity for
Africa, what kind of human rights con
siderations could U.S. arms dealers
possibly have had? Should they not be
tried also as partially responsible for
the civil wars and genocides those
weapons have perpetuated?
The fact is, many of me top U.S.
arms clients - including Indonesia,
Israel, Iraq and in Africa, Liberia,
Somalia, the Sudan and Zaire (now the
Democratic Republic of me Congo or
DRC) - have turned out to be me top
basket cases of me 1990s in terms of
violence, instability and economic col
lapse.
have continually invaded and defended
diamonds under various corporate
flags. For the Angolans, it’s meant 35
years of war, terror, rebel raids and
work camps. For the diamond compa
nies, it’s meant money, money, money!
Sierre Leone has a similar yet dis
turbingly more graphic story of rebel
guerrillas, diamonds and mining com
panies. If anyone has seen the recent
CNN documentary “Cry Freetown,” he
or she knows exactly the pictures I’m
about to describe.
In Sierre Leone, the rebel group
Revolutionary United Front, which is
supported, financed and backed by
some of the world’s largest diamond
mining companies, has chopped off- the
hands of some 50,000 people.
RUF pays particularly close atten
tion to the hands of children, as they are
the ones who will have the power to
vote in the future, once democracy is
restored. The group also seems to have
a history of burning out the eyes of lit
tle girls with blowtorches, after they’ve
been raped, of course.
You certainly can’t criticize their
efficiency. It is awfully hard to vote
without hands and eyes.
On a hypocritical note, it’s nice to
know that if I want to sell out to the cor
porate life, there will always be a job
for me in international finance locating
new, disempowered and desperate
regions of the world where we can
avoid expensive corporate responsibili
ty with high yield, ammoral invest
ments.
Economic development often
requires foreign investment. But
shouldn’t all investments require a
comprehensive and holistic considera
tion for human rights and social impli
cations?
This is the challenge of the 21st
century.
Shell operations
(are) still
impossible unless
ruthless military
operations are
undertaken for
smooth economic
activities to
commence.
Witness the Congo, perhaps the
world’s most resource-endowed coun
try, now driven to complete chaos and
collapse because the United States
installed and supported the rule of the
ruthless dictator Mobutu.
For 26 years, with U.S. support,
Mobutu stole tens of billions of dollars
from his country and deposited it into
his Swiss account. For 26 years, with
U.S. support, Mobutu mercilessly mas
sacred his own people, erected million
dollar shrines to himself and pro
claimed himself president for life.
And for 26 years, in return, Mobufr
granted mining concessions to U.S.
firms for Zairian diamonds. The inter
national investment lobbyists who
seem to control foreign policy must be
held accountable for the repercussions
of their actions.
Diamonds have played an increas
ingly key role in human suffering in
Africa. In Angola the diamonds have
been the fuel for a violent civil war that
has lasted 35 years. Local warlords
A memorandum between Shell and
the police force explicitly explains
Shell’s consideration of human rights
and moral investments: “(further) Shell
operations (are) still impossible unless
ruthless military operations are under
taken for smooth economic activities to
commence” (Human Rights Watch,
1999).
Recently, a great deal of oil was
found in the southern regions of the
Sudan. Southern Sudan also has no
political representation to lobby for its
causes, as the north has all political
power. This scenario has existed and
does exist in various parts of the world
and repeatedly produces exploitative
investments and human rights abuses -
or, in CBA terms “high return on assets
and profit margin potential”
(International Business 101).
Canada’s Talisman Inc., one of the
world’s biggest oil producers, was the
This despicable violation of a pow
erless people for the sake of profit and
greed is made that much easier by the
devaluation of the “primitive” lifestyle
of those who are displaced and ignored
As one local recently put it, “Did the
Canadian oil company ask our permis
sion to take our oil, and sell it?”
(http://www.afficapolicy.org).
Social and moral repercussions are
often ignored equally in our govern
ment’s trade considerations, particular
ly in regards to U.S. arms dealers.
These dealers bear heavy responsi
bility for the cycles of violence and
economic problems plaguing Africa.
Throughout the Cold War, the United
David Baker is a senior African studies, anthropology, and sociology major and a Daily Nebraskan columninst.
Sit down, shut up
Contrary to their belief, boomers not beneficial to class
Today, in my ridiculous literature
class (I won’t mention the name of it for
fear of being horribly beaten by well
meaning, sane people), the class boomer
gave his two cents on anachronism
Oh, yeah, the
I See Only boomer. You know
^ this kid. Every
one clear class of less than
30 people has one.
Plan Of Sometimes he
r J even shows up in
action. We lecture classes.
He s that over
must destroy Sh'“^
these insipid
wreakers of *n"asft;
mpntnl those of us with
generously sized
hnvnr Whpn Postienors)- He
navoc. VV nen usually sits incon
.7 spicuously in the
ine second or third
7 .. row, trying to
revolution throw brown-nose
7 haters off the scent
COWieS, trie and ingratiate him
7 *77 self with us normal
boomers Will kids who just don’t
7 7 want any trouble.
be the Jirst These kids
. 7 were usually
against the debaters in high
11 school, which
Wall! would explain not
only the tremen
dous decibels at which they speak, but
also their inevitable daily attempt to grill
the professor on some obscure topic
which has nothing to do with the lecture.
Here is my advice to boomers: First,
unless you are at least a grad student,
don’t even think about challenging the
professor on the subject at hand; second,
don’t pull the “obscure fact” card -
you’re only hurting yourself; third, get a
haircut.
The boomer in my class, or as Hike to
call him, Le Grand Cochan, today actual
ly uttered the phrase from his fat, greasy
lips: “Feminism in this book is anachro
nistic.”
Anyone who feels it is necessary to
introduce the well-covered debate of
anachronism simply so he can use the
dime word has serious scholastic issues.
And last time I checked, feminism was
the belief that women should be treated
equally. I don’t care if a book is set during
the Ice Age, chances are there were a few
women who, although they didn’t have an
“-ism” for their beliefs, thought equality
was a pretty good thing.
Here’s what kills me, though.
Regardless of how inane the boomer’s
comments are, I am incapable of simply
ignoring them and writing them off as
idiocy.
Mentally, I struggle with their intel
lectual heresy until I’m on the brink of
madness (this may explain why I’m in
that literature class). So now I feel com
pelled to bore readers with my acidic crit
icisms. You see the vicious cycle emerg
ing.
Well dear readers, I see only one clear
plan of action. We must destroy these
insipid wreakers of mental havoc. When
the revolution comes, the boomers will
be the first against the wall! Only then
can order be restored to the hierarchical
world of academe.
Yes, we must put these n’er do wells
in their place by any means necessary.
And to all die boomers out there: No
one wants to hear your jargon-filled
rhetoric and your ear-drum-shattering
voice.
And buy some new pants.
r
David Jane/DN
Francesca Petty is a senior news-editorial major and a Daily Nebraskan guest columnist
