Colonialism in the 21st Century
When one looks back at the history of colonialism, one sees a common thread…money. All the places that were colonized offered a quick route to some resource the colonizers couldn’t get at home. Various excuses and mechanisms were used to pacify and entrap the locals, but really it was all about the money.
The 21 Century has its own version of colonialism, with giant corporations setting up in countries around the world and engaging in resource extraction, often to the anger of the local people, who families have lived there for hundreds of years. The latest incident in Indonesia occurred in Papua at the Grasberg mine, the world’s largest gold and copper deposit. A foreign company, in cahouts with the government, has the rights to mine there and Papuans do not see the benefit to them. Protests against the mining company took place in Jakarta, Papua, Central Java and South Sulawesi.
(The views here are my own and not representative of anyone else).
By Nick | Permalink
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G’Day Nick,
Totally agree with you. For far too long the country has been raped (logging, mineral resources etc) by these foreign companies, and, a nice fat slice of the profits go into the backpocket of some high-up Indonesian official or officials.
Accountability is badly needed in Indonesia and one can only hope that SBY stands up to the plate and whacks them all big time.
http://www.planetmole.org