mongster's nest

- disturbing fantasies, traumatic verses, definitely mongrel thoughts

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 06:45 | link | comments |
economy

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