“The Day When Change Will Come” – It’s Time To Break the Vicious Circle of Capitalism
A man of the Co Tu nation prepares to fish in a river that likely supported humans long before historical records began. But this might be one of the last times. Small-scale, high-pollution gold mining is spreading across the lands of the Co Tu, in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, as well as larger corporate extractive industries.
Around the fisherman, large diesel-powered sifting machines dredge the water, discoloring the wide river with a brown, oil-stained effluent. The discharge contains a high concentration of heavy metals including mercury, which will poison the fish and those who eat them. Further upstream, I walk around an open cast gold mine, a swathe of mud hills and tailings ponds. Until recently, this area was as rich in biodiversity as the tropical rainforest that surrounds it.
I discover that the workers extracting the gold are from different indigenous nations. Vietnam has 54 recognized indigenous groups distinct in language, culture and means of livelihood. These workers left their communities as their livelihoods became untenable due to a vast expansion of “economic development.” A Vietnamese NGO worker accompanying me during my research makes it possible to interview the fisherman and gold prospectors.
– See more at: http://www.occupy.com/article/day-when-change-will-come-–-its-time-break-vicious-circle-capitalism#sthash.94iEqJuH.dpuf
