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Power, control and the mindset of impunity… “Frenchman Dominique Strauss-Kahn”

May 20, 2011 by  
Filed under Opinion, Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) Recent news accounts regarding the alleged rape of a Manhattan hotel maid by former IMF chief and French presidential hopeful, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, should raise as many questions about power and control as it does condemnation for his alleged criminal actions.

With May ironically being sexual assault awareness month, special attention should be paid not only to the issues underlying the depravity and sickness of an alleged rapist, but also toward the mindset of impunity that reinforces  the trauma of sexual assault through either defaming or blaming the victim. More than just another New York Postpage six” sex scandal, Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s  alleged behavior, if true, is indicative of a much more sinister and pathological mindset, not only by the perpetrator, but also by the tabloid that “outed” his alleged victim by revealing where the West African immigrant lived and her possible HIV status.

As former head of the International Monetary Fund, Mr. Strauss-Kahn wielded power and influence as few in the world have been able to do. Literally affecting the economic wherewithal of millions, if not billions of people, Strauss-Kahn dictated financial policy to weaker and developing nations, not only through the prism of economic and political “justice” or the lack thereof, but also through focusing attention on the role of individuals, international regulatory bodies and governments as potential “abusers” of power.

With a widely known reputation preceding him, the former IMF director’s alleged behavior reveals an age old cultural paradigm where individuals, groups or nations have abused their positions of authority either through the arrogance of power or through the violence of coercion. While over the years many have complained about the policies of the IMF and its negative impact upon poor and developing nations, one must take into consideration the fact that unjust systems originate in the minds of unjust individuals.   

Through an alleged assault, against one deemed weaker or defenseless, it speaks volumes to the mindset of supremacy, power and privilege as an excuse to abuse those seen as lesser. As the friends and colleagues of an abuser may enable such behavior through ignorance, denial or complicity, the damage done often causes the victim to suffer in silence and to lash out, vocally or otherwise, particularly if there is no avenue for the redress of grievance.

As with an international authority figure who is accused of having forced himself upon a hotel employee, an institution such as the IMF has likewise imposed its institutional will upon the aspirations of weaker nations. With powerful allies and advocates in the corner of an elite corporate and globalist agenda, the agreement between stronger and weaker nations is often one based upon an unjust master-servant paradigm.

The power and control dynamic that in many cases plays out between individuals in abusive relationships, also plays out collectively between nations. As an abusive individual gains organizational power, it is logical to conclude that such behavior will manifest itself in various institutional forms:

Euro-American privilege – Or white privilege which is maintained through the political and economic subjugation of developing or darker skinned nations for the interests of the stronger nation. 

Coercion and threats – through economic and political means to gain favorable UN votes and international support for interests favoring the stronger nation.

Intimidation – the stronger nation’s use of military bases and naval deployments to send economic, political or strategic messages to weaker nations.

Negative propaganda – the demonization of the weaker nation by the stronger nation and the attempt to make others agree with their position.

Isolation – the stronger nation’s use of embargoes and sanctions against a weaker nation to force economic and political change in favor of the stronger nation’s interests.

Minimizing, denying and blaming – through the use of corporate controlled or state media to fix blame, deflect criticism or to dismiss outright the grievances of weaker nations.

Using populations as pawns – to incite or encourage the people to identify with and have sympathy for the stronger nation’s interests over the weaker nation’s interests.

Economic exploitation – undermines a weaker nation’s economic and political development through “encouraging” the privatization of natural resources and national assets by employing aspects the previously mentioned activities.

 It is not difficult to observe the similarities between abusive individuals and self-interested institutions that may abuse their authority. As Mr. Strauss-Kahn allegedly violated the female employee of an upscale hotel in Manhattan, his former organization has been routinely accused of violating the sovereignty of weaker and developing nations in the name of multi-national corporate interests.

While the comparison between a personal assault and economic plunder may at first appear as apples and oranges, as one violation traumatizes an individual, the other violation traumatizes nations. As power and control appears to be the root cause of those who behave without regard to consequence, the mentality of impunity only continues at their peril.

If Mr. Strauss-Kahn is proven guilty of the alleged sexual assault, he should be punished to the fullest extent of the law regardless of his wealth, connections or influence. But regarding the IMF, as a Eurocentric institution, perhaps the developing world would be better served if its new leader would concern him or herself with seeing to it that justice is done by the weaker and poorer nations of the world.

Staff Writer; William P. Muhammad

Brother William P. Muhammad is a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso and an author. Post comments at http://www.wisdomhouseonline.com.


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