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Obama Administration Exports Neo-Marxist
Ideology Across the Globe
It’s no secret that President Barack Obama has
set out to transform American society into a
socialist nirvana – just witness how the
automobile, banking, and healthcare industries are
now, or soon will be, under federal control.
But how many realize Obama’s US Agency for
International Development – USAID for short
– is currently spending millions to export
neo-Marxist ideology around the world?
To most, mention of USAID evokes pleasing images
of burlap-shrouded wheat bags, goodwill tours, and
smiley-faced Peace Corps volunteers.
But in recent years, USAID has fallen under the
spell of a radical gender ideology. Employing a
linguistic sleight-of-hand, feminists substitute
“men” for “capitalist oppressor-
class” and “women” for
“downtrodden proletariat.” Then they
blame every inconvenience and indignity of females
on the grand conspiracy they dub the
“patriarchy.” And if they need to cook up
some juicy statistics to make their case, so be
it.
Just go to the USAID Women in Development
website that announces, “USAID has a special
interest in the advancement of women worldwide and
is working to improve women’s equality and
empowerment:” www.usaid.gov/our_work/cross-cutting_programs/wid
So what’s wrong with that? Well, think
about the last three words, “equality and
empowerment.” What do these terms really
mean?
Socialists define “equality” in terms
of outcomes, not opportunities. So when USAID says,
“The U.S. Government recognizes that the equal
participation of women in the political, economic,
and social spheres of society is a key ingredient
for democratic development,” it means quotas
should be imposed if necessary to increase female
representation in politics.
That’s why USIAD has been bankrolling a
group in India called Women Power Connect to lobby
for a rigid 33% female quota in the national
Parliament. Most would call that rigging the
elections and undermining democracy. (The USAID
actually had the chutzpah to brag about this Ugly
American initiative on its own website: www.usaid.gov/in/newsroom/iwd_celeb.htm
)
That socialist dream came true last month, when
the Indian Parliament adopted a constitutional
amendment to reserve 33% of the seats for females.
Unless the Prime Minister decides differently, 181
of the 543 seats in the Lower House will soon carry
a “men not welcome” designation,
regardless of the qualifications or political
leanings of the respective candidates.
And what about “empowerment”? That
word has occupied a cherished spot in revolutionary
parlance ever since Karl Marx penned the Communist
Manifesto. And what does empowerment really mean,
other than teaching women to feel distrust and
contempt for men?
Look at USAID’s “Fact Sheet” on
The Economic Crisis: The Impact on Women. The sheet
is filled with sweeping (and unsubstantiated)
claims like “women living in poor countries
are likely to bear a disproportionate burden in an
economic crisis.”
Really? I’ve traveled in developing
countries around the world. Everywhere I’ve
been, at least three out of four homeless persons
are male.
If you still harbor doubts about UNAID’s
embrace of neo-Marxist ideology, consider its loopy
explanation for domestic violence:
“Unequal power relations between men and
women significantly contribute to gender-based
violence. In fact, gender-based violence is often
intended to maintain gender inequalities and/or
reinforce traditional roles for both men and
women.”
That statement blithely ignores a 32-country
survey that found women are more likely than men to
instigate partner violence. The study also
discovered, to persons’ great surprise, that
the power-and-control motivation was more
widespread among female aggressors than male
abusers: pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/ID41E2.pdf
More broadly, the USAID Women in Development
programs takes an ignore-the-male-bastards approach
to economic development. Liberian president Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf has decried the effects of foreign
aid programs that ignore the needs of half her
nation’s population:
“The vulnerabilities of men have received
limited attention in development research and
programming. In Liberia, men’s lack of access
to employment and land…lay at the heart of the
violence and conflict that led to the near
destruction of the country.”
When Barack Obama was inaugurated as president
15 months ago, he issued this promise:
“And so, to all the other peoples and
governments who are watching today, from the
grandest capitals to the small village where my
father was born, know that America is a friend of
each nation, and every man, woman and child who
seeks a future of peace and dignity.”
How many persons listening to those inspiring
words suspected Mr. Obama’s global vision of
peace and dignity would have a profoundly socialist
ring to it?
Carey
Roberts probes and lampoons political correctness.
His work has been published frequently in the
Washington Times, Townhall.com, LewRockwell.com,
ifeminists.net, Intellectual Conservative, and
elsewhere. He is a staff reporter for the New Media
Network. You can contact him at E-Mail
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