U.S. gangster capitalism believes market values more important than human needs: scholar

WASHINGTON, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Gangster capitalism in the United States believes that market values, which privatize, commodify and commercialize all social relations, are more important than addressing vital human needs and social problems, an American-Canadian scholar and culture critic has said.

"This is a logic that suppresses human rights, views the struggle for social justice as a scourge, and cancels out the future for young people," Henry A. Giroux said in a recent opinion piece published on U.S. YES! magazine.

In the article, he said that the power of U.S. National Rifle Association, arms dealers such as Lockheed Martin, and the military-industrial complex is shaping the country's politics and a permanent war economy.

"In the current historical moment, the market-driven values of 'freedom,' choice, and rugged individualism have merged with the concentration of power in the hands of the superrich and corporations, an unbridled individualism, and a culture of terror and fear," he wrote.