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Bush is privatizing America. Most
Americans, and their elected
representatives in government believe that the free market system provides superior results in education through competition, supports the best doctors and health care in the world, and the most effective military machine on Earth. However, an analysis of the current system reveals serious flaws. Not only does the privatization of public institutions threaten the quality and accessibility of service, it allows a government to skirt responsibility, evade public scrutiny and control, and increases campaign contributions from companies benefiting from government contracts.
The current presidential occupant’s faith in the private sector surpasses many of his predecessors’. It is critical that the citizenry understand the danger of unyielding faith in the effectiveness of private, for-profit companies due to its destructive and anti-democratic nature.
One federal area that has been rapidly privatized is the military. There are several gargantuan companies that do much of the work traditionally done by the federal government. These private military contractors include Lockhead Martin, Halliburton, and DynCorp. (Dick Cheney was a CEO of Halliburton from 1995- 2000.) These companies have performed some of the following tasks: constructing detention camps at Guantanamo Bay, providing guards on U.S. bases in foreign countries, training of Croatia’s military in 1994, destruction of Columbian coca crops, provision of logistical support and computer systems in Iraq, maintenance of intelligence at the Northern Command in Colorado (which responds to a direct attack on American soil), and running recruitment and training centers for our Army.1 This may seem well and good at first, until one considers the ethical and legal complications.
By subcontracting work that has traditionally been done by the federal government directly, the government is escaping legal and political responsibilities, as well as evading public scrutiny and control over the policies of the legislative and executive branches of government.2 For example, there are legal stipulations concerning the number of troops that can be sent to a region, as was the case in Bosnia. In order to exceed the limit, Congress subcontracted DynCorp to send an additional two thousand corporate soldiers.3 DynCorp has experienced a slight setback in a camp in Bosnia. It has been accused of videotaping involvement with a sex slave. DynCorp. personnel have been accused of rape and sex with a minor.4 The employees in question were dismissed from DynCorp with no military discipline or court involvement as they were not federal employees. The public was generally unaware of these crimes because it was a private corporation, not American G.I.s. In 1992, three DynCorp. employees were shot down by the Peruvian military, warranting only 113 words in the New York Times.5 How different this would been treated had the headlines read, “Three American G.I.s Shot Down Over Peruvian Air Space, Mother Mourns the Loss of her Only Son!”?
In Iraq, two hundred Iraqi state companies have been privatized by American companies. Enterprises that could have been handed over to the Iraqi people, and provided employment for Iarqis, have been turned into for-profit companies of American monopolies, such as Halliburton. The privatization of Iraqi institutions is illegal domestically and internationally under the Hague Regulations of 1907, the Geneva Convention, and the US Army’s Law of Land Warfare.6 Here was an opportunity to give back to the Iraqi people what was theoretically already theirs, and ensure democratic control and voice in the operation of these firms. Instead the administration took full advantage of it’s military power to benefit specific for-profit companies.
One cannot escape considering the atrocity that is our healthcare system. Many believers in the free market exalt the cost-effectiveness of our insurance companies, failing to realize that each uninsured or poorly cared for resident in America inevitably costs everybody more money. I am amazed how often I hear someone mention that we have the best doctors in the world. This is difficult to measure or analyze. But, there have been myriad studies by academic international organizations comparing the quality of America’s health with that of other countries. The evidence is against our current system. Johns Hopkins Department of Health Policy and Management completed such a study and found, of thirteen countries, using sixteen standard health indicators, USA ranked second from the bottom overall. These standards included: life-expectancy, low-birth-weight percentages, and age-adjusted mortality. The top four countries, in order, were Japan, Sweden, Canada, and France.7 Each one of those nations has some variation of public, universal health care.
One can examine the dreadful privatization of our future -- our children. Some argue that students attending private schools shouldn’t have to pay taxes for public schools in their districts. By issuing these vouchers, officials encourage people to forgo their right, privilege, and civic duty to voice their concerns, and change the public schools. Additionally, these vouchers are taking the money away from the public schools, which greatly need every dollar available. Finally, private schools are exempt from the scrutiny (i.e. Proficiency Tests) that public schools must endure; meaning, they are void of public control through governmental oversight. One may disagree with various aspects of the Proficiency Tests, but at the very minimum the public can voice their discontent and argue for a more qualitative study of public schools. At least the public has a remote democratic voice, one that fails to exist for the private school.
Finally, it is important to briefly mention a nationwide system that is currently being rapidly privatized without much attention -- our prisons. It is common to dismiss concern about prisons. However, many prisoners are citizens, some are innocent, and most will re-enter society. Many correction facilities are being privatized, and these for-profit companies cut corners to save money. They reduce the number of guards, fail to appropriately train guards, or limit services to inmates. An additional problem is the use of prisoners as a workforce for companies. Federal Prison Industries is a for-profit company that is involved with 111 facilities. This company employs prisoners for 23¢ to $1.15 per hour to make clothes and equipment for the military.8 This means that the more the military is increased or used, there is an increased demand for materiel, increasing the work or workforce needed. Time to get tough on crime, there are soldiers to clothe.
Once we realize that private companies for public services is counterproductive for many reasons, one can begin to ask the difficult question of: “What do we do to change it?” Americans must look to other countries that have socialized services and learn from their successes and failures. Scandinavian countries continuously exhibit higher standards of living and better health. Belgium and its neighbors do not have such disparity between schools. There are also many positive aspects of their education system we should consider. Americans also fail to appreciate socialized services that already are generally successful in our own country. The United States Postal Service is excellent. It has minimal competition, if any, and is operated indirectly by our elected government. Many American’s water systems are or have been government-owned and operated, and the dollar-savings and benefits of public control have been examined and supported on various occasions.
I won’t claim to know for certain the solution. I will boldly state that the privatization of our military, our schools, our health, and our prisons robs the public of democratic control and oversight. I firmly believe, as I hope you, dear reader, will agree that people are more important and know what’s better for them than the corporations. We obviously need to reduce (eliminate?) corporations’ abilities to influence and control political leaders. Believe in the rights, intelligence, and power of the people.
1 Barry Yeoman, “Soldiers of Good Fortune,” Mother Jones, May/ June 2003: 40-42.
2 Neve Gordon, “Strategic Violations: The Outsourcing of Human Rights Abuses,” The Humanist, September/ October 2003: 10-11.
3 Ibid.: 13.
4 Ibid.
5 Reported in Yeoman, 44.
6 Naomi Klein, “Bring Halliburton Home,” The Nation, November 24, 2003: 10.
7 Barbara Starfield, “Is US Health Really the Best in the World?,” Journal of the American Medical Association, July 26, 2000 - Vol 284, No. 4: 483.
8 Ian Urbina, “Stars and Stripes: The G.I.’s Uniform, Sewn with Conviction,” Harper’s, October 2003.
Greg is a teacher in the Columbus Public School system, where he teaches French. He is married, and has two children. His E-mail is: g_goodlander@hotmail.com Greg is a member of the Democratic Socialists of Central Ohio, also referred to as DSCO.) http://dsco.org/
The current presidential occupant’s faith in the private sector surpasses many of his predecessors’. It is critical that the citizenry understand the danger of unyielding faith in the effectiveness of private, for-profit companies due to its destructive and anti-democratic nature.
One federal area that has been rapidly privatized is the military. There are several gargantuan companies that do much of the work traditionally done by the federal government. These private military contractors include Lockhead Martin, Halliburton, and DynCorp. (Dick Cheney was a CEO of Halliburton from 1995- 2000.) These companies have performed some of the following tasks: constructing detention camps at Guantanamo Bay, providing guards on U.S. bases in foreign countries, training of Croatia’s military in 1994, destruction of Columbian coca crops, provision of logistical support and computer systems in Iraq, maintenance of intelligence at the Northern Command in Colorado (which responds to a direct attack on American soil), and running recruitment and training centers for our Army.1 This may seem well and good at first, until one considers the ethical and legal complications.
By subcontracting work that has traditionally been done by the federal government directly, the government is escaping legal and political responsibilities, as well as evading public scrutiny and control over the policies of the legislative and executive branches of government.2 For example, there are legal stipulations concerning the number of troops that can be sent to a region, as was the case in Bosnia. In order to exceed the limit, Congress subcontracted DynCorp to send an additional two thousand corporate soldiers.3 DynCorp has experienced a slight setback in a camp in Bosnia. It has been accused of videotaping involvement with a sex slave. DynCorp. personnel have been accused of rape and sex with a minor.4 The employees in question were dismissed from DynCorp with no military discipline or court involvement as they were not federal employees. The public was generally unaware of these crimes because it was a private corporation, not American G.I.s. In 1992, three DynCorp. employees were shot down by the Peruvian military, warranting only 113 words in the New York Times.5 How different this would been treated had the headlines read, “Three American G.I.s Shot Down Over Peruvian Air Space, Mother Mourns the Loss of her Only Son!”?
In Iraq, two hundred Iraqi state companies have been privatized by American companies. Enterprises that could have been handed over to the Iraqi people, and provided employment for Iarqis, have been turned into for-profit companies of American monopolies, such as Halliburton. The privatization of Iraqi institutions is illegal domestically and internationally under the Hague Regulations of 1907, the Geneva Convention, and the US Army’s Law of Land Warfare.6 Here was an opportunity to give back to the Iraqi people what was theoretically already theirs, and ensure democratic control and voice in the operation of these firms. Instead the administration took full advantage of it’s military power to benefit specific for-profit companies.
One cannot escape considering the atrocity that is our healthcare system. Many believers in the free market exalt the cost-effectiveness of our insurance companies, failing to realize that each uninsured or poorly cared for resident in America inevitably costs everybody more money. I am amazed how often I hear someone mention that we have the best doctors in the world. This is difficult to measure or analyze. But, there have been myriad studies by academic international organizations comparing the quality of America’s health with that of other countries. The evidence is against our current system. Johns Hopkins Department of Health Policy and Management completed such a study and found, of thirteen countries, using sixteen standard health indicators, USA ranked second from the bottom overall. These standards included: life-expectancy, low-birth-weight percentages, and age-adjusted mortality. The top four countries, in order, were Japan, Sweden, Canada, and France.7 Each one of those nations has some variation of public, universal health care.
One can examine the dreadful privatization of our future -- our children. Some argue that students attending private schools shouldn’t have to pay taxes for public schools in their districts. By issuing these vouchers, officials encourage people to forgo their right, privilege, and civic duty to voice their concerns, and change the public schools. Additionally, these vouchers are taking the money away from the public schools, which greatly need every dollar available. Finally, private schools are exempt from the scrutiny (i.e. Proficiency Tests) that public schools must endure; meaning, they are void of public control through governmental oversight. One may disagree with various aspects of the Proficiency Tests, but at the very minimum the public can voice their discontent and argue for a more qualitative study of public schools. At least the public has a remote democratic voice, one that fails to exist for the private school.
Finally, it is important to briefly mention a nationwide system that is currently being rapidly privatized without much attention -- our prisons. It is common to dismiss concern about prisons. However, many prisoners are citizens, some are innocent, and most will re-enter society. Many correction facilities are being privatized, and these for-profit companies cut corners to save money. They reduce the number of guards, fail to appropriately train guards, or limit services to inmates. An additional problem is the use of prisoners as a workforce for companies. Federal Prison Industries is a for-profit company that is involved with 111 facilities. This company employs prisoners for 23¢ to $1.15 per hour to make clothes and equipment for the military.8 This means that the more the military is increased or used, there is an increased demand for materiel, increasing the work or workforce needed. Time to get tough on crime, there are soldiers to clothe.
Once we realize that private companies for public services is counterproductive for many reasons, one can begin to ask the difficult question of: “What do we do to change it?” Americans must look to other countries that have socialized services and learn from their successes and failures. Scandinavian countries continuously exhibit higher standards of living and better health. Belgium and its neighbors do not have such disparity between schools. There are also many positive aspects of their education system we should consider. Americans also fail to appreciate socialized services that already are generally successful in our own country. The United States Postal Service is excellent. It has minimal competition, if any, and is operated indirectly by our elected government. Many American’s water systems are or have been government-owned and operated, and the dollar-savings and benefits of public control have been examined and supported on various occasions.
I won’t claim to know for certain the solution. I will boldly state that the privatization of our military, our schools, our health, and our prisons robs the public of democratic control and oversight. I firmly believe, as I hope you, dear reader, will agree that people are more important and know what’s better for them than the corporations. We obviously need to reduce (eliminate?) corporations’ abilities to influence and control political leaders. Believe in the rights, intelligence, and power of the people.
1 Barry Yeoman, “Soldiers of Good Fortune,” Mother Jones, May/ June 2003: 40-42.
2 Neve Gordon, “Strategic Violations: The Outsourcing of Human Rights Abuses,” The Humanist, September/ October 2003: 10-11.
3 Ibid.: 13.
4 Ibid.
5 Reported in Yeoman, 44.
6 Naomi Klein, “Bring Halliburton Home,” The Nation, November 24, 2003: 10.
7 Barbara Starfield, “Is US Health Really the Best in the World?,” Journal of the American Medical Association, July 26, 2000 - Vol 284, No. 4: 483.
8 Ian Urbina, “Stars and Stripes: The G.I.’s Uniform, Sewn with Conviction,” Harper’s, October 2003.
Greg is a teacher in the Columbus Public School system, where he teaches French. He is married, and has two children. His E-mail is: g_goodlander@hotmail.com Greg is a member of the Democratic Socialists of Central Ohio, also referred to as DSCO.) http://dsco.org/