Bring It On!

Injustice in Paradise?

May 18th, 2006 | by Dr. Forbush |

How can the known violation of Human Rights in the United States of America go on for more than ten years without being addressed by the law?

Maybe it is because the abuse sounded so outrageous that nobody believed that it could be true. Maybe it was because politics was against them. Maybe it was because this injustice happened in an area of the United States that falls into a special category requiring special laws that are full of exceptions to human rights and the Bill of Rights that the rest of us take for granted.

The politics of this obscenity is fading away in the Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay scandals and people are finally willing to tell the truth without fear. The awful truth has come to the mainstream in Ms. Magazine this month.

If you don’t know what I am talking about already, then read carefully what I am about to tell you. Rebecca Clarren of Ms. Magazine has written an investigative story about the abuse of Human Rights occurring in Saipan, one of the Northern Mariana Islands. Most Americans have no idea where this island is, let alone that it belongs to the United States of America. But, it isn’t a state, but a territory. And because of it’s special status the normal federal laws don’t apply to this place. It is like the special status of Guantanamo Bay Cuba that allows the twisted special laws to enable the CIA to torture people without fear of prosecution.

In the Northern Mariana Islands federal minimum wages do not apply. In the Northern Mariana Islands federal immigration laws do not apply. In the Northern Mariana Islands federal OSHA standards do not apply. And, Tom Delay has said, that Saipan was a model of an economic miracle. Obviously these people have a different idea of what an economic miracle is. This economic view of the world has everything to do with the vision that the Republican Party has for our country.

In Saipan labor is cheap. Human Resources are shipped in like the old slave trading days. But, these people are not slaves, because technically they are being paid. But like the sharecroppers of over a hundred years ago these people are not free until they pay off their debt, which is prolonged as long as possible. And when these people have paid off their debt they are free to go, but they can never leave. They need to double their labor just to be able to afford the trip home. And, if they don’t bring any money to their Chinese families when they do go home they will suffer the embarrassment of a failed daughter. The constant import of cheap labor keeps wages low, the ideal of the current Republican leadership. And, the only plentiful jobs on the island are in these sweatshops or prostitution. Isn’t it wonderful that these leaders in the Republican Party view prostitution as a legitimate job for a retired garment worker? But, the Republican Party has always been in favor of cheap labor in mainstream America as well. Why else does George W Bush want to turn the current illegal immigrants into guest workers? To keep labor cheap, of course!

Cheap labor keeps the corporations making a profit, and that’s why companies have been sending their manufacturing jobs to countries with cheap labor. However, when products are made in Saipan, these products may bare the “Made in the USA” tag, which means that patriotic Americans will pay more for these items. It is just another form of deception, which is so popular with the Republican Party.

But keeping the laws on this tiny island free from scrutiny was where Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay played the biggest role. These corrupt politicians were able to deflect more than twenty laws passed by the Senate that tried to reform the laws on this island. Jack Abramoff paid key congressmen with “free” trips to Saipan for family vacations on this tropical paradise. These congressmen were able to vote down in committee all of the more than twenty reform laws passed by the Senate. And, if one were to slip by, Tom Delay would have been able to use his influence to prevent scheduling a full House vote on it. Some of these reform laws were passed unanimously by the Senate, which demonstrates the degree that Tom Delay was able to control the legislature.
The sad thing is that in 1998, a religious group calling themselves the Religious Freedom Coalition of the Southeast had written about this. But, their efforts were silenced.

How could this happen in the United States of America? I’m guessing it has a lot to do with money. Money talks and that’s how the laws in Saipan were protected from changes.

The good news is that many of these companies are taking their business elsewhere. It isn’t because the United States passed any laws to stop the abuse. Instead it is a result of the GATT treaty, which does away with tariffs on products from other countries. Companies are moving manufacturing jobs off Saipan, because even though labor is cheap, it is even cheaper in China and India. But, the people on Saipan are already there and they aren’t going anywhere, which means that the number of prostitutes on the island is increasing. But, now that Tom Delay isn’t in the congress anymore there is hope at the end of the tunnel once again.

—————————————————–

Don’t forget what Stephen Colbert said, “Reality has a well-known liberal bias.”

Cross Posted @ Bring It On, tblog, Blogger and BlogSpirit

Politics

Sphere: Related Content