Chinas erster Menschenrechtsbericht gegen die USA und das neue NGO-Gesetz- Seit 2016 wird jetzt zurückgeschossen
Die chinesische Regierung scheint es leid zu sein von den USA ständig und alljährlich in ritualisierter Form des Menschenrechtsberichts der US-amerikanischen Regierung der Verletzung der Menschenrechte bezichtigt zu werden, die es ja auch bekanntermassen nicht zu knapp im Reich der Mitte gibt. Nun hat China erstmals seinen eigenen Menschenrechtsbericht über die USA veröffentlich, wobei abzuwarten bleibt, ob dies eine ritualiserte Form eines sich gegenseitigen Abwatschens der USA und Chinas gegenseitig und vielleicht auch in internationalen Gremien annimmt, eskaliert oder aber eben wieder zurückgenommen wird. Seit 2016 wird jetzt menschenrechtlich zurückgeschossen.Die Zeiten der Nichteinmischung in innere Angelegenheiten scheint vorbei zu sein.Noch beschränkt sich China darauf, den USA einen „Spiegel vorhalten“ zu wollen, damit es sich selbst bessert oder noch besser auch ihre Menschenrechtskritik gegen China einstellt oder zumindestens abschwächt. Noch wurden keine chinesischen Menschenrechts- oder andere NGOs in den USA gegründet,die zumal nicht so nichtregierungsmäßig wären, noch verhängt China Sanktionen gegen die USA wegen dieser Menschenrechtsverletzungen oder ist in der Nähe solche anzudrohen, noch hat China diese vor die Menschenrechtsausschüsse der UNO gebracht.China folgt eher dem Motto: Wie du mir, so ich dir, riskieren wir keine gegenseitige Schlammschlacht und USA–krieg´dich einmal ein und zügele dich gegenüber Vorwürfen gegenüber China. Und zumal und vor allem umgekehrt gelesenl: Wenn ihr das dürft, dann dürfen wir das auch–also Parität für beide und Versöhnung, wenn daraus nicht alljährliche und ständige Mneschenrechtskampgnen gegen China gemacht werden und vor allen farbige REvolutionen seitens der USA auch in China unterstzt werden. Chinas Menschenrechtsbericht ist also im Spannungsfeld, dass es da mögliche Unterminierungen seiner Macht spürt und zugleich sich als neue Großmacht gegenüber den USA positionieren will.
Das Beste, was China will, ist, dass die USA ihre Wühlarbeit mitels Dissidenten, NGOs, Bloggern und zivilgesellschaftlichen Projekten samt Orchestrierung durch staatliche Menschenrechtsbericgte einschränkt und damit einer farbigen Revolution ala Arabischer Frühling abschwört, die von der KP China wie schon 1989 niedergeschlagen wurde und auch wieder würde,,Damit ist jetzt bei weitem nicht die Gegendrohung verbunden, dass China auch einen amerikanischen Frühling unterstützen oder gar initierten würde–wohl auch mangels Massee und Gelegenheit,wer sollte dies auch sein? Die US-Chinesen, die integriert sind, Bernie Sanders, Occupy Wallstreet, Democracy Spring, Trump, die Teapartybewegung? Es gibt keinen realpolitischen Ansatzpunkt, zumal sich eine eventuelle Bewegung mangels soft power Chinas auch in Legitimätsprobleme käme.Die chinesische Liste ist ja alles andere als exotisch. Inhaltlich ist interessant, dass sie sich so ziemlich mit der Kritik der „westlichen“Linken von Attac bis Sanders deckt. Eine sozialdemokratische Kritik, die gar nichts an der „normalen“ kapitalistischen Ausbeutung auszusetzen hat, sondern nur an deren Exzessen. Dafür kann man heute offenbar marxistische Philosophie brauchen.
Wer China nun als erhofften Kämpfer für Menschenrechte im Westen sehen will, verkennt seine Intention. Ihm geht es um die allgemeine Akzeptierung von Menschenrechtsverletztungen auch im Westen, vielleicht mit Ausnahme der sozialen Rechte, aber das kapitalistische China wird auch nicht als klassenkämpferischer Avantgardestaat auftreten, der sich der Verletzung der sozialen Rechte des westlichen Prekariats annimmt. Den sozial entrechteten Menschen wird weder ein Washington noch ein Peking Consensus etwas bringen.Die sozialen Menschenrechte sind nur der Aufhänger, um gegen die menschenrechtsmäßigen Angriffe der USA ein Kontra zu setzen, in der Hoffnung, dass die USA diese Sorte antichinesischer Propaganda einstellen oder abschwächen und dann kümmert sich Peking dann auch nicht mehr umF Fragen der sozialen Menschenrechte, zumal es eben völlig kapitalistisch, ebenso eine Bonzensystem ist und die sozialen Fragen mehr unter sicherheits- und ordnungspolitischen Aspekten gesehen wird, also der Stabilität der Herrschaft der KP China dienend. Die Liste der Anklagepunkte sei daher einmal ausführlich dokumentiert, da keine westliche Regierung sich ähnliches von offizieller Seite aufgrund transatlantischer Nibelungentreue und der Furcht vor etwaigen Reaktionen seitens des Großen Bruders über dem Teich traut und es auch interessant ist, was China alles als Menschenrechtsverletzung definiert.
Die chinesische Menschenrechtsliste reicht von Schußwaffengewalt, Verletzung sozialer Rechte und deren Folgeerscheinungen wie Obdachlosigkeit, Krankheit und Aids, Polizeigewalt, Überwachungsmaßnahmen inländischer Bürger, wie aber auch ausländischer Bürger und Staatsmänner(NSA) über das Gefängnissystem, Rassismus,bzw. Unterdrückung und Diskriminierung von Minderheiten und Geld- und Clanpolitik bis hin zu den „Kollateralschäden“, also zivilen Opfer von US-Kriegen- mit Ausnahme der sozialen Rechte und der Kriege im übrigen auch alles, was es in China reichlich gibt.Ein breites Kaleideskop von offensichtlichen Symptomen, die sich noch nicht zur prinzipiellen Systemkritik oder gar offener Systemfeindschaft ausweitet, sondern eher auf die Mäßigung und Relativierung amerikanischer Kritik als ersten Schritt abzielt, zumal ein Teil der kritisierten Menschenrechtsverletzungen auch für China gilt.
Interessant dabei auch, dass China die Verletzung sozialer Rechte wie Obdachlosigkeit oder das Fehlen einer Krankenversicherung als Menschenrechte sieht, was seiner Lesart entspricht, dass Staaten erst für ökonomische Entwicklung und Stabilität und dann erst für Bürgerrechte und westliche Menschenrechte sorgen müssen und sich entwickelnde Staaten daher andere Wertesysteme und Prioritäten fernab von einer Universalität der Menschenrechte hätten,was China auch bei so allen Despoten der Welt Zustimmung in der UNO sichert, obgleich alle ja als UNO-Mitglieder die UNO-Menschenrechtscharta unterschreiben haben, die aber ebenso ein breites Spektrum an Menschenrechten vorsieht und daher nun mehr eine Frage der Gewichtung und Interpretation ist, die China nun auch vornehmen will, zumal eben die UNO-Menschenrechtscharta auch die sozialen Menschenrechte beinhaltet. Chinas Xi Jinping, der einen Abschluss in marxistischer Philosophie hat und diese nun mehr betont, denkt da mehr in den Kategorien des historischen Materialismus der Entwicklungsstufen und der Bedürfnisprioritätenpyramide, die auch von Entwicklungstheoretikern vertreten wird.
Der Streit um die Menschenrechte wird also auch als Streit mit Hinblick auf die Interpretation auf die erreichte Entwicklungsstufe geführt, wobei China mit seinem „chinesischen Traum“ sagt, dass diese noch nicht so entwickelt sei, aber es bei den selbst immer stolz zur Schau gestellten ökonomischen Fortschritten und seinem Aufstieg zur neuen Großmacht zunehmend in Legitimationsschwierigkeiten kommt, warum eine chinesische Demokratie samt Bürgerrechten und bürgerlichen Menschenrechten nicht schon möglich sein sollte.Demokratisierungstheoretiker haben ohnehin die Idee, dass ab einem gewissen Punkt des Prokopfbruttosoialprodukts sich eine Mittelschicht herausbilde, die auch politische Rechte fordere und daher eine Demokratie herbeiführen würde. Zum einen sehen viele Demoratisierungstheoretiker, dass China aufgrund seiner wirtschaftlichen Erfolge diesen „tipping-point“ schon erreicht habe, aber die KP China sieht dies völlig anders und schwankt da zwischen zwei Positionen: Zum einen hat die KP China vollhalsig mit ihren wirtschaftlichen Erfolgen geprahlt, zum anderen aber begibt sie sich in die schizophrene Position, sich als entwickelndes Land zu definieren, aber gleichzeitig sich als Großmacht, die die USA herausfordern will zu gebärdenDie KP China hat als Argument ideologisch eigentlich nur die eigene bisherige staatskapitalistische Erfolgsgeschichte, die nun wachstumsmäßig auch sinkt und dass eben jegliche demokratische Bwegung oder ein Pekinger Frühling ein arabischer Frühling, Chaos und Bürgerkrieg in China wäre, weswegen die KP China als Hüter der Stabilität eben eine historische Mission hat, um das Land zusammenhalten und seinen friedlichen Aufstieg, der mit zunehmenden Territoirialansprüchen im Süd- und Ostchinesischem Meer und damit um die Herrschaft um den Pazifik einhergeht, zu sichern.Chinas Xi Jinping steht also vor dem Widerspruch, dass er für China jetzt schon Multipolarität und einen „new type of great power relations“ und deren Akzeptierung seitens der USA fordert, das Land bisher zweistellig prosperiert hat und nun niedrigere Wachstumsraten erfährt, eine vehemente Überproduktionskrise,weswegen man die Neue Seidenstrasse, die OBORinitiative als Ausweg und zugleich als welthistorische Mission geplant hat, die nur die KP China vollbringen kann anstatt Demokratisierungen inklusive die Einhaltung bürgerlicher Menschenrechte voranzubringen.
Vor exakt diesem Widerspruch der KP China wirtschaftlich geschwächt zu sein und sich zugleich mittels Außenexpansion an allen Fronten als kommende Großmacht zu gebärden, und sich ohne jeder Demokratisierung oder auch Reform des politischen Sytems auszusetzen, liegt der Grund für Chinas Menschenrechtsbericht gegenüber den USA.Dies zum einen. Dennoch sollte man auch autoritären Regimen wie der KP China zuztrauen, dass sie schon vor der Erfahrung des Arabischen Frühlings demokratische Bewegungen in China nicht nur als friedliche Bewegungen sahen, sondern als den Keim eines Bürgerkriegs, weitgeghend unbeachtet bleibt, was führende Angestellte der US- Botschaft in Peking da erhofften.Zu welchen Mitteln Teile des US-Establishments und seiner Neointerventionisten bei der Demokratisierung anderer Staaten bereit sind, dokumentiert Larry Wortzel, ehemaliger Assistant Army Attache an der US-Botschaft in Peking während der chinesischen Protestbewegung 1989 in China:
“The potential for civil unrest is large. Imagine the equivalent of two or three divisions of infantry, each 10,000 men strong with tank and artillery support, in rebellion in each of China’s major cities because they are dissatisfied with government policies. Add to that some rebellious mobs forming from the 100 million unemployed people concentrated in major industrial areas who are dissatisfied with the government and have basic military training. Factor in several hundred million reasonably well-off but volatile peasants on farms who are sick and tired of being gouged by illegal taxes on land, crops, and even machinery by Communist Party cadre unchecked by a legal system.”
http://www.heritage.org/research/lecture/challenges-as-chinas-communist-leader
Der KP China geht es zwar um ihren Machterhalt, aber als chinesische Nationalisten geht es ihnen auch darum, dass das Land nicht wieder in Warlord-Staaten, Bürgerkriege, völliges Chaos versenkt wird. Man muss ihnen also jenseits ihrer eigenen Widersprüchlichkeiten den Willen zugestehen, das Beste für das Land zu wollen. Bei der Demokratsierung Chinas denkt jeder an Ai Weiwei, Liu Xiaobo, Hu Ping, Wei Jingsheng,sonstige Dissidenten,lauter paziifistische Peacemaker, die Falungong,,etc, aber abgesehen davon, dass die Falungong sollte sie sich zur Massenpartei umformen auch eine religiös-totalitäre Herrschaft hervorbingen würde, auch die ganzen Demokraten da auch nicht die Stabilität Chinas hervorbringen könnten, zumal es ja scheinbar in den USA auch Kräfte gibt, die dies über einen Bürgerkrieg ala Syrien herbeibekommen wollen.Genau in diesem Kontext ist der chinesische Menschenrechtbericht zu sehen, der wohl eher ein Appell an die USA sein soll ihre zivilgesellschaftliche Wühlarbeit aufzugeben, um ein Syrien und eine Ukraine in China zu verhindern.
Nicht umsonst gibt China jetzt seinen ersten Menschenrechtsbericht über die USA heraus und hat gleichzeitig wie Putin ein Gesetz gegen Nichtregierungsorganisationen verabschiedet, das diese wie in Russland als bessere Auslandsagenten betrachtet und deren Behandlung der Polizei unterstellt und zugleich völlig willkürliche Maßstäbe ansetzt. Die Außenexpansion auf der Grundlage schwächerer Wachstumsraten infolge einer Überproduktionskrise und vermehrter innerer gesellschaftlicher Widersprüche soll dadurch begegnet werden, dass man alle zivilgesellschaftliche Opposition, die NGOs und die Unterstützer irgendwelcher Farbenrevolutionen jenseits des Pazifiks gleichsam angegreift, während Xi Jinping auch die kollektive Führung immer mehr durch seine Führerherrschaft ablösen will. Machtkonzentration und vermehrte Unterdrückung nach innen angesichts einer wirtschaftlichen Überproduktionskrise bei gleichzeitiger Außenexpansion mit der OBOR-Initiative und auch militärisch im Süd- und Ostchinesischen Meer und militärischer Aufrüstung und selbstbewussterem außenpolitischen Auftreten–auch über eben den erstmaligen Menschenrechtsbericht gegen die USA.
Umgekehrt: Die Verletzung der sozialen Menschenrechte wird in westlichen Staaten als normal und hinnehmbar angesehen. Menschenrechte werden westlicherseits vor allem als Bürgerrechte wahrgenommen, die ökonomischen Lebensbedingungen in diesen sozialdarwinistischen Gesellschaften anglosächsischer Prägung als unwesentlich angesehen. Armut und Prekarisierung werden als akzeptabel und gottgewollt, bzw. natürlich und Fügung des Schicksals betrachtet. Nicht so seitens Chinas, wenngleich es die Arbeitslosigkeit nicht dazu zählt, die es auch im kapitalistschen China gibt.. Hier nun der erste Teil des Originaldokument:
|
2016-04-14 17:43:00
Following is the full text of the report:
Human Rights Record of the United States in 2015
State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China
April 2016
Foreword
On April 13 local time, the State Department of the United States released its country reports on human rights practices. It made comments on the human rights situation in many countries once again while being tight-lipped about its own terrible human rights record and showing not a bit of intention to reflect on it. In 2015, the United States saw no improvement in its existent human rights issues, but reported numerous new problems. Since the U.S. government refuses to hold up a mirror to look at itself, it has to be done with other people’s help.
The following facts about the U.S. human rights situation in 2015 are supported by irrefutable records.
— The use of guns was out of control in the United States, which severely threatened citizens‘ right of life. The frequent occurrence of shooting incidents was the deepest impression left to the world concerning the United States in 2015. There were a total of 51,675 gun violence incidents in the United States in 2015 as of December 28, leaving 13,136 killed and 26,493 injured.
— Citizens‘ personal security could not be guaranteed with the excessive use of violence by police. Police shot dead 965 people last year as of December 24, and the abuse of power by the police did not result in discipline. „Justice for Freddie“ protests were staged in Baltimore, demonstrators in Chicago took to the street to demand justice in the death of Laquan MacDonald, and protesters in Minneapolis camped outside a police precinct after Jamar Clark was shot dead by police.
— The prison system in the United States was plagued by corruption and severely violated inmates‘ human rights. The guards in a prison in Florida scalded a mentally-ill inmate Darren Rainey to death in hot shower. The guards in Lowell Correctional Institution, the nation’s largest women’s prison, pressured hundreds of female inmates to barter sex for basic necessities and a shield from abuse, and 57 inmates have died in this prison over the past 10 years.
— Money politics and clan politics were prevailing and the political rights of the citizens were not safeguarded effectively. Companies and individuals were able to donate an unlimited size to super Political Action Committees (super PACs) to influence the presidential election. In this way, corporations could use money to sway politics and reap tremendous returns. There were comments that the political system of the United States had been subverted to be a tool that provided returns to major political donors. Family pedigree had become a primary factor for U.S. politics, with a few families and behind-the-scenes interest groups influencing the election using funds. The popular will was abducted by factionalism in the United States, because the interests involved in election made it unable for the Democratic Party and the Republican Party to coordinate on and work out policies that were in line with the popular will.
— The lingering problems in U.S. society posed challenges for the country to fulfill its duty of safeguarding the economic and social rights of U.S. citizens. In 2014, there were 46.7 million people in poverty in the United States. Every year, at least 48.1 million people were classed as „food insecure.“ In 2015, more than 560,000 people nationwide were homeless. Seventy-nine percent of Americans believed it was more common for people to fall out of the middle class than rise up to it. There were still 33 million people in the United States with no healthcare insurance, and 44 million private-sector workers, about 40 percent of the total, did not have access to paid sick leaves.
— Racial conflict was severe in the United States, with race relations at their worst in nearly two decades. Sixty-one percent of Americans characterized race relations in the United States as „bad.“ Law enforcement and justice fields were heavily affected by racial discrimination, with 88 percent of African-Americans believing they were treated unfairly by police, and 68 percent of African-Americans believing the American criminal justice system was racially biased. Whites had 12 times the wealth of blacks and nearly 10 times more than Hispanics. It was said that the American Dream remained out of reach for many African-American and Hispanic families.
— The situation for American women was deteriorating and children were living in worrisome environment. In 2014, women in the United States were paid 79 cents for every dollar paid to men. The percentage of women in poverty increased from 12.1 percent to 14.5 percent over the past decade. The United Nations‘ International Labor Organization said that the United States was the only industrialized nation with no overall law for cash benefits provided to women during maternity leave. A total of 23 percent of undergraduate women said they were victims of non-consensual sexual contact. There were at least two school shootings a month in 2015 and almost two children were killed every week in unintentional shootings. About a quarter of the teenagers above 15 years old who died of injuries in the United States were killed in gun-related incidents. About 17.4 million children under the age of 18 were being raised without a father and 45 percent lived below the poverty line. About one fifth of all U.S. children lived in food-insecure households.
— The United States still brazenly and brutally violated human rights in other countries, treating citizens from other countries like dirt. Air strikes launched by the United States in Iraq and Syria killed thousands of civilians. The United States also conducted drone attacks in Pakistan and Yemen indiscriminately, causing hundreds of civilian deaths. On October 3, 2015, the U.S. military bombed a hospital operated by „Doctors Without Borders“ in the city of Kunduz in Afghanistan, in which 42 people were killed. Defying international condemnation, the United States still did not close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, which had been running for 14 years and still locked up nearly 100 people who had been under arbitrary detention for years without trial.
Civil rights were wantonly infringed upon in the United States in 2015 with rampant gun-related crimes, excessive use of force by police, severe corruption in prisons and frequent occurrence of illegal eavesdropping on personal information.
Citizen’s life and property security were threatened by violent crimes. According to the report „Crime in the United States“ released by the FBI in 2015, an estimated 1,165,383 violent crimes occurred nationwide in 2014, of which 14,249 were murders, 84,041 were rapes, 325,802 robberies and 741,291 aggravated assaults. Nationwide, there were an estimated 8,277,829 property crimes, with the victims of such crimes suffering losses calculated at an estimated 14.3 billion U.S. dollars. The statistics showed the estimated rate of violent crime was 365.5 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants, and the property crime rate was 2,596.1 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants (www.fbi.gov). Many cities in the United States saw large jumps in crime during the first half of 2015: the murder rate rose 48 percent and 59 percent compared to the same period of the previous year in Baltimore and St. Louis, respectively, said an article carried by the Economist website on December 1, 2015 (www.economist.com, December 1, 2015). James Howell of the U.S. National Gang Center pointed out that in the past five years the United States had seen an 8 percent increase in the number of gangs, an 11 percent increase in members and a 23 percent increase in gang-related homicides (www.usnews.com, March 6, 2015).
Citizen’s right of life could not be guaranteed with the rampant use of guns. Statistics showed that there were more than 300 million guns in the United States which had a population of more than 300 million. Over the past decade, more than 4 million U.S. citizens became victims of assaults, robberies and other gun-related crimes. According to a toll report by the Gun Violence Archive, there were a total of 51,675 gun violence incidents in the United States last year as of December 28, including 329 mass shootings. Altogether 13,136 were killed and 26,493 injured (www.gunviolencearchive.org, December 28, 2015). According to the report „Crime in the United States“ released by the FBI in 2015, firearms were used in 67.9 percent of the nation’s murders, 40.3 percent of robberies, and 22.5 percent of aggravated assaults in 2014 (www.fbi.gov).
Excessive use of violence by police gravely violated human rights. Excessive use of violence by police during law enforcement had resulted in a large number of civilian casualties. Police shot dead 965 people last year as of December 24, according to data posted on The Washington Post website (www.washingtonpost.com, December 24, 2015). Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African-American man, died while in police custody in Baltimore. His death, reportedly a result of violence by the police, sparked „Justice for Freddie“ protests (www.usatoday.com, December 22, 2015). Outraged that it took too long to charge a Chicago police officer in African-American Laquan MacDonald’s shooting death, demonstrators took to the street to demand justice in his death. The police officer had a history of 20 complaints before he gunned down the 17-year-old, but none resulted in discipline (edition.cnn.com, November 26, 2015). According to a report by the NBC News on November 19, 2015, protestors camped outside a police precinct in Minneapolis after African-American Jamar Clark, 24, was shot dead when he was already under police control. The demonstrations turned violent later (www.nbc.com, November 19, 2015).
The government infringed on citizens‘ privacy by illegally eavesdropping personal information. According to a report carried by the website of The Washington Post on December 1, 2015, the FBI used special authority to compel Internet firms to hand over user information, including full browsing histories, without court approvals (www.washingtonpost.com, December 1, 2015). According to a report released by the Pew Research Center on May 29, 2015, a majority of Americans opposed the government collecting bulk data on its citizens, two-thirds believed there weren’t adequate limits on what types of data could be collected, 61 percent said they had become less confident that the programs were serving the public interests, 54 percent of Americans disapproved of the U.S. government’s collection of telephone and Internet data as part of anti-terrorism efforts, and 74 percent said they should not give up privacy and freedom for the sake of safety. Most said it was important to control who could get their information (93 percent), as well as what information about them was collected (90 percent) (www.pewresearch.org, May 29, 2015).
Prison guards wantonly trampled on prisoners‘ human rights. According to a serial report on the website of the Miami Herald in December 2015, Lowell Correctional Institution, the nation’s largest women’s prison, was haunted by corruption, torment and sex abuse. The guards took hundreds of female inmates as whores and pressured them to barter sex for basic necessities, a shield from abuse or awards. In the past 10 years 57 inmates died in the prison, not accounting those who make it to hospital (www.miamiherald.com, December 12, 13 and 16, 2015). The Washington Post reported on its website on May 13, 2015 that a guard in the Fairfax County jail killed a mentally ill woman, Natasha McKenna, with a Taser stun gun (www.washingtonpost.com, May 13, 2015). The Fox News reported on its website on April 9, 2015 that guards in a prison in Florida was accused of abusing and even killing inmates. In one case, a mentally-ill inmate Darren Rainey was forced to take a shower for two hours with the water reportedly rigged to a scalding 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite his calls for help, no one came. He reportedly died after his skin was partially burned off his body (www.foxnews.com, April 9, 2015).
In 2015, money politics and clan politics went from bad to worse in the nation where voters found it hard to express their real volition and there was discrimination against belief in political life. In addition, citizens‘ right to information was further suppressed. Unsurprisingly, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said that „the U.S. is no longer a democracy“ (www.huffingtonpost.com, August 3, 2015).
Money politics revealed the hypocrisy in democracy. Although the laws of the United States put a lid on the size of individual donations to presidential candidates, there is no limit for such contributions to super PACs by individuals and corporations. The USA Today reported on April 10, 2015 that the allies of at least 11 White House hopefuls had launched committees to raise unlimited money to back their campaigns (www.usatoday.com, April 10, 2015). The presidential candidates and the super PACs raised about 380 million U.S. dollars in only half a year. More than 60 donations were worth more than 1 million U.S. dollars each, accounting for about one third of the total contributions. Half of the amount came from those who donated more than 100,000 U.S. dollars and the combined fund of the top 67 donors was more than three times that of 508,000 donors with least contributions (www.aol.com, August 1; www.politico.com, August 1). According to a report of the Zerohedge, between 2007 and 2012, 200 of America’s most politically active corporations spent a combined 5.8 billion U.S. dollars on federal lobbying and campaign contributions. What they gave paled compared to what those same corporations got: 4.4 trillion U.S. dollars in federal business and support. Put that in context, the sum represented two thirds of what individual taxpayers paid into the federal treasury. For every dollar spent on influencing politics, the nation’s most politically active corporations received 760 U.S. dollars from the government (www.zerohedge.com, March 16, 2015). Jimmy Carter said that with unlimited political bribery being the essence of getting the nominations for president or being elected president, the U.S. political system was subverted to be a payoff to major contributors (www.huffingtonpost.com, August 3, 2015). The role money played in politics was also indicated in the U.S. President’s State of the Union Address for 2016, which said a handful of families and hidden interests were exercising influence on elections via their funds.
Clan politics was driving U.S. government elections. Among the candidates for the 2016 presidential election, more than one candidate was obviously related to clan politics. The New York Times concluded through big data analysis that advantages from father generation played a role in politics obviously. The chance for the son of a U.S. president to become president was 1.4 million times higher than his peers. Meanwhile the chance for a governor’s son to be elected governor was 6,000 times higher than ordinary people. In addition, the chance for the son of a senator to be a senator like his father was also 8,500 times higher than ordinary U.S. men (www.nytimes.com, March 22, 2015). The Washington Post reported on January 16, 2015 that since the beginning of the Republic, 8.7 percent of its members of Congress were closely related to someone who had served in the body. The report continued to point out that a smell of heirship could be detected in the U.S. presidential election since the possible slate of candidates would include the son of a governor and presidential candidate, the son of a congressman and presidential candidate, the wife of a president and the brother of a president, son of a president and grandson of a senator (www.washingtonpost.com, January 16, 2015).
Discrimination against beliefs led to unfairness in political life. Not believing in God could be the biggest disadvantage while running for a post in public office. It was difficult for those who were not Christians to win elections and for those who did not have a religious belief, the chance to win elections was slimmer. In a May 2014 Pew Research survey, atheism was the most disqualifying factor for a potential presidential candidate, according to a report posted on the website of The Washington Post on September 22, 2015. More than half of those surveyed said they would be less likely to vote for someone who did not believe in God. And another Pew poll in July 2014 found that of all religion-related groups, atheists and Muslims were viewed the most negatively by Americans (www.washingtonpost.com, September 22, 2015).
Citizens‘ electoral rights were further limited. According to an article on the website of the U.S. News and World Report on August 4, 2015, since 2010, a total of 21 states had adopted new laws to limit the exercise of suffrage. Some states shortened the time for early voting, while others limited the number of documents identifying one as a lawful voter. A total of 14 states will carry out fresh measures to limit the exercise of suffrage for the first time in 2016 presidential election. The voting rights were hit by the vicious competition between the two parties. One Democratic candidate accused GOP presidential candidates of having „systematically and deliberately“ tried to keep millions of Americans from voting so as to win the election (www.usnews.com, August 4, 2015). A USA Today report, which was published on its website on March 20, 2015, said the nation had its lowest midterm-election voter turnout in 2014 since the early 1940s. The average turnout across the United States was 37 percent, with a low of 28.8 percent recorded in Indiana (http://www.usatoday.com, March 20, 2015).
It was difficult for voters to express their real will. The Christian Science Monitor carried a report on its website on December 13, 2015 that the two-party system forced the voters to take side. Most voters cast ballots for a party not because they supported the party but out of fear and worry over the other one (www.csmonitor.com, December 13, 2015). It was said in the U.S. President’s State of the Union Address for 2016 that the practice of drawing congressional districts led to the situation where „politicians can pick their voters, and not the other way around.“ It went on to say that „the rancor and suspicion between parties has gotten worse instead of better.“
Citizens‘ right to information was hampered by the government. According to a report by the Associated Press on March 13, 2015, authorities were undermining the laws that were supposed to guarantee citizens‘ right to information and the systems created to give citizens information about their government. In addition, it was getting harder to use public records to hold government officials accountable (www.ap.org, March 13, 2015). An article on the website of the CNN reported on February 13, 2015 that journalists and news supervision authorities had continually slammed the current U.S. administration as one of the least transparent. At least 15 journalists were arrested in Ferguson protests (edition.cnn.com, February 13, 2015).
In 2015, no substantial progress concerning the economic and social rights of U.S. citizens were made. Workers carried out mass strikes to claim their rights at work. Food-insecure and homeless populations remained huge. Many U.S. people suffered from poor health.
The rights of laborers at work were not effectively protected. On October 6, 2015, Al Jazeera America reported that about 40 percent of private-sector workers, or 44 million people in America, did not have access to paid sick leave. Large scale strikes in many industries were reported. In February 2015, workers at nine oil refineries in California, Texas, Kentucky and Washington states carried out strikes, protesting onerous overtime, unsafe staffing levels and dangerous conditions (america.aljazeera.com, February 2, October 6, 2015). In April, the same year, fast food workers walked off the job in 230 cities, staging a strike aimed at a minimum wage of 15 U.S. dollars. In November, they walked out in hundreds of cities for the same reason. About 2,000 workers at seven major U.S. airports went on strike in November to protest low wages (thinkprogress.org, April 15, 2015; www.usatoday.com, November 10, November 19, 2015).
There was huge income gap between the rich and the poor. In the United States, 3.1 percent of income earned annually went to the poorest 20 percent of people, while 51.4 percent was earned by the richest 20 percent (www.usatoday.com, October 10, 2015). Official data showed that 46.7 million people were living in poverty in 2014. (www.census.gov). In Delaware, the percentage of people living below the federal poverty line in 2014 was 12.5 percent, creeping up from 11.7 percent in 2013. Nearly a quarter of residents of Wilmington, Delaware lived below the poverty line. The poverty rate for children was around 20 percent. U.S. people were pessimistic about the prospects of social and economic instability. Seventy-nine percent of Americans believed it was more common for people to fall out of the middle class than rise up to it (www.usatoday.com, June 9, November 23, 2015).
There was a large food-insecure population in the United States. According to a report published on the Guardian website on November 26, 2015, government statistics suggested that between 2008 and 2014 at least 48.1 million people a year were classed as „food insecure“, including 19.2 percent of all households with children, meaning they could not always afford to eat balanced meals (www.theguardian.com, November 26, 2015). The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that each year, 48 million people suffered from a foodborne illness, resulting in 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths (www.pewtrusts.org, December 4, 2015). Approximately one fifth of all U.S. children lived in food-insecure households, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (america.aljazeera.com, October 8, 2015).
Hundreds of thousands of U.S. people were homeless. A report published on the USA Today website on June 9, 2015 said housing prices had skyrocketed in the United States in recent years, while income levels remained stagnant. Fifty-five percent of Americans had made more financial sacrifice to afford their housing. According to a report by the National Association of Realtors, the gap between rental costs and household income had been widening to unsustainable levels (www.usatoday.com, June 9, July 31, 2015). A study by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) found that more than 560,000 people were homeless in the United States as of November 18, 2015. About one fourth of them were children under the age of 18 (www.hud.gov). In New York City, there were 59,568 homeless people, including 14,361 homeless families with 23,858 homeless children, sleeping each night in municipal shelters in October 2015, 86 percent higher than the number in 2005. People living on streets had no access to toilets or showers (www.pewtrusts.org, November 11, 2015). In recent years, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland and the state of Hawaii have all recently declared emergencies over the rise of homelessness (www.presstv.ir, November 20, 2015).
Human right to health of U.S. people was not fully protected. According to a report of the Institute for Policy Innovation released on September 18, 2015, there were still 33 million people in the United States uninsured, although U.S. Congress had passed the health care reform bill in 2010, promising to establish a universal healthcare system (www.ipi.org, September 18, 2015). The United States was reported to have the worst medical care system and the highest number of infant mortalities out of 11 developed countries (borgenproject.org, August 23, 2015). There were more than 6,200 places nationwide with a shortage of primary care physicians (www.washingtonpost.com, December 12, 2015). Today, more than 1.2 million people in the United States were HIV-positive. About one in eight of those infected were unaware of their status (edition.cnn.com, December 9, 2015). There was a significant difference between the health conditions of the rich and the poor. According to an AFP report on October 14, 2015, in Brooklyn’s poorest neighborhood of Brownsville, New York City, nearly 40 percent of its citizens lived below the federal poverty level. Brownsville suffered more than twice the rates of new HIV diagnoses in New York City. Its people died 11 years earlier than those living around Manhattan’s financial district. (AFP, October 14, 2015).
Case fatality rate due to drug overdose set new record high. According to a CDC report, drug overdose was the leading cause of diseases in the United States. The death rate from drug overdose more than doubled from 6.0 per 100,000 population in 1999 to 13.8 in 2013. More than 47,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2014, an increase of 3,018 from 2013. Heroin poses the biggest issue among all forms of drug overdose. In 2013, deaths from heroin-related overdose exceeded 8,200, nearly quadrupling that of 2002. In 2014, the number surged to 10,574. Increasing number of young people and females took heroin. Compared with figures in the period from 2002 to 2004, the number of young heroin addicts aged between 18 and 25 in 2011-2013 period increased by 109 percent, while female users doubled (www.cdc.gov, October 16, December 29, 2015; www.usnews.com, December 18, 2015).
Weiteres unter:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2016-04/14/c_135278868.htm