World Bank Plagues Third World

To the Editors

Since their inception at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank have spelled nothing but trouble for the underrepresented oppressed peoples of the world, for the environment, and for peace and freedom. These global economic institutions, under the pretense of ‘helping’ the Third World, have been a major force in sanctioning misery the world over. By employing draconian lending practices, the IMF is drawing upon the vast resources of the World Bank — enthusiastically perpetuates imperialist capitalism, racism, sexism, and environmental destruction, each of which alone would be devastating in itself.
At surface glance, the idea that institutions acting on behalf of the First World would lend money to underdeveloped, needy nations appears somewhat benevolent. But at what price? Here’s their secret. Unless a Mozambique, a Zimbabwe, a Nicaragua, an Argentina (formerly!) accepts the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) dictated by the IMF for the extension of loans, the latter will in effect remove any positive gains made by the former in the ways of education, healthcare, housing, roads, and other measures of national infrastructure. The nations on the receiving end have little or no say in the conditions of their loans.
The net result of such an undemocratic (coercive) practice is that the countries comprising the G8 (Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United States) ‘main lenders of the IMF’ can deregulate the economies of the receiving nations, cutting subsidies to local industries, and slashing trade barriers and tariffs. This allows a perfect climate for foreign (Western) exploitation of Third World workers and resources, depicting blatant racism and total environmental disregard. One need only research sweatshop conditions, insanely high rates of prostitution among young Asian women, or ask why Western ‘rationale’ (particularly that of the American government) places blame on underdeveloped nations for overpopulation and environmental degradation when everyone knows the former are the most substantial global consumers and polluters.
Through the neo-liberal practices of the IMF/World Bank, multinational corporations are able to repatriate back to the West profits obtained on the backs of those in the nations being ‘lent’ to; furthermore, the G8 lenders are able to enslave ‘developing’ nations into paying nine times more in debt repayment than they receive in ‘aid’ from Western countries, meaning money is actually flowing from the world’s poorest countries to the richest — a twisted logic if any!
That is why we as students have a social and moral responsibility to show up in mass numbers in Washington, D.C. on April 20 to protest the IMF/World Bank. I ask each of you to consider the issues and examine your power to protest these injustices. It is not a useless measure or one to be taken lightly.

–Jyoti Asha Bhatt
College first-year
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