The Internet and US Conglomerates: Contradictions of Our Times

The internet was initially conceived and developed by the US Army and the Department of Defense for their own use in the American quest for “control and management” of the world. This was in large measure driven by the Cold War fever deriving from the John Foster Dulles doctrine of “containment of communism”. Well, today the internet is a global phenomenon that serves both global conglomerates as well as millions of small businesses and people like you or me. It has also opened a democratic space of open source computing where lots of good things are available to many of us without paying a dime.

However, as is usually the case in capitalist development, small outfits and individuals have also leveraged the power of the internet to develop into “conglomerates”. This is the story of Bill Gates and Microsoft and the guys at Google. It is an immutable law of capitalist growth and development that due to the constant drive towards making maximum profits, capitalist enterprises will invariably resort to mergers, anti-unionism, tax evasions, political payoffs and corruption, and outright criminal activities including kidnapping and murders.

The Other Side of the Internet: Teachers, Activists and People of Goodwill

Counter-poised to the quest for “maximum profits” is the philosophy that drives many teachers, activists and countless others whose exalted vision of humanity goes well beyond the imperatives of the profit making calculus of the capitalist system and giant corporate monopolies. Let us keep alive this spirit of serving humanity by doing whatever we can to help others in need or distress. This was supposed to be my Sunday sermon for yesterday (April 23, 2017), but I got sidetracked by my exuberance of hearing from a Kenya lady I assisted with statistical modeling using “free” resources from the internet, thanks to the “democratic space” provided by the institutions of higher learning such as the University of California, Los Angeles.

The Challenges of Sustainable Development in Africa

Sustainable Development Links

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/

http://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/december-2014/sustainable-development-goals-new-targets-hold-promise-africa

http://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/april-2012/africa%E2%80%99s-priorities-sustainable-development

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/

https://www.africare.org/the-challenge-of-environmentally-sustainable-development-in-africa/