Dr. Parenti says that the ultimate, �goal of the transnational corporation is to become truly transnational, poised above the sovereign power of any particular nation, while being serviced by the sovereign powers of all nations.� Where democracy addresses the needs of humanity detailed by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, capitalism only addresses its own end, capital. The world of finance capital, a virtual world on paper, will never begin to address the world of humanity, a world of human consequences. It comes down to a decision of who is more important to those in power. I had the opportunity to talk to some one who held a high position in the Justice Department. He told me, in a drunken stupor, that some lives are just worth more than others. I didn�t ask him to clarify, as the implication was clear. �So act as to treat humanity, whether in thine own person or in that of any other, in every case as an end withal, never as a means only.�, said Immanuel Kant in his Critique of Practical Reason. Is humanity, as Kant described it, the ends or the means to capitalism? It is surely the means, as prison laborers would be quick to tell you, but is it the end result? Is humanity the end result of the unrelenting accumulation of capital? Do the men and women who make the daily, hourly, nonchalant decisions on whole countries of men, women, and children ever stop to consider the extension of their actions? Do they ever, in reflection, feel remorseful over all of the people that they have displaced or made poor or hungry? Jean Rousseau said that conscience is the voice of the soul. If this is true, then, as Kafka wondered, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world if he has lost his soul? All of this finally leads back to Dr. Parenti�s contention that the relentless pursuit of profit becomes a pursuit of evil. He may be onto something. References 1. Webster�s New World Dictionary (1988) Simon & Schuster 2. The Zapatistas (1998) Zapatista Encuentro. Seven Stories Press, New York 3. Paul Treanor (1999) web.inter.nl.net/users/paultreanor 4. Dr. Michael Parenti (1995) Against Empire. City Lights Press, San Francisco 5. Community Aid Oranization (2000) caa.org.au/campaigns2000 6. Jean Rouseau ---Social Contract (1762) ---Confessions (1781) 7. Noam Chomsky,(1998) �You say you want a Devolution� The Nation Magazine |