General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow many decades before congress apologizes to her citizens, again, for violating their civil libert
20th Anniversary of the Civil Liberties Act / Japanese Internment During World War II
In 1980, Congress created the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians to investigate the treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II. In an 1983 report, the commission concluded that the internment policies were not justified and recommended that Congress apologize and provide compensation to surviving internees and their families.
more...
http://www.civilrights.org/resources/features/018-civil-liberties-act.html
This time for pirating EVERYONES privacy?
Hopefully in our lifetime, what do you think?
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
OnyxCollie
(9,958 posts)was a whitewash to protect corporate interests.
The reasons the Commission gave for the interment? Lt. Gen. DeWitt was a racist with a hard-on for war, who had been listening to racist rhetoric (from Earl Warren, no less), and everyone else who could have done something to stop it, failed to do their jobs.
Oops. Sorry!
What the Commission's report leaves out is the economic interest. For decades, corporate interests have lobbied to get laws passed to exploit Asian workers, using mechanisms like racism to generate support. The internment was a massive payday for farm corporations, who persuaded the government to subsidize dummy corporations to harvest the crops, which would then sell back to the farm corporations for cheap.
The material interests of the capitalist class were put in jeopardy when the Japanese were
interned (Okihiro & Drummond, 1986). Many large landowners had provided the capital
requirements for the farms and had issued the Japanese large advances on the crops. After the
Japanese had been interned, the landowners feared the Japanese would default on the loans,
while the government was concerned that the crops would be left unharvested in the fields.
In support of Lindblom’s (1980, as quoted in Joseph, 1982) theories that business
management must be induced to perform “by giving them not everything they ask for, but
everything they need for sufficiently profitable operation,” (p. 74 {254, 255}) and that
government depends on corporations to perform essential functions, the Farm Security
Administration (FSA) was given the responsibilities “to insure continuation of the proper use of
agricultural lands evacuated by enemy aliens and other persons designated by Lt. Gen. DeWitt
and to insure fair and equitable arrangements between the evacuees, their creditors and the
substitute operators of their property” (FSA, 1943, p. 2). The California Deciduous Growers’
League had proposed a solution: consolidate small farms and create dummy corporations,
subsidized by the government, to avoid exposing the real corporations to risk (Japanese
Evacuation and Resettlement Study {JERS}, 1943, as cited in Okihiro & Drummond, 1986).
These dummy corporations were given risk-free loans, secured on the assets of Japanese
farms, and having already provided the capital expenses for farm operation, free use of
machinery. Additionally, due to the unconventional deals made with the Japanese farmers, farm
corporations shared half of the profits made from the sale of crops (JERS, 1943, as cited in
Okihiro & Drummond, 1986). Making it clear that the corporations would not be exposed to any
risk, the director of the California Fruit Exchange said, “All of us understood that if there were
any losses on any individual ranches or ranch- the corporations or individuals would not be held
responsible.... {Otherwise} I wouldn’t have stuck my name on those papers” (JERS, 1943, p. 11,
as quoted in Okihiro & Drummond, 1986, p. 173).
According to Okihiro and Drummond (1986), since the farm corporations owned the
property, they were ensured a monopoly after the Japanese farmers were removed. Furthermore,
as the dummy corporations were buying the crops from the Japanese to sell back to the parent
corporations, they would buy cheap and sell cheap. Additionally, since the farm corporations and
the Japanese shared profits on the sale of the crops, there was little incentive to show farm profits
when the Japanese could simply be charged for services rendered to make up the gain. This
parasitical arrangement was highly profitable for the farm corporations, and as such “most fruit
shippers and canners refused to operate for the next year unless they could be financed by the
government under the same conditions” (JERS, 1943, p. 16, as quoted in Okihiro & Drummond,
1986, p. 174).
In an example of how enticing this arrangement was, J.J. Woodin, general manager of
Fruit Farms, Inc., wrote a threatening letter to Russel Robinson, Wartime Relocation Authority
chief evacuee supervisor, demanding conditions be maintained:
If Gov’t money is not available, and by this I mean that the Gov’t take the financial risk
in the operation of the ranches, then it will be necessary for us of Fruit Farms, Inc. to
terminate the leases with Japanese owners at the conclusion of the 1942 operations. If
Gov’t money is going to be available, then details should be worked out, certainly by
early October, 1942; otherwise the ranches will undoubtedly suffer considerably for lack
of care (Neff, 1943, as quoted in Okihiro & Drummond, 1986, p. 174).
When it was decided that the government would no longer issue FSA loans, the
subsidized corporations were dissolved, abandoning the farms and leaving them to foreclosure
(JERS, 1943, as cited in Okihiro & Drummond, 1986).
usGovOwesUs3Trillion
(2,022 posts)And that was the reason why Hawaiian Nisei were exempted from the "evacuation" orders.
But at least those Americans got a formal acknowledgment of wrong doing, and an apology.
How long before they apologize to all the American people?
Hopefully in our lifetimes at least.
OnyxCollie
(9,958 posts)to be between $810 million and $2 billion in 1983 dollars.
A formal acknowledgment of wrong doing and an apology seems a bit lacking in comparison.
usGovOwesUs3Trillion
(2,022 posts)will we?
OnyxCollie
(9,958 posts)but I need a new bottle opener for my keychain.
(fingers crossed)
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)We are an Empire. This is a tool of empire
usGovOwesUs3Trillion
(2,022 posts)That's what we were fighting for in Asia, to defend the empire, and her imperial allies interests.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)We still had a pretense of a republic. We crossed the Rubicon on 911. IMO we at also in decline, which makes this that much dangerous.
usGovOwesUs3Trillion
(2,022 posts)but as you say, now we are in decline, and that makes us (gov) even more dangerous.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)That s the day we officially became an empire.
Look at US government. Insofar as the mechanism of Empire and foreign policy it is functional, and there is a continuity of policy regardless of who is the nominal president.
Now...like Rome...the domestic government is completely dsfunctional. We just need Caligula bringing his horse to the Senate...I swear.
usGovOwesUs3Trillion
(2,022 posts)but we were certainly an empire before that.
But i think it is fair to say that we have become a totalitarian state since then, though some argue it began when the Berlin wall fell, and the gov had no more use for the mask.
But I still believe that we can win, until they official invalidate the bill of rights, at least they still pay it lip service, so we can use that.
However, we are getting close to that day when they will no longer even do that.
Shoot, I have even seen DUers use the infamous chimp quote that it was just a "piece of paper" during this whole privacy pirates revelations.
zappaman
(20,627 posts)"Shoot, I have even seen DUers use the infamous chimp quote that it was just a "piece of paper" during this whole privacy pirates revelations."
I haven't seen that and would appreciate the link.
Thanks in advance!
usGovOwesUs3Trillion
(2,022 posts)you can google it, or check your mail.
you're welcome.
Don't forget those calling us racist for disagreeing with the unprecedented privacy pirates, too.
That will leave a mark, thats for sure.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)Three to five successor states...and at least two will be fascistic, driven by religion...yup, we are that divided.
And the time for that is relatively short.
villager
(26,001 posts)... as well....
grasswire
(50,130 posts)Especially to the families whose loved ones spilled their blood for Halliburton and The Carlyle Group.
