mongster's nest

- disturbing fantasies, traumatic verses, definitely mongrel thoughts

 

R

Links: Khmer Humer. Indonesia’s Battle of Aru Sea. Reflections on Indonesia’s Independence Day. Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej is the world's richest royal.

China milk scandal and Southeast Asia, a post written for Global Voices. Read the French, Bangla and Chinese translations. The New York Times links to the post. New pictures in my webshots album.


My name is Raymond, maybe most of you already know that. I was named after St. Raymond Nonnatus, of course you didn’t know that. But this post is not about me. What I want to highlight is the use of political terms which start with the letter R. This is a year of Big Rs – recession, reproductive health, renewable energy, and don’t forget – revolution. But let me mention other acronyms first.

RA – Reaffirmists. Back in college, activists were either reaffirmists or rejectionists. Those who supported/reaffirmed the basic principles of the national democratic revolution (with a socialist perspective) were known as reaffirmists. And those who rejected the left’s rectification movement were called rejectionists, or revisionists. This acronym is no longer often used in mainstream media. RA activists are simply referred to as natdem or ND activists.

RB – Rafael Baylosis. UP student leader during the First Quarter Storm. Together with other honor students (there were only 25 cum laude graduates in UP in 1970), RB participated in a protest action during their graduation rites with placards exhorting students to “Serve the People” and denouncing “American Cultural Aggression.” RB is still an activist.

RC – Renato Constantino. Nationalist historian.

RE – Renewable Energy. Thanks to climate change/global warming and rising oil/gas prices, RE is now a special concern of many individuals and institutions. There is a pending RE bill in Congress. Everybody is supporting it, even the oil companies. Most RE advocates are sincere but opportunist politicians and discredited leaders are joining the crusade. Beware.

RH – Reproductive Health. RE is popular; RH is controversial. Many politicians are secretly supporting the RH measure in Congress. But the Catholic Church is opposing the RH bill. What is the Church’s argument: RH is abortion. Maternal health is abortion. Adolescent reproductive health is abortion. Infant care is abortion. Sex education is abortion. And according to them, the Philippines is not overpopulated. And another unbelievable claim: 90 million Filipinos can survive/thrive in Bohol island.

RJ – Refer to RA

RM – Ramon Magsaysay. Former president of the Republic of the Philippines. Man of the masses or CIA agent?

RN – Registered Nurse. Nursing is the most popular college degree in the Philippines. But there is a shortage of qualified health workers in the country. Why? Majority of Filipino RNs are working abroad.

RO – ROTC or Reserve Officers Training Corp. My generation succeeded in the long campaign to remove the dreaded ROTC program as compulsory subject for college students, at least in the private schools. ROTC was replaced by the National Service Training Program. As usual, the military wants to bring back the ROTC program in colleges and universities.

RP – Republic of the Philippines.

RVAT – Reformed Value Added Tax. It’s similar to the bailout program of America. Save the economy by robbing the poor and giving the money to the rich. Spend small amount of money on high profile projects, name the program ‘Katas ng VAT’, while pocket the rest of the booty. Clever.

RX – Cost of prescription drugs in the Philippines is one of the most expensive in the world. Bawal magkasakit – kulang ang duktor, mahal ang gamot, may melamine pa ang gatas. Generics Law is impressive (Australia copied it) but ineffective.

3Rs – Reading, writing, arithmetic for basic education skills. Reduce, reuse, recycle to save the environment. Replace, reduce, refine for the ethical use of animals in scientific procedures.

Big Rs

Reform – The favorite campaign slogan of US presidentiables: change. Change Washington. Change Wall Street. Reform health care. Reform immigration policies. Rhetoric?

Recession – Economists disagree that the US economy is under recession. They do not believe there is an ongoing global recession. They like to call it credit crunch. But the indicators are very obvious: unemployment figures, inflation rates, foreclosure cases, bank losses. What more is needed to convince the eternal optimists that something is terribly wrong with capitalism?

(John Mangun of Businessmirror is angry. “Don’t confuse things,” he reminds the left and the media. He insists the bailout package of the US Federal government is not really a bailout. According to him, the precise term which we should use is “economic rescue plan.” But John is wrong. First, it is not the left and the media which proposed the name of the bailout package. Blame the US Treasury for the wrong choice of term. Second, “economic rescue plan” sounds like a bailout. When is a bailout a bailout? Remember the military general who reprimanded a reporter for describing a US army attack as bombing. The general said, “Don’t call it bombing, it’s air support.” Don’t call it bailout, it’s an economic rescue plan.)

Revolution – The big-R in America is recession. Americans fear a repeat of the 1930 Great Depression. As much as possible, American politicians and economists will deny the existence of a recession. In the Philippines, the word recession does not provoke intense fear among Filipinos. Recession is not a heavy political/economic term in the country. Maybe because “recession” is an everyday reality for many Filipinos.

The big-R in Philippine politics is revolution. By revolution, I mean the real revolution ha. (Not the ampaw revolution of glamorous housebuilders). I’m referring to leftist mass movements and the armed struggles of communist and separatist rebels. Government apologists will deny the quiet but growing advances of revolutionary movements. They will lie to the people about the real strength of the revolutionists. Those who are afraid to lose their comfortable status in society will ridicule the potential of the revolution. Mention the word revolution and it will spark comments from ideologues, pseudo progressives and blind followers of the ruling order about the irrelevance of the left and its purported crimes against humanity.

In America, politicians often lie about the existence of recession. In the Philippines, reactionary forces are convincing themselves that the left is already a spent force.

Related entries:

Go green, go red.
Brain drain in the health sector
UP student council
Don’t get high on drugs
VAT and Arroyo
In other words

posted by: mongpalatino at October 11, 2008 13:33 | link | comments (1) |
nation

China milk and Wall Street scandals

Links: Southeast Asia's tallest waterfalls. Myanmar-China jade trade. Coconut milk recipes in Vietnam and Thailand. Sabah Bloggers Gathering 2008.


Several infants have died and thousands were hospitalized in China after drinking milk products contaminated with melamine, a dangerous industrial chemical. The Chinese government admitted that Chinese companies may have exported the tainted milk products. Consumers and health agencies from around the world are now rejecting Chinese milk products.

On the other side of the world, several financial institutions in Wall Street have filed for bankruptcy. Other big U.S. banks are expected to close down as well due to mounting bad loans and subprime losses. The federal government has readied a financial package to rescue these ailing banks.

Is there a direct link between the China milk scandal and the Wall Street crash? Perhaps not. But they are similar economic disasters which expose the downside of corporate globalization.

The drive for profit may have led the Chinese milk manufacturers to mix the harmful melamine chemical with their products. They endangered consumer welfare and violated business ethics in order to reduce production costs.

On the other hand, various U.S. credit agencies ignored banking rules and common sense when they approved housing loans to persons who couldn’t afford to pay their financial obligations. To prevent losses from these unpaid mortgages, banks created artificial financial instruments and traded them in the market.

It is safe to assume that Wall Street executives were aware that these speculative activities would undermine the stability of the market. But it seems the temptation to earn super profits was difficult to refuse.

Chinese milk companies and Wall Street were able to break the rules because of inadequate regulation. Health inspectors in China bungled their jobs. The U.S. government was unwilling to regulate the big transactions on Wall Street.

Economic damage, and deaths in the case of China, could have been minimized if both the Chinese and U.S. governments had intervened early and swiftly when the problem was still manageable. Chinese officials were informed about the tainted milk issue two months ago but they didn’t order the withdrawal of milk products from the market. They didn’t warn their citizens about the health hazards of drinking the contaminated milk. They didn’t stop the shipment of milk products to other countries.

When foreclosure cases in the housing sector began to rise a few years ago, the U.S. government should have devised an emergency plan to help homeowners and to assist the banking sector. But it didn’t act. It refused to tap public money to save the homes of its citizens. Instead, it expected the glorified market forces to fix the problem.

The financial mess got worse. Now the government will be using billions and billions of taxpayers’ money to bail out Wall Street. Thousands will still remain homeless but Wall Street executives will get their hefty paychecks.

The negative impact of the China milk and Wall Street scandals was felt worldwide, thanks to a globalized economy. Chinese milk and milk-based products are exported to almost all countries because they are less expensive. The melamine-infested milk from erstwhile socialist China is the “specter that haunts” the world today.

The Wall Street crash led to the weakening of other financial centers in the world. Global stock markets went down. The decline of the U.S. banking sector has affected the economies of small and big nations alike. It is not only the U.S. economy which is under threat of recession; global capitalism is in serious trouble.

But interestingly, the global impact of the China milk and Wall Street scandals has revealed the world’s dependence on the economies of China and the United States. The world needs China’s cheap goods and the stability of the United States, the world’s biggest consumer market.

Governments cannot afford to ban Chinese goods despite the spotty record of China’s export industry. China produces most of our daily needs, from toothpaste to bed pillows. In the same way, the world cannot ignore a bankrupt United States. The fall of capitalist America will trigger a global crisis.

Whether we like or hate China and the United States, they should be part of the solution the moment we decide to reform the global economy.

Did the world gain something from the China milk scandal? It remains to be seen. But it is promising to note that there are renewed discussions about the importance of breastfeeding, especially in the developing nations. Trade officials are now imposing better safety standards on Chinese export goods. It is hoped that China will improve the working conditions in its manufacturing sector.

Did the world gain something from the Wall Street crash? It is debatable whether the bailout program will be good or bad for the U.S. economy. Definitely there will be new banking regulations. Governments around the world are now reviewing their economic policies, especially those that concern the financial sector.

What is the symbolic relationship of the China milk scandal and the Wall Street crash? By providing the capital which fueled the economic investments in China, Wall Street somehow triggered a chain of events which led to the untimely deaths of numerous infants. Wall Street’s “fictitious capital” produced tangible results which the world’s poor had to bear.

For many people living in poor countries, the U.S. financial crisis looks and sounds too vague on TV. Few people understand what liquidation, credit crunch and subprime really mean. If the U.S. economy is falling, what are its concrete consequences which the global poor have to fear?

The infant deaths caused by melamine-tainted milk in China gave the public an image to visualize the horrific consequences of unbridled corporate globalization. Capitalism which obeys few or no rules leads to bankruptcies, homelessness and infant deaths.


Related entries:

Breastfeeding in the Philippines
Viagra and capitalism

**************************

Total recall. It is reasonable to single out China for producing unsafe and low quality products. But production glitches and undermining of consumer welfare are inherent in capitalism. Labor is given low priority (low wages, unpaid benefits, appalling working conditions) since the profit drive is the primary concern of capitalists. Thus it is no longer surprising to read about these product recalls in the United States:

- 600,000 Simplicity brand cribs which are already in stores can lead to infant entrapment and suffocation;
- 20,000 children’s metal water bottles in San Francisco can pose as choking hazard to young children
- 223,000 SlyDog dog leashes can pose a serious risk of injury
- 57,000 Fairy Dust pendants and candle charms contain high levels of lead
- 330,000 pairs of Circo Rosette bobbie socks can pose a choking hazard to young children
- 190,000 MacGregor folding soccer goals and Mitre folding soccer goals can pose a head and neck entrapment or strangulation hazard
- 25,000 Apeks second-stage scuba regulators and 6,000 Titan DIN first-stage scuba regulators can pose as drowning hazard
- 73,000 Vaio TZ-series notebook computers can pose a burn hazard
- 24,000 Wolf gas ranges can pose a burn hazard
- 322,000 MYO Belt headlamps can pose a burn hazard

Source: San Francisco Chronicle, September 21, 2008, C2

posted by: mongpalatino at October 09, 2008 05:01 | link | comments |
workers

Zinn, Fromm, McNeill, Majul

Links: Online map of Vientiane. Phnom Tamao Wildlife Sanctuary in Phnom Penh. From street kids to Lao cooks. Vietnam has topped the internet chart in searches for the word ’sex’.


Two books borrowed from a nearby library: Voices of a People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn and Muslims in the Philippines by Cesar Adib Majul. Two books borrowed from the main library: Beyond the Chains of Illusion by Erich Fromm and Mythistory and other Essays by William McNeill. Mega booksale: I bought 29 books; each book costs $1 only.

Voices of a People’s History of the United States. A must-read for those who enjoyed reading A People’s History of the United States. This new book is a collection of short essays, poems, personal stories and eyewitness accounts written by Native Americans, African Americans, workers, women, immigrants – the same people who were oppressed and excluded from mainstream society. I was able to read the first few chapters of the book, from the arrival of Columbus until the rise of early feminist movement in the U.S. Then I skipped the next chapters in order to read the recent history of the U.S. – from the Carter-Reagan consensus until the present Bush era.

Beyond the Chains of Illusion. Fromm’s narration of his encounter with the radical theories of Marx and Freud. Enlightening! On my part, a fresh understanding of some of the concepts advanced by Freud like superego. Fromm provided a background to some of his interesting works as well.

For example, the function of social character is “to shape the energies of the members of society in such a way that their behavior is not a matter of conscious decision as to whether or not to follow the social pattern, but one of wanting to act as they have to act and at the same time finding gratification in acting according to the requirements of the culture.” Is it similar to Bourdieu’s habitus?

Social unconscious: “Areas of repression which are common to most members of a society; these commonly repressed elements are those contents which a given society cannot permit its members to be aware of if the society with its specific contradictions is to operate successfully.”

According to Fromm, both Marx and Freud recognized that “man explains his actions to himself as being rational or moral and these rationalizations satisfy him subjectively…But being driven by forces unknown to him, man is not free.”

Socially-conditioned filter: “Experience can enter into awareness only under the condition that it can be perceived, related, and ordered in terms of a conceptual system, and its categories…Experience cannot enter awareness unless it can penetrate this filter.”

Fromm argued that man will lie, repress his emotion because he is afraid of ostracism:

“Man as man is afraid of insanity, just as man as animal is afraid of death. Man has to be related, he has to find union with others, in order to be sane. This need to be one with others is his strongest passion, stronger than sex and often even stronger than his wish to live.

“For this reason the individual must blind himself from seeing that which his group claims does not exist, or accept as truth that which the majority says is true, even if his own eyes could convince him that it is false.

“What man considers true, real, sane are the clichés accepted by his society, and much that does not fit in with these clichés is excluded from awareness, is unconscious.”

Mythistory and other Essays. McNeill’s thesis on the evolution of human societies: “Troubling encounters with strangers constitute the principal motor of change within human societies.”

McNeill notes the relationship between truth and myth (“My truth dissolves into your myth even before I can put words on paper”). And he points out the value of shared truths to humans who are social creatures:

“We need to share truths with one another, and not just truths about atoms, stars, and molecules, but about human relations and the people around us…shared truths that provide a sanction for common effort have obvious survival value.”

McNeill is a popular world historian. Probably, you have read his world history textbooks. McNeill is a proponent of an ecumenical version of history. While others doubt the value and objectivity of a general or macro (or universal) history, McNeill defends this kind of history writing which focuses on general processes, relationships and trends. He explains:

“Precision and truthfulness do not necessarily increase as the scale becomes smaller. Large scale truths and patternings can be just as precise as small-scale observations and truths.”

He even warns that “multiplication of facts reduces historical study to triviality.”

Muslims in the Philippines. Confession: I get bored when I read Majul. Perhaps I prefer the lively prose (a critic calls it lyricism) of Agoncillo. I had a hard time focusing when I read Majul’s book on Mabini a few years ago. But I could not turn down a Majul book, especially his groundbreaking book on the history of Muslims in the Philippines. I haven’t finished reading the book, but so far here are some of the things I learned:

1. Islam in the Philippines is part of the Islamization process in the Malay and Indonesian Peninsula.
2. Traders, not missionaries, introduced Islam. Some of the traders remained in Mindanao. Some of them married the children of powerful/influential families.
3. Islam was accepted by many natives in the region because it meant the abolition of the oppressive caste system. Islam provided a consciousness among the people that they belong to a larger, universal religious community of believers.
4. When missionaries arrived, their work was made easy because Muslim settlements were already existing throughout the archipelago.
5. Many communities have adopted Muslim customs (avoiding pork, for example) but they were not necessarily Islam believers. When the Spanish arrived, they thought many communities in Luzon were Muslims because the natives were not eating pork.
6. The arrival of Western/Christian powers had a profound impact in the region. It hastened the Islamization in the region. Missionaries and Muslim leaders became more aggressive in defending and promoting Islam.
7. The Muslim leaders in Manila during the arrival of the Spaniards were connected by blood to the ruling families of Brunei. Palawan communities were paying tributes to the Sultan of Brunei.
8. Shariff Kabungsuan did not introduce Islam in the Philippines, but he was influential in consolidating the religion in Mindanao.
9. Muslims incorporated native practices which were alien to Islam, like blood compact.
10. In the Spanish records, Muslims were accused of piracy and slave-trading. Indeed, there were Muslim pirates in the region. There were also Chinese pirates, and Dutch and Spanish invaders. We have to differentiate acts of aggression which were sanctioned by Muslim Sultans and those initiated by pirates.
11. The Spanish attempt to Christianize and subjugate the Muslims in Mindanao was the primary reason for the start of the so-called Moro Wars. The Muslims were provoked to rise up and defend their territories.
12. Because of superior firepower, Spanish forces were always successful in destroying Muslim settlements. But they were always brief victories. Muslim forces would always regroup, gather more strength and subdue the attacking Spaniards in the end.
13. The Spaniards used the divide and rule tactic to fight the Muslims. They would befriend local datus in order to prevent the formation of a unified Muslim community.
14. Spanish soldiers were assisted by Tagalogs, Pampangos and natives from some Visayas islands.
15. In order to instill fear, Spanish soldiers destroyed Muslim houses, plantations, boats and they beheaded captured local leaders. Women and children were taken as slaves.
16. The Jesuits were the most consistent in convincing Spanish officials to Christianize Mindanao and build Christian settlements.
17. Spanish forces failed miserably to “pacify” Mindanao. They entered into numerous peace treaties with Muslim local leaders in order to facilitate trade and protect Christian subjects in the island.
18. Zamboanga has always been strategic in dominating Mindanao, especially Sulu, Magundanao and Tawi-Tawi. Everytime Spanish forces would build a fort in Zamboanga, it would weaken the trading and political power of Muslim communities.
19. Sultan Qudarat was a strong leader and wise warrior. He defeated the almost successful campaign of the Spaniards to rule over the whole of Mindanao.
20. Because of Spain’s failure to defeat the forces of Qudarat, a peace agreement was signed with the Sultan. Spain acknowledged the supreme authority of Qudarat in many areas in Mindanao and even recognized Qudarat’s claim to collect tributes from areas outside his sphere of influence.
21. Muslims from Borneo and Malay Peninsula have always aided the Muslims in the Philippines in fighting the Spanish invaders.
22. Muslim leaders would always seek the military and political assistance of the Dutch, another foreign power and rival of the Spaniards.
23. Spanish officials were always willing to ratify peace agreements with Muslim communities every time foreign powers or pirates were threatening to invade Manila and the Philippine archipelago.
24. Peace treaties were not permanent, at least from the point of view of the Spanish government. Spanish officials would always claim they were temporary truces, not permanent treaties every time they resume their offensives on Muslim communities.
25. Sabah was a gift (reward) given by the Sultan of Brunei to the Sultan of Sulu.

Change the names and dates in the book and replace them with MILF, MNLF, AFP, MOA-AD, US government, Malaysia, terrorists - and it would seem the situation has not changed in Muslim Mindanao.

Book sale. 29 books, costing $1 each. Books by Zinn, Sartre, Naomi Klein, John Pilger, Edgar Snow, Edward Said, Hugo Blanco, Andre Malraux. Books about the Chinese revolution, Great Depression, Cuba, Intifada, Saddam Hussein, Marxist art. I could have bought more books but it was already lunchtime.

Related entries:

Book hunt
Sentimental nationalists
Aguinaldo and Imelda

posted by: mongpalatino at October 06, 2008 14:51 | link | comments |
books

U.S. elections and Southeast Asia

Links: Skateboard competition in Brunei. Transvestite toilets in Thailand. Coffee industry of East Timor. Floating market in Vietnam.

Thanks to the person/s who nominated this blog in the 2008 Philippine Blog Awards. This blog was a finalist in the Best Commentary category.


Many Southeast Asians are intently monitoring the presidential elections in the United States, which maintains a solid influence in the region. It has a military presence in the Philippines. It enjoys good trading relations with Southeast Asian countries.
Both China and the United States are aiming for supremacy in this part of the world.

But there is another reason why the U.S. elections matter to many people in Southeast Asia. Both U.S. presidential candidates – John McCain and Barack Obama – are popular in the region. McCain was a former Navy pilot during the Vietnam War; he spent five years in a Hanoi prison. A very young Obama lived in Jakarta for five years. He studied in two Indonesian schools.

Despite being a soldier of the country which attacked Vietnam, McCain has many supporters in Vietnam. As a senator, McCain supported the normalization of relations between the United States and Vietnam.

Even former detention guards at Hoa Lo prison, more popularly known today as the “Hanoi Hilton,” where McCain was incarcerated and allegedly tortured for five years, are supporting the candidacy of McCain. The prison guards, now retired generals, believe McCain as U.S. president will be good to Vietnam since Vietnamese peasants saved his life when he almost drowned in a lake after his Skyhawk bomber was hit by a missile in 1967.

Obama’s stepfather is Indonesian. There is a Facebook group called “Indonesia for Obama ’08” which is somehow a hint that Obama is well regarded in this country. In his book, Obama discussed the covert support provided by the U.S. government to right-wing Indonesian generals who ordered the purge of thousands of Indonesian communist members and sympathizers in the 1960s. Obama seems to be critical of U.S. foreign policy toward Indonesia. Obama’s mother is also recognized as a pioneer of a microfinance program in Indonesia that gave livelihood loans to poor women.

Both McCain and Obama have faced controversy regarding their Asian ties. In 2000 McCain said he hated “gooks,” referring to his Vietnamese captors. He added, "I will hate them as long as I live."

The word “gook” is a term of war and a term of racism. U.S. soldiers first used the word “goo-goo” to describe Filipinos when the United States invaded the Philippines a century ago; the word “gook” was used again in the Korean and Vietnamese wars. In all cases, the use of the racial term was meant to demonize the enemy. It took some time before McCain apologized for his “I hate gooks” remark. An interesting question: If McCain said “I hate niggers” instead of “I hate gooks,” would he still be qualified to run as president?

During a fundraising event, Obama said he is a “desi,” an informal term meaning South Asian. While most Asians were impressed by this remark, there were negative reactions as well. Instead of pandering, Obama was advised to articulate his program for Asian Americans. Here is another comment from a blogger: “The outreach is nice, but having an immigrant father, some Asian friends, and a few years in an Indonesian school and a few more in Hawaii doesn't make you Asian, and it certainly doesn't make you Indian.”

Will Southeast Asia stand to gain from an Obama or McCain presidency? Who is the better candidate? Who will win the Asian American vote?

McCain is distancing himself from President George W. Bush. But he believes in more troop deployments in the Middle East and the continued U.S. leadership in the War on Terror campaign. Would this mean an intensified U.S. military presence in Southeast Asia, especially in the Philippines and Indonesia where terrorist cells are reported to be operating?

Obama vows to bring back American jobs by reviewing U.S. free trade agreements. This has been interpreted by some analysts as a threat to the business process outsourcing industry. Would this lead to the closing or reduction of outsourcing operations in several Asian countries, especially in India, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines?

What is the immigration policy of both Obama and McCain? Will they support the Filipino Veterans Fairness Act which aims to recognize the contribution of Filipino soldiers during World War II? Will they continue to impose economic sanctions on the junta-led Myanmar? What is their solution to the global financial crisis? Can they revive the U.S. economy under their leadership?

Bush is perceived by many Southeast Asians as both incompetent and arrogant. The Bush doctrine of preemptive strike has angered many people, especially Muslims, in the region. The next U.S. president will face enormous political and economic challenges. Both Obama and McCain should maximize their Asian ties to promote a sincere and productive relationship with Asian societies.

Related entries:

Who's the real meddler?
Saddam Hussein

posted by: mongpalatino at October 02, 2008 04:30 | link | comments |
east asia

What if Viagra doesn’t work?

Wait a minute. Saigon is called the Pearl of the Far East (Hòn ngọc Viễn Đông) or Paris in the Orient (Paris Phương Đông). Phnom Penh is the Pearl of Asia. And all this time we thought the Philippines is the Pearl of the Orient Seas. Which is which?

Myanmar: Aid still needed, a post written for Global Voices. Read the French translation. My earlier roundup on Indonesian elections was also translated into French.


Viagra is the magic pill for people of a certain age. But what if one day (or one night) Viagra doesn’t work? Not to worry: An ad was placed in the newspaper which promised a one-on-one treatment and newer techniques to deal with the delicate issue. It seems Viagra is no longer enough to cure impotency.

Isn’t Viagra akin to the bail-out proposal of the U.S. Federal government with regards to the spectacular downfall of several global financial institutions? What if the bail-out doesn’t work? What if it failed to reverse the decline of US-style casino capitalism? Will there be a new magic pill?

Or perhaps neoliberalism was the Viagra which was prescribed in the 1970s to deal with the global stagflation and crisis of overproduction. And this neoliberal dose, which used to satisfy and enhance the profit drive of the elite, has suddenly stopped working wonders for 21st century capitalism. What will be the cure today? Back-to-the basics capitalism; old school banking? Keynesianism?

Capitalist tremors

The weather page of California newspapers: Very informative, accurate, and helpful. (e.g. Tomorrow will be foggy. Weekends will be warmer.) But what is unique in the weather page; or creepy for my promdi eyes? There is an earthquake data box. Last week, 107 mild/moderate earthquakes rocked California. Two weeks ago, there were 85 earthquakes. Three weeks ago, 95 tremors.

What is the value of the earthquake data box? To remind California residents that they are living in an area with several active earthquake faultlines? To normalize the experience of having to deal with mild/moderate aftershocks everyday? To assure/warn the people that the big bang has yet to come; so prepare for the great quake. It will happen soon. Don’t be alarmed if it arrives.

Isn’t capitalism similar to earthquakes? Unstable, unpredictable, deadly. Have we been desensitized by mild capitalist tremors? Have we already accepted that inequality, risky living, uncertain future constitute the state of normalcy under the capitalist way of life? We were taught (and we somehow believed) that unemployment, inflation, and falling wages are inherent in the system; that they are necessary glitches so that the world will be a better place. That they are manageable, but not life threatening. That they are not the great quake, the big bang.

But something scary (or unexpected) happened in the past few months. The titans of capitalism have fallen. Those who control the rules of the game have broken the rules. There is chaos inside the capitalist war room. Did a strong capitalist tremor hit the U.S. and the world? Is it the big bang already? The end of days, the last days of capitalism?

Suddenly, a wave of panic has engulfed the capitalist universe. This is a crisis which was anticipated but we never seriously expected to happen in our lifetime. We thought the dreaded Great Depression of the 1930s will never happen again. It belonged to a distant past; man has grown wiser; new tools are already available to stabilize the convulsions of capitalism. Those who knew the truth about capitalism have convinced the ruling classes that by injecting Viagra and other prescription drugs to resuscitate the moribund conditions of capitalism, the big bang (the great crash) will be postponed.

But Wall Street has crashed. A financial meltdown is threatening the viability of the global capitalist system. Analysts are correct: Today’s money crisis is the “Ground Zero” of capitalism. The political/military supremacy of the U.S. was shattered in the Iraq War. Its economic weakness is now exposed. The American century is over.

In other words, capitalism has been unmasked. “The emperor is naked.” “The throne is empty.” The old man is impotent. In the film Borat, there was an important scene which captured the truth about the US financial system. Borat was chasing his producer in a hotel; they were running naked. Then they barged into a convention of Mortgage Brokers. The two very naked men shocked the audience. It’s funny and ironic that the scene portraying the two naked men inside the convention of Mortgage Brokers was actually a symbol for the imminent housing bubble in the U.S. By looking at the two naked men, the participants were looking at the naked truth of the U.S. housing industry.

Citizens of the capitalist world are taught how to survive during crisis situations. In many households, there are emergency kits in case of hurricanes, earthquakes, fire, and blackouts. Emergency drills are common. Recently, undocumented residents were advised to prepare an emergency kit in case of a raid or deportation. But citizens (consumers) are not prepared to deal with a severe economic recession. They do not expect that Third World poverty spectacles will happen in the US. There is now a flurry of information advising residents on how to deal with foreclosures, bankruptcy and unemployment.

These are interesting times. Hard times. Harsh times. (To be continued)

Related entries:

Pure neoliberalism doesn’t work
Burgers, politicians.

posted by: mongpalatino at October 01, 2008 08:45 | link | comments |
workers

“Capitalism without capitalism”

To Rachelle Mae, press freedom fighter, youth leader, martyr and servant of the poor….


David Harvey’s A Brief History of Neoliberalism is a must read in order to understand the global financial crisis. Harvey’s book is the main reference of this article.

“We are all Keynesians now,” Richard Nixon said in the 1970s. Two decades later Bill Clinton could have said “We are all neoliberals now.”

Neoliberalism means “stock values rather than production became the guiding light of economic activity.” Financial players became dominant in the economy (“the power of accountants rather than the engineers”). Banks played bigger roles by creating “fictitious capital.” Wall Street is capitalism’s holy land:

1960s: What was good for GM was good for U.S.
1990s: What was good for Wall Street is all that matters.

Or as Mary Elizabeth Lease puts it: “Wall Street owns the country. It is no longer the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, but a government of Wall Street, by Wall Street, and for Wall Street.” 

In the 1974 Godfather II film,  a mafia don proclaimed: “Michael, we are bigger than U.S. steel!” He was of course referring to the manufacturing company which used to be the symbol of
capitalist America. Now, it is Wall Street.

To oversimplify things, the ruling order felt threatened by leftist groups asserting more power in society during the 1960s and early 1970s (civil rights movement, affirmative action, social welfare demands). Neoliberalism appealed to the elite because it meant less money for public service and labor and more money for capital. And indeed neoliberalism succeeded in attacking organized labor and restoring class power of the elite.

Ironically, neoliberalism (which is theoretically about little or no state intervention) was established through the coercive and regulatory power of governments. This reveals that “pure neoliberalization does not work,” and more importantly, the U.S. and other rich countries are hypocrites for “behaving as Keynesian while telling everyone to obey neoliberal rules.”

The neoliberal state is the “executive committee of capitalist class interest.” The function of a neoliberal state is simple: Establish corporate welfare over people’s welfare.

Or as Harvey points out: “In the event of a conflict, the typical neoliberal state will tend to side with a good business climate as opposed to either the collective rights (and quality of life) of labor or the capacity of the environment to regenerate itself.”

Never mind the falling wages of workers, inflation, and global warming. Free market will solve these issues. Government regulation will worsen the problem. But if financial institutions are in trouble, taxpayers’ money will be used to rescue these institutions.

The “nationalization” of some American financial institutions has been described as socialism for the rich. Or as Harvey describes public-private partnership: “The state assumes much of the risk while the private sector takes most of the profits.”

Neoliberal policies were imposed on poor countries as condition for aid. The higher degree of neoliberalization, more aid will be given to these “competitive” and “business-friendly nations.” Multilateral funding agencies are the paid mercenaries of neoliberalism. It is interesting that scholar Slavoj Zizek compares the new type of warfare used in the War on Terror to these funding agencies:

“We should note the structural homology between this new warfare-at-a-distance, where the ‘soldier’ (a computer specialist) pushes buttons hundreds of miles away, and the decisions of managerial bodies which affect millions (IMF specialists dictating the conditions a Third World country has to meet in order to deserve financial aid): in both cases, abstraction is inscribed into a very ‘real’ situation – decisions are made which will affect thousands, sometimes causing terrifying havoc and destruction, but the link between these ‘structural’ decisions and the painful reality of millions is broken; the ‘specialists’ taking the decisions are unable to imagine the consequences, since they measure the effects of these decisions in abstract terms (a country can be ‘financially sane’ even if millions in it are starving.)”

Zizek adds how MNCs and TNCs are the obscene double of terror groups:

“Are not ‘international terrorist organizations’ the obscene double of the big multinational corporations – the ultimate rhizomatic machine, omnipresent, albeit with no clear territorial base? Do they not embody the ultimate contradiction, with their particular / exclusive content and their global dynamic functioning?”

The myths of neoliberalism are popularized by mainstream media. Harvey writes:

“With the media dominated by upper-class interests, the myth could be propagated that states failed economically because they were not competitive…If conditions among the lower classes deteriorated, this was because they failed, usually for personal and cultural reasons, to enhance their own human capital. In a Darwinian neoliberal world, the argument went, only the fittest should and do survive.”

If a country’s economy is down, media will highlight the need for more neoliberal reforms. If the government resists, it will be described as undemocratic. Poverty is blamed on the people: They didn’t finish schooling, they lack innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, they have lousy work ethics. Kailangan ang sipag at tiyaga. Blame the individuals, not the system.

And of course the academe is also accountable for promoting a “Darwinian neoliberal world.” Harvey notes that the “Rise of neoliberalism occurred in decades when working-class institutions were in decline and when many progressives were increasingly persuaded that class was a meaningless or at least long defunct category.”

Indeed, neoliberal policies should be included in the “bourgeois pantheon of infamous deeds.” Neoliberalism, which meant the “financialization of everything,” has commodified all aspects of life in today’s world, including labor and other social relations.

Commodification is wrong because it “presumes the existence of property rights over processes, things, and social relations, that a price can be put on them, and that they can be traded subject to legal contract.”

Karl Polanyi warns:

“To allow the market mechanism to be sole director of the fate of human beings and their natural environment…would result in the demolition of society. For the alleged commodity “labor power” cannot be shoved about, used indiscriminately, or even left unused, without affecting also the human individuals who happens to be the bearer of this peculiar commodity in psychological, and moral entity ‘man’ attached to that tag. Robbed of the protective covering of cultural institutions, human beings would perish from the effects of social exposure; they would die as victims of acute social dislocation through vice, perversion, crime and starvation. Nature would be reduced to its elements, neighborhoods and landscapes deviled, rivers polluted, military safety jeopardized, the power to produce food and raw materials destroyed.”

Zizek reminds us: “If one wants to comprise capitalism as a world system, one must take into account its inherent negation, the infinite judgment on it.” Communism?

Historian Eric Hobsbawm was already alive in the 1930s and he witnessed how the Great Depression discredited the free market ideology. He wonders why this ideology became more fashionable again:

“Those of us who live through the years of the Great Slump still find it almost impossible to understand how the orthodoxies of the pure free market, then so obviously discredited, once again came to preside over a global period of depression in the late 1980s and 1990s, which, once again, they were equally unable to understand or to deal with. Still, this strange phenomenon should remind us of the major characteristic of history which it exemplifies: the incredible shortness of memory of both the theorists and practitioners of economics. It also provides a vivid illustration of society’s need for historians, who are the professional remembrancers of what their fellow-citizens wish to forget.”

Related entries:

A father’s lament
Divine interventions

posted by: mongpalatino at September 27, 2008 15:04 | link | comments |
workers

Thailand/Philippines: The politics of people power

Links: Divorce cases are up in Indonesia because of 'political differences'. Nuclear option for Malaysia. Improper advertising by an oil company. Media repression in Cambodia.

New pictures in my webshots album: click here and here. Indonesia: Lights, Camera, Elections! - a post written for Global Voices.

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Because of its bigger economy today, Thailand is no longer compared to the Philippines. But two decades ago both were developing nations with almost the same population levels, poverty rates and economic potential. Thailand may be richer but its social history, political conditions and even many aspects of its economy are almost the same as the Philippines.

Scholars do not often write about the similar political profiles of the two countries. This is understandable. Thailand didn’t experience colonial rule. It has a monarchy. And the military has governed the country for a long time. On the other hand, the Philippines was invaded by three foreign powers. Its population is predominantly Catholic. And it has faithfully adhered to Western-style democracy since it gained formal independence in 1946.

These are obvious differences. But there are also similarities in the modern political history of the two countries. For example, political instability has plagued both Thailand and the Philippines, military adventurism could not be contained, and separatist movements in the southern parts of the two nations remain a big problem.

In the past decade the two countries have produced spectacular citizen uprisings which led to the ouster of Philippine President Joseph Estrada in 2001 and Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006.

Estrada was accused of being involved in illegal gambling. Massive street rallies in 2001 forced the military leadership to withdraw support for Estrada. In Thailand, hundreds of thousands of people went to the streets in 2006 to protest the corrupt practices of Thaksin. The military supported the protests by staging a coup.

Estrada is well-loved by the poor. In fact he accused the noisy Manila elite of being at the forefront of the protests against him. Thaksin is popular among the rural poor of Thailand. He claimed it was only the middle class of tiny Bangkok who supported his ouster.

Estrada was replaced by his vice president, Gloria Arroyo. Many Filipinos have not been satisfied with the Arroyo government. Street rallies have become more frequent since 2005. But Arroyo would not give in to the demands for her resignation, asserting that she was elected to serve until 2010.

Thailand elected Samak Sundaravej early this year. Big rallies were launched a few months ago, reaching a peak this month when protesters stormed Thailand’s Government House. The protesters accused Samak of being a puppet of Thaksin. Samak would not resign. He argued that he was elected by a majority of Thai citizens. Samak finally stepped down because a Thailand court found him guilty of violating the Constitution when he appeared in a cooking show while holding public office.

The Philippine court was also instrumental in affirming the ouster of Estrada in 2001. The court upheld the legitimacy of Estrada’s ouster by citing a diary entry of an executive official which revealed that Estrada had agreed to resign in order to preserve peace in the Philippines. The final blow was a cooking show in Thailand and a diary entry in the Philippines.

The Catholic Bishops were unusually silent when various groups began to mobilize and call for the ouster or even impeachment of Arroyo in 2005. The Catholic Church is a very influential political force in the Philippines. Thailand’s highly revered king did not intervene when protesters demanded the removal of Samak. His silence was a very intriguing political statement.

Various commentators have ridiculed the “people power” movements in the Philippines and Thailand. They described the protesters as part of an unruly mob who wanted to impose the arrogant demands of the minority over the will of the majority.

The debates continue: What constitutes genuine people power? How many people should mobilize in the streets to compel a leader to step down from office? If protests are limited mainly to the capital, should they be belittled as the insignificant voice of the minority? Is the holding of elections the best and only solution to resolve political problems? Do unelected political groups have more right to speak on behalf of the people than representative officials of a nation?

Several lessons on people power politics can be highlighted based on what transpired in Thailand and the Philippines. People power should not be reduced to a numbers game. A united and broad range of people’s organizations are needed in order for a mass movement to gain credibility and effectiveness. Mass actions should be both spontaneous and organized. Grassroots participation is important, but they must prove their political independence from elitist groups.

Unlike the Philippines, Thailand doesn’t have a strong leftwing movement. The participation and leadership of leftist groups in mass actions is important since it guarantees that the broad concerns of various marginalized sectors of society are represented. A political movement that claims to represent the people without proposing a leftwing agenda and without the participation of radical groups with real ties to the grassroots could be easily be dominated by elite interests.

The notion of public space has to be defended. The words of Don Mitchell remain more valid than ever: “In public spaces – on street corners or in parks, in the streets during riots and demonstrations – political organizations can represent themselves to a larger population and through this representation give their cries and demands some force. By claiming space in public, by creating public spaces, social groups themselves become public.”

Thailand has a new prime minister. But protesters have vowed to remain in the streets. People power could still blossom in Thailand. Filipino activists should watch closely the events in Thailand.

Related entries:

Thailand at a political crossroad
Battle of the streets

posted by: mongpalatino at September 25, 2008 01:07 | link | comments |
east asia

Rights and wrongs

posted by: mongpalatino at September 19, 2008 13:54 | link | comments |
nation

Thailand at the crossroads

Links: Political parties of Indonesia. Aid effectiveness in East Timor. Impact of blogging in Vietnam. Luang Prabang, Laos’ foremost tourist destination


I wrote this article a few days ago. Things are moving fast in Bangkok. Already, Samak was removed by his party. Maybe next week he will return to power again. Abangan…

The street protests in Bangkok can be easily dismissed as anti-democracy. The protesters who occupied Thailand’s Government House are not only demanding the ouster of an elected leader, they want a Parliament whose members are largely appointed by a governing body. Various commentators from around the world have pointed out that these demands would legitimize mob rule.

The People's Alliance for Democracy or PAD, which is the organizer of the rallies, is described by the press as right-wing. This is regrettable since just two years ago PAD had a solid base among peoples’ organizations. Many of its members are veteran activists who led the student movement in the early 1970s. What happened to PAD? Is it still a genuine voice of Thailand’s empowered citizens? Or has it regressed into a corrupt organization with strong ties in the military and other factions of the elite?

Thailand’s embattled Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has been portraying himself as a defender of western-style democracy. He has vowed to remain as leader of a free and democratic nation. He was praised for preventing bloodshed in Bangkok by ordering the police to show restraint when engaging the protesters. These are some of the reasons why Samak is secretly supported by foreign residents of Thailand.

There are almost no options available to resolve the political stalemate in Thailand. PAD would not leave the Government House. Samak would not resign. The military does not want to intervene. Thailand’s King, who is revered by all, is surprisingly silent. A referendum was proposed by the ruling party but it was flatly rejected by PAD and the opposition.

The situation in Thailand is volatile. Political forces are still vying for dominance. The current crisis could be used by an ascendant radical force to implement sweeping reforms in Thai society. The progressive movement must grab this opportunity to influence Thai politics. If it failed to seize tactical leadership, reactionary forces or the status quo would prevail.

The most organized group which can challenge the ruling order is PAD. If PAD’s leadership and tactics are not acceptable to grassroots organizations, then the progressive movement must assert its voice inside PAD, which used to be a multisectoral alliance of anti-government groups.

PAD is ridiculed by the foreign media. But local journalists have shown some sympathies to the PAD-led rallies. Samak has accused the local media of being biased in favor of the protesters. Maybe PAD’s statements were understood by the local population which the foreigners could not decipher.

The initial criticism against PAD should be reviewed. While it is correct to highlight the excesses committed by PAD members, they should be put into context. Out of the 25,000 protesters who stormed the Government House, only few people displayed violent behavior. If the police showed restraint, the protesters were generally peaceful as well. Two weeks of continuous protest actions have produced only pockets of violence in the streets of Bangkok.

That PAD is able to sustain its activities for two weeks already is proof of its capability to gather more than enough warm bodies and logistics. It is extremely difficult to organize a big rally, sustain the crowd, and raise resources for the everyday needs of the protesters. Its either PAD has wealthy financiers or it has genuine support from ordinary citizens. This issue is debatable. But it cannot be denied that PAD has committed members who are manning the barricades in Bangkok.

It is also impressive that PAD succeeded in getting the support of airline employees, railway workers and other big unions in the country. PAD has paralyzed three airports and disrupted rail travel for several days. In the eyes of many foreigners and residents as well, these were anarchic activities. These were not good for business. But maybe the protesters really wanted to create a situation of manageable chaos in the country to show the world that Samak could no longer govern effectively.

There are few instances in the world wherein rallyists were able to occupy a government building, disrupt public transportation, and sustain street protests for two weeks. PAD is still in the streets and has promised bigger actions in the future. PAD is aware it has provided a blueprint on how to launch an urban uprising in the 21s century. Note for instance the diploma of ‘New Political Revolution’ being sold by some enterprising individuals to participants of the PAD-led rallies.

PAD has already clarified that it is not against democracy. What it opposes is Western-style capitalism and its excesses. The rough translation of “toon niyom samarn” which is a PAD slogan is “filthy capitalism”. PAD condemns the corrupt practices of former leader Thaksin Shinawatra. They accuse Thaksin and other politicians of using the state machinery to enrich themselves.

Perhaps PAD’s disdain against western-style elections is also symbolic for the failure of liberal democracy to solve the problems that afflict a Third World nation like Thailand. Maybe PAD made the mistake of believing that the ouster of Samak, the return of a military-led government, and the establishment of an appointed Parliament are the only possible alternatives to the dominant system. PAD has not lost hope on democracy; it wants a new form of democracy. But it failed to be progressive enough, and it lacked a proper radical imagination, which led to its dependence on the military institution to cure the ills that plague Thai society.

Here enters the need for a progressive mass movement in Thailand. A left-wing agenda needs to be articulated. The anti-government campaign must include a broad range of peoples’ issues and the roots of the political and economic instability must be addressed. Otherwise, the crisis in Thailand will continue to worsen even if a new government is established in the future.


Related entries:

Saucy Samak
Battle of the streets

posted by: mongpalatino at September 13, 2008 01:46 | link | comments (1) |
east asia

Sentimental nationalists*

Links: Audio books in Singapore. What is a pencilnosing campaign? Street vendors banned in Vietnam. Nuclear option for Indonesia.

My earlier post for Global Voices was translated into Japanese. Join the virtual discussion of East Asia bloggers about the ongoing political crisis in Thailand. Click here for more details.


Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia early this year was supported by Western powers led by the United States. An angry Russia encouraged South Ossetia and Abkhazia to do the same thing by separating from Georgia. This led to an escalation of conflict in Georgia. Meanwhile, the US insists on backing Georgia while refusing to acknowledge the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

What if one of these days the MILF-led Bangsamoro declared independence from the Republic of the Philippines? Would the US and other major powers in the world recognize the Bangsamoro State? Kosovo, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and now Bangsamoro.

What will be the reaction of ordinary Filipinos and politicians? If a simple autonomy as provided by the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity was loudly rejected by the Manila constituency, a declaration of independence would have produced more jingoism in the country. The BJE debate revealed the undisguised chauvinism of politicians and many commentators. The Moro rebels are to be respected as long as they are willing to surrender their arms, talk peace and accept limited autonomy. But if they started demanding more than a token form of shared governance, if they continue to fight for political rights, they deserve to be wiped out ruthlessly.

Ironically, those who want to kill the MILF rebels by supporting the all-out war military policy are proud ideologues of liberal democracy. Slavoj Zizek notes that “liberal warriors are eager to fight antidemocratic fundamentalism that they will end up discarding freedom and democracy themselves.”

Again, to use the words of Zizek, “what if the true aim of the present (AFP) intrusion into (MILF) territory is not to prevent future terrorist attacks, but in fact to ‘burn the bridges’, to raise the hatred to a level which will prevent a peaceful solution in any foreseeable future.”

The MILF leadership should have learned from the humiliating downfall of MNLF. Peace negotiations that tackle autonomy or self-determination without addressing the roots of poverty and exploitation in the Moro lands are doomed to fail. The MILF should not forget that its prestige and strength are recognized because it continues to wage a guerrilla war in behalf of the dispossessed Moro people. The right to self-determination can never be achieved as long as the current system of political economy is prevailing in the country.

Today is a good opportunity to educate the public about political concepts like the right to self-determination, ancestral domain, and revolutionary violence. Increased media attention on the war in Mindanao should be used by rebel groups to inform the people and the rest of the world about the civil war/people’s war in the Philippines. In fact, mainstream media has raised the level of debate. News reports have actually presented “peace talks or all-out war” as the options to solve the Mindanao problem. During ordinary times, the option of all-out war, the idea of using violence to solve political issues, would never have been included in TV reports. War seems acceptable as long as they are directed against rebels.

The MILF should reply by asserting its principle: Revolutionary violence to achieve lasting peace in Mindanao.

The MILF should continue to condemn the indiscriminate military offensives on civilian Moro communities. It has every right to defend its territories and the lives of its members and supporters.

Few commentators and politicians in Manila accept the MILF’s official statement regarding the human rights violations committed by the group’s “lost commands”. The children-loving, private property-defenders, MILF-hating, peace advocates are the same people who willingly accept the Malacanang statement that the human rights violations committed by rogue elements in the military are not sanctioned by the country’s leadership. The military can deny responsibility for the excesses of its members but the MILF has no right to wash its hands over the wrongdoings of its “lost commands”?

Where is Kumander Kato? The MILF should reply: Where is General Palparan?

Why should we elevate the crimes of the “lost commands” as embodiment of Absolute Evil? Why should they be privileged over other worse crimes committed by the military/police against the Moro people?

Still, the untried solution to the Mindanao question is socialism. The left is MILF’s most reliable friend in its struggle for self-determination. The MILF should not trust the fly-by-night nationalists as represented by Manila politicians/commentators who want to keep Mindanao as part of the puppet republic for, well, sentimental reasons.

It will be a missed historic opportunity and a terrible disappointment if the MILF leadership does not promote the radicalization of politics in its controlled territories. Imperialism, global capitalism, remains the true and single biggest enemy of the Moro people. The struggle for a socialist future is the way forward to promote genuine peace and prosperity in the Moro land.

* I forgot the authors of the book, Sentimental Imperialists.


Related entries:

Ideal victims
More hatred in Mindanao

posted by: mongpalatino at September 11, 2008 06:50 | link | comments |
nation