gloria steinem irony latest push Because voter engagement is hard to miss. At the rally, chants such as “We must vote” were heard. [for Kamala Harris]Sounds a little hollow considering her past. If anything, it's a past many Americans know little about.
I'm talking about Steinem's history with the CIA, an organization notorious for undermining democracy. From 1958 to 1962, Steinem worked as director of the CIA-backed Independent Research Group, actively helping manipulate youth movements to advance America's geopolitical interests.
The apparent disconnect between her public persona as an empowerment campaigner and her association with an organization notorious for subverting those very ideals is both comical and rather hypocritical.
next, unclear situation Ms. Magazine was launched in 1972, and as its editor, Steinem solidified her role as the face of the feminist movement. It was Clay Felker, publisher of New York Magazine, who provided a large sum of money for her. He had previously given Steinem his first writing assignment when he was an editor at Esquire.
But Steinem and Felker went further back than that. They both worked together at the Independent Research Center.
It gets even weirder when you consider some of her other sources of funding. One was the powerful Katharine Graham, publisher-owner of Newsweek and the Washington Post.
The other company was media conglomerate Warner Communications, which invested $1 million in Missouri but only acquired a 25% vested interest, making it a major but minority shareholder.
In 1978, these same supporters successfully prevented Random House from including information about Steinem's CIA history in the anthology Feminist Revolution by the radical feminist group Red Stockings. of problematic sentences Censored.
Steinem's association with an institution that has meddled in foreign elections, installed dictators, and disrupted democratic processes around the world is clearly a blow to the modern feminist movement.
Overthrow the patriarchy and launch a covert operation
The irony deepens when you consider Steinem's role as perhaps the most famous feminist of her time. The apparent disconnect between her public persona as an empowerment campaigner and her association with an organization notorious for subverting those very ideals is both comical and rather hypocritical.
Ah, another feminist icon. close admirer Steinem's. So was she tied to the CIA.
Do these human rights defenders have dignity themselves? Do they have regrets? Some of the young women who see them as icons are aware that they are both CIA spies, working with an agency that embodies the exact opposite of democracy, human dignity, and freedom. I wonder?
Founded in 1947, the CIA quickly evolved from its original mission of intelligence gathering to a tool for covert operations. While the agency has played a positive role in certain situations, such as efforts to prevent nuclear escalation during the Cold War, its sinister ways are undeniable.
subvert democracy and support tyrants
Since its inception, the CIA has prioritized regime change around the world to protect U.S. corporate interests over promoting democracy.
Two notorious examples were Iran and Guatemala. In 1953, the CIA overthrew Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh because his decision to nationalize Iranian oil threatened the interests of Western companies. The CIA's Operation Ajax not only restored control of the Shah, but also ignited decades of anti-American sentiment that later exploded with the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Although the revolution was framed as a victory for national sovereignty, it was by no means a victory for Iranian women. Before the revolution, women had fun relative freedomhave the ability to dress, work, and receive education as they wish. However, the Islamic regime imposed severe restrictions, forcing women to cover themselves with hijabs and restrict their movements, and often required a male guardian for basic activities.
Today, Iranian women are freer than ever before.
As for Guatemala, the CIA's 1954 coup against President Jacobo Arbenz was also a prime example of prioritizing American corporate interests over the nation's democratic will.
Arbenz sought to redistribute much of the unused land owned by the US-based United Fruit Company to poor farmers. Fearing a huge loss of assets, United Fruit approached the US government, and the CIA acted quickly to remove Arbenz.
The result was decades of military dictatorship, civil war, and widespread human rights violations.Contains brutal rape). Thousands of Guatemalans, especially indigenous peoples, became victims of violent repression. This intervention devastated the country and left scars that still remain.
sniff, sniff
The agency's involvement in the illegal drug trade further undermines its apparent moral integrity. The Iran-Contra incident comes to mind. In this case, the agency not only illegally supplied arms to rebel groups in Nicaragua, but also facilitated the flow of drugs into the United States to fund these operations. This plan had devastating consequences for people who are not wealthy (you know, feminist people). I care a lot), especially black Americans who bore the brunt of the crack cocaine epidemic.
Specifically, an epidemic caused by CIA collusion.
Additionally, the agency has infiltrated and manipulated the world's media through programs such as Operation Mockingbird, which recruits journalists to spread propaganda and suppress speech unfavorable to U.S. interests.
That's not the end. That's never the case with the CIA.
The agency's actions have often undermined efforts for world peace. Its role in covert operations such as Project MK Ultra, a mind control research program, shows a willingness to experiment on human subjects without regard for human health. Participants were subjected to forced drug ingestion, electroshock therapy, and psychological manipulation. The fact that this program ran in mostly secrecy for 20 years is evidence of the lack of moral oversight within the agency. All in the name of democracy, of course.
From assassinating democratically elected leaders like Patrice Lumumba in the Congo to supporting murderous regimes in Latin America, the CIA has blood on its hands. These actions were never meant to support democracy, but to ensure American supremacy, often at the cost of countless lives. And who suffered the most? Most likely women and girls, the very people Steinem and Fonda love deeply. Feminism has never looked so shallow and so gross.
wheel duplicity
As recent reports show, in Afghanistan, CIA-backed assassination squad Organized night attacks on religious schools targeting children. In one particularly horrifying example, 12 nine-year-old boys were massacred during a madrassa attack in Wardak province. These actions were part of a broader terrorist campaign that included executions, mutilations, and attacks on civilian buildings, all carried out with US support.
I wish Steinem and Fonda, especially Steinem, would see this. While she's busy encouraging young Americans to vote for Kamala, my message is this: They need her advice like a fish needs a bicycle.
