Ronald Reagan in Hopes and Prospects
On Free Trade:
US agribusiness subsidies squelched Haitian rice exports
Aristide was also barred [by the US] from providing any protection for the economy. Haitian rice farmers are efficient, but cannot compete with US agribusiness that relies on huge government subsidies, thanks largely to Reagan, anointed as the high pries
of free trade with little regard to his record of extreme protectionism and state intervention in the economy. Other small businesses were destroyed by US dumping which Haiti was powerless to prevent under the imposed conditions of economy rationality.
Source: Hopes and Prospects, by Noam Chomsky, p. 11-12
Jun 1, 2010
On Technology:
Doubled Pentagon MANTECH manufacturing technology program
One major Pentagon program of the 1970s, MANTECH (manufacturing technology), doubled its outlays as Reagan took over. One of its tasks was to design the "factory of the future," integrating computer technology and automation in production and design and
developing flexible manufacturing technology and management efficiency, in an effort to catch up with Europe and Japan. The goal was to boost the market share and industrial leadership of US industry in the traditional way, through state initiative and
taxpayer funding. There was also a side benefit: the factory of the future could be designed to control the workforce. Automation and computer-controlled machine tools were developed in the public sector for a long period, then finally handed over to
private industry. Within the state sector the technology was designed in a specific way: to de-skill workers and enhance management control. That choice was not inherent in the technology and does not appear to have become more profitable.
Source: Hopes and Prospects, by Noam Chomsky, p. 88
Jun 1, 2010
On War & Peace:
Strong support for Saddam Hussein throughout 1980s
Washington's strong support for Saddam Hussein thought the period of his worst atrocities in the 1980s, when he was so admired in Washington that his most shocking crimes--the murderous slaughter of Kurds--were denied by the Reagan administration and
congressional protests were blocked. The excuse offered is that Iran was more dangerous, but apart from the cynicism, such apologetics cannot be taken seriously. Well after Iraq's war with Iran, the US continued to support Saddam, even to expedite his
development of weapons of mass destruction.In 1990, Pres. Bush I even sent a high-level congressional delegation, led by Sen. Bob Dole, to convey his personal greetings to his good friend and to assure him that he should disregard criticisms by "the
haughty and pampered press," who are out of control.
A few months later Saddam defied or misunderstood orders, and shifted from admired friend to the embodiment of evil. All such matters have been consigned to the usual repository of unwelcome fact.
Source: Hopes and Prospects, by Noam Chomsky, p.127-128
Jun 1, 2010
Page last updated: Jul 19, 2011