It happens every minute of every day all over the world. Dog eat dog. The strong having their way with the weak, the rich stealing from the poor. It’s nature’s way, just the way Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer explained it. It’s the way of criminals, thugs and bullies. It’s the way of capitalists and capitalism. It is, sadly, the American way, and it is the way of the world.
Nature’s purposes are often not man’s purposes, and from these competing interests civilizations have been born. The births have not been easy, and the torturous deliveries continue to this day. The pains of labor wear on and on, and anguished screams throughout the world can be heard as mankind struggles to overcome the cruelties, unjustices and inefficiencies of nature. But, nature is not so easily tamed.
Nature often rewards the brute. Crime does, in fact, pay.
Crime paid handsomely when merciless capitalists ordered the mass murder of American Indians and the destruction of their civilizations. Vast lands, ripe with resources, were their rewards for enslaving, impovershing and leaving the bleeding and dying bodies of American Indians scattered across the country. Capitalist barons leaned back in their chairs, loosened their belts and lit their cigars as nature smiled upon them.
Crime is paying off again and in the same way in the Niyamgiri Hills in India. You won’t see it on television, and you’re unlikely to read about it in your local papers. After all, it’s just an age old story that has become so commonplace that it is hardly newsworthy. Still, civilization must from time to time make a stand. Forces for good and justice can prevail sometimes. In the Niyamgiri Hills the hopes, dreams and all that is held dear by an entire civilization is at stake.
Please watch the video in the right column above. It tells the story of the Dongria Kondh, a people about to be destroyed by the capitalist machine of the giant London-based Vedanta Resources, PLC. There is much in their story that will be familiar to any student of American history. There is much to be ashamed of.
If you can help with a donation, please do so. (The donation box is near the bottom of the linked page.) If you can spare a moment, please write to your senators and congressional representative asking them to lodge complaints with Indian and British authorities about the human rights atrocities that are Vedanta’s stock in trade. Please pass the story along.
