Sophisticated Colonialism

Social inequality will always be at the center of U.S. politics.
Hurricane Katrina made visible for American that the social
and racial divide were one in the same. From all perspectives
it was visible that what is considered the American dream for
many selected folks is more of a nightmare to others. It
doesn’t seem as if things will change the way the reconstruction
effort has been imitated.

In September 2005, the Wall Street Journal reported, that
FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers awarded six contracts
for as much as $100 million, for recovery and rebuilding work
in the Gulf area. The Shaw Group landed two of these $100
million deals and other lucky folk included Bechtel, Fluor, and
CH2M Hill. Halliburton in the immediate aftermath of the
hurricane recived $29.8 million in Pentagon contracts to
rebuild Navy bases along the Louisiana and Mississippi coast.
Halliburton hits it big also in Iraq, grossing more than $10
billion in Iraq-war related income

The lessons learned abroad by big corporations are being
transferred here state side. Just as in Iraq, no-bid reconstruction
contracts have been given to corporations. This has been
common since the White House created the Office of the
Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization in August
2004. Headed by former US Ambassador to Ukraine Carlos Pascual,
since then, it appears as if the Defense Department and FEMA have
been able to successfully drop mega loot in the laps of the rich while
at the same time encourage and foster an atmosphere supportive
privatization. Most of which involve situations of rebuilding
communities after major disaters in which only big corporations
seem to benefit.

This strict focus on reconstruction, and using the private sector
to rebuild areas after wars and disasters, has been labeled by
some as disaster capitalism while a Bangalore-based
researcher named Shalmali Guttal, has described this as
“sophisticated colonialism.” For the government it make sense,
given in many respects, it was difficult to discern what we saw in
the gulf as being any different from Iraq and Africa. Clocking dough
is cool, but not ifnone of the folks indigenous to the problem areas
cannot make any of that money. It just lets me know to be leery of government
in general; maybe that’s their plan afterall.