The Reality of American Democracy and the MCC

Kathmandu, 2022 January 5, Wednesday

Background

The United States presents itself as the guardian and promoter of democracy. The United States and its strategic partners are pushing for this kind of deceptive worldview. The United States believes that democracy is guaranteed only in countries that have adopted the US developed democratic practices, economic systems and cultures. This is the imperialist hegemonic style. This is the definition of democracy that the United States wants to spread around the world. Based on this approach, the United States has been partnering with other countries to determine the distance. On this basis, some countries of the world have come to understand that democracy is not possible without the United States. This is a kind of ideological slavery. This is a political and cultural encroachment. Because of this encroachment it also affects the respect for American citizens themselves.

The US strategic project MCC, launched in 2004, has been the subject of controversy around the world. The people of many countries have rejected it. After the terrorist attacks in September 11, the United States made some changes in policy of world affairs. Establishing the belief that world poverty is the root cause of terrorism, called Investment for Poverty Alleviation was developed. The MCC project has been put forward to implement these findings. Its policy is to invest by agreeing in advance on its strategic terms. Nepal has applied to participate in this strategic project since 2011 and has been promoting bilateral dialogue. In 2017, it has signed by the then Finance Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki and MCC Acting Chief at that time Jonathan G. Nass. At present, due to the great resistance of the Nepali patriotic people, this project has reached the stage of being rejected. Seeing this, an attempt has been made to pass the agreement in the parliament and to weaken the sovereign rights of the Nepali people.

Democracy

Democracy can also be understood in various words. Democracy cannot be defined literally in this way. It cannot gain global recognition. In fact, American democracy today is proving to be a curse for the majority of the world’s people. There is a big difference between the democracy of the communists and the democracy of the bourgeois capitalists (capitalist democracy). From a communist point of view, the true democracy is the direct control of the majority of the people and the ruling power with the oppressed class. Such a system of governance is called real democracy. Liberal and American democracy, on the other hand, institutionalize inequality and favor inhumane capitalist practices. It is a democracy based on inequality and economic exploitation, which gives the majority of the people only nominal rights. However, the entire control of state power is in the hands of a capitalist compradors, bureaucrats and social compradors. Therefore, in an imperialist country that advocates democracy, the people are extremely dissatisfied and they are exploited and oppressed.

American democracy and illusions

The United States is said to be ruled by the people, but in a democracy advocated by the United States, there is extreme economic exploitation of the people. Apartheid, class discrimination and cultural rights of the individual are frustrated.

The service of corporate capitalism:

American democracy serves a small number of capitalists. Protecting the big capitalists is the religion of the capitalist system. With less than one percent of the bourgeoisie concentrating 27 percent of national capital and a representative power coming to power with the investment of such large corporations and merchants, American democracy is limited to the servants of capitalism. No matter who comes into the government, they are sponsored characters. They are controlled, operated and influenced by big financial corporations and capitalists.

Enemy Democracy for the Oppressed People:

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the world’s superpowers and powerful nations were determined to alleviate world poverty. But, two decades later, surprising results were seen. That is to say, no Western country has made significant contributions to poverty alleviation. Instead, China alone has managed to lift 800 million people above the poverty line. That was 80 percent of the world’s poverty alleviation achievement. On the contrary, the countries that cite capitalist democracy have caused extreme unrest in the world and 90 million people have become refugees. The American model of democracy has become a nightmare for the common man. In India, 73 per cent of total income last year went to the richest one per cent.

Democracy Summit 2021

The “Democracy Summit 2021” organized by the US government was held on December 9-10. Many countries, including China and Russia, the largest countries in the world, were not invited to the conference. If you look at the contemporary developments in the Philippines, Israel, India and Brazil, which are within the definition of American democracy, the state of democracy there is deplorable. The United States has not invited countries such as Madagascar, Tanzania, and Sri Lanka, which have recently accepted democracy and are eligible for the MCC project. All three countries had rejected the MCC project. Pakistan, the world’s fifth largest country, decided not to attend the conference despite the invitation. In essence, the conference was more of a show of force against China than a democracy for the world.

Imperialism in the name of democracy

The propaganda of American democracy is not limited to the level of ideas. Instead, it has become a tool of imperialism. The United States has been pursuing a policy of interfering and invading countries in the name of liberal economy, corporate capitalism and democracy. Extreme historical exploitation of African countries, occupation of resources, cultural and religious encroachments, sudden military operations and attacks on sovereignty as the common interests of the imperialist alliance have only made their democracy a show off. The brutal bombing of Palestine, the uprising of the Syrian people, the bombing and killing of millions of innocent Afghans and Iraqis, attempts to overthrow Venezuela’s sovereignty, the inhumane blockade of Cuba, the inhumane and authoritarian democracy of Turkey, the Philippines and Brazil. . If America wants to see democracy around the world, why is war raging? The United States does not have a clear answer.

Inability to protect the people

The Covid 19 pandemic has also tested the managerial capacity of many countries around the world. The imperialist countries, focused on invading other countries, completely failed to protect their people in the epidemic. Millions of people from USA, UK, Italy, Brazil, and India had to die. Due to the inability to create a public health and effective management system, the right to life of its citizens proved to be a mere figment of imagination. The governments of those countries failed to fulfill their responsibilities. The United States has shown a ruthless and unresponsive attitude towards the world community by withdrawing five billion dollars pledged to the World Health Organization. Instead of fighting the pandemic together, it was time to isolate China. It was during this period that the tripartite security partnership with the United Kingdom and Australia was advanced. The United States has intensified its anti-China alliance. When people in poor and underdeveloped countries around the world were plagued by epidemics and scare, vaccines were sold for commercial gain. It highlights the depression of the United States and the West in times of globalization and common humanitarian challenges.

Legal and trust crises

Numerous studies have shown that American democracy is breaking the chain of traditional beliefs and practices and is heading for the fastest ebb of its failure. Attacks on constitutional institutions, declining trust in leadership, fear of divisions in society, questions about the credibility of elections, the crucial role of capitalists in opinion formation and election spending, the dignity of the immigrant community and their cultural intolerance, growing psychosocial isolation and violence have overwhelmed American democracy. Is

The American model of democracy and global despair

A recent survey has shown that the advanced practice of democracy in the world is not on the rise. About 64 countries are moving away from democracy. Only 34 countries are moving towards democracy. This means that the current American interpretation of democracy and its assumptions are being rejected in theory and in practice. The New Yorker writes that the United States itself, which seems to be importing or supporting democracy, is on the verge of ending democracy.

Is America the ultimate exponent of democracy? Is democracy a cap on everyone’s head? Shouldn’t democracy be accountable to the lives of the majority of the people? How moral and humane is it for a democratic country to interfere in the sovereignty of another country, to use bombs and guns? These questions have plagued American democracy.

MCC and Present Procedures:

• Strategic means such as the “structural adjustment program” were needed to maintain US dominance after 9/11.
• MCC began as a US development strategy.
• There was limited interaction with partners to formalize it.
• Commitment to American democracy and the policy of accepting the corporate capitalist model in various ways.
• Single US strategy of partnership choice.
• To link development assistance to strategic and political objectives.
• US Department of Defense announces Indo-Pacific Strategy in 2018.
• US declaration to be subject to MCC Indo-Pacific strategy.
• In this process, the visit and discussions of Nepal’s Foreign Minister Pradip Gyawali were kept secret.
• Statement by US officials that Nepal will be a partner in the Indo-Pacific strategy.

Nepal in the agreement

• Request to be eligible on the basis of the assessment set by the United States
• Dialogue and discussion from the Ministry and officials at different stages
• Evaluation of proposals and proposals for grants and Nepal
• In 2011, Nepal was selected as the recipient of MCC project
• September 2017 Agreement with MCC from Finance Minister Gyanendra Karki
• Implementation agreement signed by Finance Minister Yuvaraj Khatiwada in 2019
• Mysterious silence about this agreement in the Nepali people and in any public debate
• Initiative to get it passed by the House as per the terms of legal consultation and agreement
• Despite the general election being held after the agreement, no party has informed the people about it
• The MCC, which was developed from 2002 to 2017, and the MCC entered the military arena in 2018 with the introduction of the Indo-Pacific Strategy as its umbrella strategy.

Will the US be the sole grantee for the MCC project?

In fact, the project is said to cost 130 million from Nepal and 560 million of US. Therefore, this project is not a single grant.

MCC is not an autonomous development mission. Its executive committee consists of senior US officials and aims to implement US policies, interests and plans. MCA Nepal, formed for its implementation, has also been formed with the direct involvement of the officials of the Government of Nepal. Therefore, it is a structure to implement the plans of the governments of both the countries.

The main goal of the agreement states that “Nepal must show a legal commitment not to engage in any activity that could harm the United States.” If this is a development project, then why is it necessary to include American ideological terms: commitment to privatization, commitment to democracy?

Why do people involved in project operations need legal immunity? If Nepal is a democratic and sovereign state of law, then why has the United States put forward the condition of judicial immunity with its partner country?

Audit Monopoly: Why did the US monopoly on the audit of this project provide that Nepal has no control over involvement in the project, audit of human resources, financial transparency and possible misuse? Also, why the provision of diplomatic immunity for project related staff?

Monopoly on Intellectual Property: MCC reserves the right to retain the sole, inalienable, unalterable, royalty-free, universal and transferable rights over all intellectual property produced by the Nepal Project. It is known that intellectual property has become a new oil and it is developing into the most important currency. On top of this, it is surprising and mysterious that Nepal has no idea of ​​any partnership or ownership.

Why Parliamentary Approval?

This provision of the agreement has been taken as a vertical imperialist intervention on the sovereignty of Nepal. On the one hand, the fact that the MCC is a grant-in-aid, and on the other hand, the demand for a status above Nepal exists laws and constitution, reveals not only this agreement, but the inner secret of US strategy.

– This paper is presented by Nepal China Friendship Academy in the Interaction Program at Kathmandu on 25 December, 2021