The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia
July 20, 2020

Why are the elites of Liberia not addressing the high number of deaths cause by our healthcare system, bad roads, etc., but they are criticizing America’s Police brutality? For instance, the latest photo of the late Mr. Jay Nagbe Sloh, the Liberian Representative of District # 2 Sinoe County, Republic of Liberia, depicts our hospital (JFK) as a death center, but not a center to safe life. Another story, which is in the Report from the 2018 World Health Organization (WHO), shows that Liberia’s health-related death was 32,000, or 20% of Liberia’s 4.6M population. In fact, the diseases are preventable and/or curable, and the leading killing diseases are; (1) coronary heart disease, (2) tuberculosis, (3) influenza and Pneumonia, (4) diarrheal, and (5) stroke.

Also, Liberian elites are tight lip about the high death rate due Road Traffic Accident in Liberia, even though Liberia ranks number 2 in the world, according to WHO 2018 Report. WHO stated that Liberia’s Road Traffic Accident death total reached 1,655 of Liberia’s total deaths. Is it an indication that policy such as health, road, etc., kills, as stated by Mr. Dennis Raphael, Professor of Health Policy and Management at York University, Canada on May 21, 2018?

Adding his voice to other experts who stated that the government’s policy kills, he said that “bad living conditions or bad working conditions are primarily responsible for many of the diseases, and premature deaths. He stated that since at least the mid-1850s, Canadians have known that government’s policy kills, and politicians are unwilling to allocate resources to finance programs. Moreover, trying to avoid the wrath of the elites and big businesses, that are considered largely responsible, they (politicians) have and continue to blame individuals and families.

What if Liberia had instituted a people’s policy on real estate and reduce the cost of an acre of land? Currently, a Monrovia-landlord is asking a buyer to pay $175,000 for 1.4 lots of land located in Mamba Point, Monrovia, and by extension, one acre is going for $500,000. By reducing the price for an acre of land in Monrovia, residents could save cash to fight malnutrition, and live within crime-free housing units, etc. Yes, Liberia, forcibly and effectively regulates the price of rice, etc., so, it can monitor real estate owned by landlords such as the Methodist Church, Baptist Church, etc.

In addition to increasing cash by reducing the cost of housing, it could generate additional cash if it participated in the ownership and management of the country’s natural resources. Germany, France, Canada, Japan, Algeria, Angola, Nigeria, Botswana, Ghana, etc. are doing that. Botswana receives about 50% of government revenue from its diamonds, Nigeria generates about 60% of government revenue from oil, and Ghana is receiving a percentage of government revenue from oil.

Besides, the government could increase its cash if it could simply add gold deposits to its excess cash reserves (i.e., Liberia’s Net International Foreign Exchange Reserves) and remove the Special Drawing Rights (SDR), which is considered loans borrowed from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Remember, outside creditors will usually demand higher interest payments from local businesses if the government’s excess cash reserve is low or it includes loans or credit privileges such as the SDRs. Currently, Liberia has SDRs and zero gold deposits.

Furthermore, the government could reduce malnutrition, and by extension, reduce the number of deaths, if it produces food or breeds cattle, etc. Predictably, many malnourished children could benefit, even if the government cannot sell the food. Food investment would create jobs in rural towns and villages, even though bureaucrats are corrupt. Assumingly, after experiments and training of employees and managers, the government would increase production.

The million-dollar question is why has Liberia not implemented some of these policies? Well, profiteers will not allow the government to institute any policy that would reduce their profits. And that is part of the reason why 57% of chief executives of corporations are Republican, the US political Party that promotes profits over society, according to Alma Cohen and Roberta Tallarita of Harvard Law school and Moshe Hazen of Tel Aviv University. Obviously, since profit-making is the ultimate goal, as Mr. Raphael stated, elites and bureaucrats care less about society and will use any means necessary (i.e., including slavery) to make profits.
Profits, not race, religion, etc., were the reasons why elites exploited slaves as far back as 3500 BC, according to history. This shows that exploiters are colorblind if they want to make profits, according to Ta-Nehisi Coates. He stated “…racism is the child of economic profiteering, and not the father,” implying that profiteers do not focus on race if their main focus is money. The article by Mr. Matthew Wills of the JSTOR Daily supports this view. Mr. Wills stated, before Russia abolished slavery in 1861, Russian slaves and Russian elites “…were of the same national and religious origin, yet, the class difference was so great that “Russian noblemen had come to regard themselves as inherently different from their peasants.”
So, if a race is a primary factor and not policy that generate profits, then the Black political power of South Africa should be improving the living conditions of their poor. Public reports however show that Black leaders, after ascending to power in 1991, have instituted policies that are helping profiteers to exploit South Africa’s 24 natural resources, an indication that race is not the issue but rather policies put in place to generate profits.

Interestingly, while profiteers (i.e., the father of racism) do not focus on color, creed, religion, etc., they can use ethnicity, tribe, race, religion, etc. to increase profits by creating policies that affect everything. So, American slaves master (i.e., profiteers) used the difference in skin colors, black color, and white color, and increased their wealth. From the onset, they, deliberately and deceptively, misled their kinsmen (i.e., the Whites) that the black race was inferior and that the Almighty God had ordained the White race to save the black race from self-destruction.

Again, as profiteers falsely stated that Blacks were inferior to Whites in order to exploit slavery, they are now falsely stating that chief executives are less corrupt than government bureaucrats. However, chief executives have and continue to be involved in rampant corruption, including, but not limited to the 1600 Dutch Tulip Bulb Market bubble, Banking Panics of 1991-33, 1997, Asian financial crisis, or the 2008 American financial debacle.

Elites say that the few corrupt activities are nothing, but a few rotten apples and that bureaucrats or poor people are gullible to corruption.

Well, if poor people want to be a voice of change and reduce the number of deaths, then Liberia should institute effective policies in education, healthcare, infrastructure, etc., which can create an environment conducive for residents to benefit from. This way, commercial banks, for instance, could not have closed two branches in Lofa County and one branch in Grand Geddeh. Also, commercial banks do not have branches in Gbarpolu County and Rivercess County. Branches closed in two Counties and none in two Counties, all because residents were not money-borrowing clients for banks to make profits.

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