Three Gorges Dam: Up the Yangtze and China’s Peasantry

I was inspired to write this topic because another friend, Da had posted a blog about the environmental damages and affects of crops and livelihood of those who live near Kawabe River in Japan.  With the broad support of those within cities, the people were able to shut down the construction of the dam.

In China, the 3 Gorges Dam was finished in 2008 on the Yangtze river despite the environmental impacts and broad support against the project.  The Chinese government had promised the 13,000 farmers affected along the Yangtze river relocation money but because of scandals and corruptions, they never saw their money.  More than 1 million Chinese peasants were displaced because of the project.

China, during the time of Mao and before his death, the level of education of peasants rose tremendously and the average life expectancy had doubled.  This is because education and health care was made available to those without the access and resources.  According to Dr. Pao Yu,

China is a large but resource poor and environmentally fragile country. It has very limited arable land and resources, which has to support a large population. Throughout Chinese long history, its people have suffered through many natural disasters such as flooding and draught. The reason behind the collectivization of agriculture was the understanding that Chinese people have to resolve the problem of poorly endowed natural resources and the fragile environment collectively. The strategy of development during the socialist period was that China’s rural areas and Chinese peasants had to be develop together with urban areas; peasants’ health, education and general living conditions had to be improved as much as possible together with that of the workers and other urban dwellers. Base on the alliance between workers and peasants, China before the Reform went a long way in advancing agricultural production and modernization by preserving and improving the land and the environment. That model of development was proven to be sustainable in the long-term.

VFA, EPIC FAIL!

 

VFA EPIC FAIL

 

 

 

 

We will heed the calls of the oppressed when justice is demanded.  Nicole, a rape victim of a U.S. marine and  a victim of poverty has accepted a deal for cash to recant her statement that she herself did not write.  We should not admonish or blame Nicole because she has been through a beating in court hearings after court hearings after being raped and thrown out a moving van.  

With the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which allows U.S. soldiers to “train” with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the sovereignty of the people is jeopardized.  In fact, U.S. soldiers have been seen engaging in combat operations against so called terrorists.  Many of the civilians who were killed by the U.S. Marine soldiers were either “suspected terrorists” or “collateral damage”- a nice way to say,

“oh shit, I fucked up and killed the wrong person.  My bad, but its okay because I can get away with it just like I can get away with Rape”

In 1992, the Filipino people were able to force U.S. bases off the grounds of the Philippines on the basis that U.S. military bases brought 1) increased prostitution and rape cases 2) Environmental damages and 3) A trampling of the Filipino rights to sovereignty.

People Power Tour

Filipino American emcee Geologic (Blue Scholars), and fellow organizer/emcee Kiwi, embarked on the Stop the Killings tour (2007), to address the human rights violations and raise funds for the families of victims in the Philippines. Now in 2009, with a new partnership, the two emcees have formed the People Power tour with a mission to bring awareness to the plight of the Filipino people through critical, class-conscious music. Both Kiwi and Geo are active Filipino community organizers in their respective cities, drawing connections between the struggles of Filipinos in the US and their compatriots back home. They share the view that art is not only a reflection of the world, but a tool, which can help shape a just future society. From the rapidly gentrifying street-corner to the Ivory Tower of academia, Kiwi and Geo bring forth a message of resistance and self-determination in the tradition of pro-people Hip Hop music.

 

EXTRA INFO:

Two of the West Coast’s premier Filipino emcees, Geologic aka Prometheus Brown of Seattle’s Blue Scholars and San Francisco’s Kiwi (by way of Los Angeles), formerly of Native Guns are teaming up again to rally youth and students nationwide to raise awareness about the worsening social, political and economic conditions in the Philippines under president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s (GMA) current administration.