Rest in Peace Dear Mother
Monday, December 12, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
After a lengthy and valuable discussion with my editor (Thanks Denny),it becomes apparent that there are some troubling structural problems with the order in which I put forth my arguments. I will be working on a re-write of this post that I hope will be more reader friendly, and as such, more convincing. Though I considered this blog post a rough draft, I am compelled to finish polishing the lens. I beg the readers indulgence, and I will send notification when the re-write is completed.
Sincerely;
Tim
Quite on a whim, I posted on facebook an idea that had been in the back of my head for several weeks; Ok, so here is an assignment...compare in essay form, the capitalistic economic systems of these three nations: China, United States, Bangladesh. No fudging! I will post my analysis on my blog TimandCindysdaily@blogspot.com by 1/9/11.
This assignment was at once an attempt to get me off of my duff, and get my thoughts on this topic down on paper [so to speak], and at the same time, to open a dialog about current events with my friends and loved ones who get notification of my doings on facebook.
I am not convinced that facebook is the appropriate venue to have these types of discussions, so I have decided to post this on my blog. Many thanks to those who choose to read this.
I would like to apologize for my tardiness in posting this. The lateness results from my underestimating the amount of time necessary to do the little bit of research necessary, and from my writing style [if it can be called that], which requires that I re-read each line ad-infinitum, while trying to write the next line, the pit fall which my father warned me about oh so many years ago!
I would also like to apologize for the quality of this copy, my friend, and editor, who helps me out with most of my online writings has been having a tough battle with cancer, and I have been reluctant to heap this paper on him. I am my own worst editor, so…
Now Let`s To It!
In this essay, I will argue that the 3 countries in question, the USA, China, and Bangladesh all utilize a capitalist economic model, yet the net results for each country differ so widely because each country interprets capitalist theories differently and implements them in decidedly different manners.
USA
Historically the USA was set up with an economic system that was very fearful of corporations, and monopolies, and in fact the famous “Boston Tea Party” that we are all taught in school was a protest against a tax break that was extended to the East India Company, by King James I. This tax break gave an unfair advantage to the corporation over the small Colonial tea traders, who reacted bitterly at their oppression. The founding fathers were very wary of corporations, and most of the original colonies had strict laws governing the formation and use of incorporation.
Cut to present where thanks to the 2010 Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court, corporations now have the same full constitutional protections as natural persons. Through a miscarriage of judicial transcription by the supreme court reporter J.C. Bancroft Davis in 1886, corporate personhood was “established”, and the ramifications of that assumption have resulted in the total corruption of the capitalist system in place in modern day America, This occurred largely because this “decision” has wrested from the Peoples Government the ability to control corporations. The end result is an unprecedented concentration of capitol in the control of a very small group of oligarchs.
Capitalization of enterprise has seen shifts and tides throughout our history, but the inexorable trend has been to corporate consolidation of capitol, to the point that we as a nation cannot recover from our current recession because a few large corps are hording trillions of dollars, waiting to decide if they are going to invest in the US or China. The U.S. capitalist system has matured to create full on monopolies that hold no allegiance to nation, only to profit.
Of course our founding fathers saw the danger of allowing corporations to have unfettered access to our political system, it is a crying shame our Supreme Court, Congress, and Executive branches were unable to stop the corporate takeover of our Nation. And truth be known, the change happened over many generations, in such small increments, that the populace, though alarmed with each decision, and law, and tax loophole, were often deluded into believing that no corporation would ever do anything to tear down our nation!
The conclusions that Karl Marx, [in his role as social scientist], reached in his analysis of capitalism have sadly come mostly to roost in the economic structure of America today. With boom and bust cycles, bubbles, and the crash of the next hot thing, all resulting in worse and worse impacts on our economy, one has to wonder if the next bail out of the financial sector will be successful, and maybe more importantly, will the people of the US be able to afford it. The ideal that we have a government Of the People, By the People, and For the People, only holds true now if you include Monsanto, Goldman Sachs, and Exxon et-al as your blood brothers. The corporate plan is to socialize all the risk, and privatize all the profit. Further, only those that control the corporations will be allowed to enjoy socialized benefit, for the proletarians there must be “market based” solutions to the challenges of life. This is capitalism run amok.
CHINA
I have heard it said on many occasions, that when looking at the economic structure in market based China, “they are exceptional, because they have a totalitarian governing system”. While this statement is true, it is also simplistic, and fails to really acknowledge that in China, all the benefit of capitalism flows directly to the centralized communist government. The Chinese government makes all decisions regarding economic policy, from fees and taxation. to tariffs, to permits, to sitting, to export quotas, to import regulation, to patent protection, ad-infinitum. In short, the Central Committee of the Chinese Government controls every aspect of every business transaction that occurs in country. All decisions are predicated on whether the outcome will benefit the Chinese government. That is the sole criteria and guiding principal.
The Chinese have followed in the footsteps of the South Koreans who followed the Japanese model of capitalism. These nations along with Taiwan have perfected a “Pacific Rim Capitalism” that puts their Premiers and his advisors in the drivers seat of corporate boards of directors, and all decisions are made to benefit the Nation first. If there is anything left over, the corporation is allowed to keep a small profit, and made to reinvest in research and development and infrastructure. One thing you will never see in Japanese, South Korean or Chinese corporations are exorbitant compensation packages for their directors .
China has been able to amass huge capital reserves because they were willing to make a huge workforce available to work for a pittance. The only cost to corporations to use this workforce is control of their company, and yet, even though they give this up, the profit margin is still huge and too good to pass up.
The reason that US corporations began outsourcing labor is that the tax code that was re-written during the Reagan Revolution made it advantageous for once loyal American Corporations to generate profits abroad. Prior to Reagan, any profit that was made offshore then brought back into this country was heavily taxed, and any product that was made off shore and brought back into this country to be sold was hit with a tariff equivalent to the difference in labor cost. Now we give a tax credits to corporations that out-source labor, and shake our heads when we have to give tax refunds to corporations that show multi- billion dollar profits for a year of commerce. Ah, but for the good old days, pre WTO, when we could actually protect our national workforce against unfair competition. Ah, but for the good old days when “what was good for GM” actually was good for America. Speaking of which, GM just built 3 brand new factories in China in 2010, yes they have returned to profitability, thanks to the American taxpayer, but that profit will flow to China!
The simple fact of the matter is that America, for reasons that only make sense to corporate CEO`s, decided to give up her manufacturing base economy, and China was only too eager to fill the void. It is hard to tell if the benefit of all of the rapid economic expansion in China is being felt by her population as a whole, the minimum wage is still equivalent to .21cents on the dollar, there is an interesting reversal of fortune though, with many Chinese now driving Buicks, and Americans are increasingly commuting to work [if they can find it] on bicycles and motor scooters.
Another fact that is omnipresent in the business world in China, and this is true for every player, no matter where the business calls home; Everything is illegal in China! Let that sink in for a minute….No matter what your venture, if you wish to use the Chinese economy, you do so with the realization that at any time your permits to do business in that country can be rescinded. This is the club that forces companies to give up their technologies and patents to the central committee, just for the privilege of manufacturing in that country. There have been some high profile battles over this, but I have been unable to find where the Chinese have lost a single one. There have been some positive examples by German companies who refused to give up their technologies, and have decided to stay home, which has been a huge boon to the German economy, one that rivals the Chinese in growth.
To my mind corporations have been hoodwinked into doing business in China, on the lure of a billion plus person market place. But it is most assuredly true that the huge majority of Chinese people cannot afford the products that are now made in that country, and in fact, by keeping the value of the currency artificially low, the central government insists that the people of China do not buy any of the junk made there, they are instead encouraged to save their money, and in a point of fact, China has one of the highest savings rates in the world.
The other sad fact about companies that have moved to China, is that now that they are there, they can never leave, kind of a Hotel California like nightmare scenario. These companies were made to divulge all of their corporate secrets that made their product unique and profitable. So let`s say they get pissed about a new regulation that demands higher taxes or permit fees, where are they going to go? And let`s say they actually find another place to build their product, how will they compete in a global market with a hostile Chinese central committee that will be intent on squashing their market share, especially if they no longer have a technological advantage?
The long and short of the Chinese capitalist system of running their economy is that they operate with a cutthroat, hardball, play to own the entire world type of mentality. Nothing else counts.
What has been proven by the Chinese is that communism and capitalism work exceedingly well together, most certainly better than democracy and capitalism. Economic decisions are made in China without the hindrance of an opposition party bent on scoring political points for the next election cycle.
The corporate buyout of the United States government supports this contention also, in that the messiness of democratic principals, and the potential for government to throw up regulation and road blocks to corporate enterprise are seen as a detriment to profit. Of course this buy out exposes our democratic experiment to foreign malfeasance by Chinese controlled money. The biggest difference between the Chinese program and the United States is that the Chinese have a strangle hold on Corporations doing business in their country, and the United States has thrown open the barn doors and let the horses run free! It is painfully obvious which method best enriches a nation.
BANGLADESH
My interpretation of the Bangladesh economic structure is in many ways a plea for a return to sanity in global economics, and isn’t it interesting that we get to hold up what has historically been one of the most impoverished countries in the world as an example of how to structure a capitalistic system of economy that builds, from the ground up, a means of living for the poorest of the poor.
Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammed Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist, and founder of the Grameen Bank an institution that provides microcredit loans to poor people who do not qualify for commercial bank loans, has demonstrated beyond question the benefit of capitalizing the people of the nation. The success of the Grameen Bank in helping its clients establish creditworthiness and financial self-sufficiency has given meaning to the lives of millions of poverty stricken in Bangladesh, who were caught up in the seemingly endless cycle of poverty. The result of these loans that averaged $85 is the creation of an entrepreneurial spirit in a population that only a few short years ago was destitute. The economy created by these small businesses is lifting the entire nation to the point that it is considered by many economic forecasters to be one of the next developing countries to achieve economic stability.
Although I recognize that the entire economic system of Bangladesh is not the Grameen Bank, the growth of the Urdu economy gives testament to the idea that not all forms of capitalism rely on the exploitation of a resource, and that there are very workable alternatives to the fat-cat model that seems to dominate the economies of the developed world.
CONCLUSIONS
We have looked at three distinct forms of capitalist economies in the world, one a very mature and well established system that has been altered and recast many times by many courts and administrations to benefit either labor or industry, yet seldom both at the same time. Second we examined a 20 year old system that is on steroids, and growing with the vigor of a teenage giant, whose appetite seems bent on elbowing the world out of house and home. And thirdly, we looked at an infant system that is nourishing its most needy with the equivalent of Mothers milk, and the world is watching the healthy results.
It is important to know that capitalism is very plastic in nature, that is to say it can be molded and shaped into so many varied forms, according to the needs and desires of the investor, and here is where the rubber meets the road, the stuff hits the fan, and the tough get going.
The needs of the investors in the American system, are in blunt terms, shortsighted, and focused on the next quarterly report, for that is how to keep bubbles inflating. Of course it has not always been this way, the current iteration is the result of 30 years of supply side economic theory, a revolution by industrialists that took back the reins of power from FDR, and his disciples. This revolution was fostered by Reagan, foisted on GHW Bush, put in high gear by Clinton, and pillaged by GW Bush. Aided and abetted by a power hungry incumbent legislature, enabled by a ultra conservative activist Supreme Court, ignored by a complicit corporate media, and ogled by a populace who thought they were going to get a piece of the pie. Of course bubbles burst, and a very few [those in the know] are in position to profit handsomely by shorting the bet, and in effect fleecing the populace of their retirement and their jobs.
It is an insane system of economy, because each successive bubble that burst is more violent and destructive to the fabric of the nation, and concentrates wealth into fewer and fewer hands. The objective lesson here is that concentration of capital in an oligarchy, results in a diminished and fractured society that soon looses its sense of Nation, because the ability of the populace to better its position is taken when the capitalization of the populace is taken. Frankly it is no way to maintain the great democratic experiment that is The United States of America
The needs of the investors in the Chinese model, are grand, and simple at once, for the investors are the collective communists of China, a billion plus population that desperately needs to raise the fortunes of its people who have lived at subsistence level since the communist revolution of 1949. The simplicity arises from the ease with which the ruling central committee is able to make economic decisions that are solely based on what is best for China, as a nation. There is no messy democracy to contend with, only a bureaucracy with which to exert the states will. Grand and simple indeed, yet not without difficulty, for the decisions about when to start allowing the great wealth that has been accumulated by China, to begin to benefit the people of China, is about to come to a head. There is great pressure both internally and externally for China to begin to supply their own population with the very fruits of their labor, which to date are almost exclusively exported.
History teaches that totalitarian regimes which do not lift the boats of the people must rule with iron fists of suppression. Since China must necessarily engage in the market of reputation, incidences such and the Tiananmen Square massacre, or the oppression of the Falun-Gong, or the Tibetans, only serve to bring the iron fist into full light. In today’s world it is unseemly to be seen whipping your children.
The Chinese should be admired if their overall goal is the lifting up of their nation to join the rest of the first world countries in prosperity. It is certainly time to turn their focus inward at the market place that is China. Unless of course their main goal is world domination, gained not by war, but by controlling all of the money.
I do not pretend to know the central committees plans, but it does seem that the communist Chinese are hell bent of domination. I cannot help but wonder, if it were the Russians who were importing all of the junk that American consumers seem to need, would we be so willing to shop at Wall Mart? Would red blooded Americans take an active part in outsourcing our jobs and livelihoods to Russia? And yet our seemingly insatiable appetite for cheap gismos and gadgets feeds the communist beast that stands poised to grind our bones.
It is indeed a disturbing thought that the communists will win, not because a communist economy will even function, it won`t, but because a communist government bests us at our own economic game, market capitalism.
The needs of the investors in Bangladesh are, amongst those compared herein, the only needs that could be considered altruistic. It is ironic that this can be said of a capitalist model fashioned by Muslims, based in the Zakah, the 3rd pillar of Islam, which requires of all Muslims, concern for, and the giving of alms to the needy.
In actuality, the needs of the investors of the Grameen Bank, are not measured in rates of return, or quarterly profit margin, but rather in the deed well done, facilitating a living for the least amongst them. In return, they are rewarded with a miniscule 1% default rate, which simply means that 99% of those who reach out for help, are indeed lifted.
I cannot think of a better example in all the world to show the benefit of capitalizing the population of a nation. The markets that arise from this simple model are as close to free as can be found anywhere. The demand for product drives the supplier to invest in the making of their product, thus creating true value and wealth.
I believe this essay has shown by example and logic both the danger, and benefit of capitalism, and how by the very way it is structured, can be made to either benefit the few, rule the world, or create a world worth living in. There is not a better system for the pathological money worshipers to thrive in, or for the beneficent to bring about real change in the lives of billions in the world today.
Capitalism can be used for the greatest good, or the greatest evil, how we use it, or allow it to be used in our names, measures each of us on that scale.
Peace on Earth, and Good Will Toward Men.
Bibliography:
Thom Hartmann, Unequal Protection How corporations Became People, and How We Can Fight Back, Second Edition, Barrett-Kohler Publishers 2010
Eamonn Fingleton, In The Jaws of the Dragon America`s Fate in the Coming Era of Chinese Hegemony. Thomas Dunne Books/ St.Maritn`s Press 2008
The Documentary; Pennies a day, made by www.izit.org, a 501 [c] 3 charitable foundation. http://www.youtube.com/thegreenchildren#p/f/5/veaVikY3u98
Sincerely;
Tim
Quite on a whim, I posted on facebook an idea that had been in the back of my head for several weeks; Ok, so here is an assignment...compare in essay form, the capitalistic economic systems of these three nations: China, United States, Bangladesh. No fudging! I will post my analysis on my blog TimandCindysdaily@blogspot.com by 1/9/11.
This assignment was at once an attempt to get me off of my duff, and get my thoughts on this topic down on paper [so to speak], and at the same time, to open a dialog about current events with my friends and loved ones who get notification of my doings on facebook.
I am not convinced that facebook is the appropriate venue to have these types of discussions, so I have decided to post this on my blog. Many thanks to those who choose to read this.
I would like to apologize for my tardiness in posting this. The lateness results from my underestimating the amount of time necessary to do the little bit of research necessary, and from my writing style [if it can be called that], which requires that I re-read each line ad-infinitum, while trying to write the next line, the pit fall which my father warned me about oh so many years ago!
I would also like to apologize for the quality of this copy, my friend, and editor, who helps me out with most of my online writings has been having a tough battle with cancer, and I have been reluctant to heap this paper on him. I am my own worst editor, so…
Now Let`s To It!
In this essay, I will argue that the 3 countries in question, the USA, China, and Bangladesh all utilize a capitalist economic model, yet the net results for each country differ so widely because each country interprets capitalist theories differently and implements them in decidedly different manners.
USA
Historically the USA was set up with an economic system that was very fearful of corporations, and monopolies, and in fact the famous “Boston Tea Party” that we are all taught in school was a protest against a tax break that was extended to the East India Company, by King James I. This tax break gave an unfair advantage to the corporation over the small Colonial tea traders, who reacted bitterly at their oppression. The founding fathers were very wary of corporations, and most of the original colonies had strict laws governing the formation and use of incorporation.
Cut to present where thanks to the 2010 Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court, corporations now have the same full constitutional protections as natural persons. Through a miscarriage of judicial transcription by the supreme court reporter J.C. Bancroft Davis in 1886, corporate personhood was “established”, and the ramifications of that assumption have resulted in the total corruption of the capitalist system in place in modern day America, This occurred largely because this “decision” has wrested from the Peoples Government the ability to control corporations. The end result is an unprecedented concentration of capitol in the control of a very small group of oligarchs.
Capitalization of enterprise has seen shifts and tides throughout our history, but the inexorable trend has been to corporate consolidation of capitol, to the point that we as a nation cannot recover from our current recession because a few large corps are hording trillions of dollars, waiting to decide if they are going to invest in the US or China. The U.S. capitalist system has matured to create full on monopolies that hold no allegiance to nation, only to profit.
Of course our founding fathers saw the danger of allowing corporations to have unfettered access to our political system, it is a crying shame our Supreme Court, Congress, and Executive branches were unable to stop the corporate takeover of our Nation. And truth be known, the change happened over many generations, in such small increments, that the populace, though alarmed with each decision, and law, and tax loophole, were often deluded into believing that no corporation would ever do anything to tear down our nation!
The conclusions that Karl Marx, [in his role as social scientist], reached in his analysis of capitalism have sadly come mostly to roost in the economic structure of America today. With boom and bust cycles, bubbles, and the crash of the next hot thing, all resulting in worse and worse impacts on our economy, one has to wonder if the next bail out of the financial sector will be successful, and maybe more importantly, will the people of the US be able to afford it. The ideal that we have a government Of the People, By the People, and For the People, only holds true now if you include Monsanto, Goldman Sachs, and Exxon et-al as your blood brothers. The corporate plan is to socialize all the risk, and privatize all the profit. Further, only those that control the corporations will be allowed to enjoy socialized benefit, for the proletarians there must be “market based” solutions to the challenges of life. This is capitalism run amok.
CHINA
I have heard it said on many occasions, that when looking at the economic structure in market based China, “they are exceptional, because they have a totalitarian governing system”. While this statement is true, it is also simplistic, and fails to really acknowledge that in China, all the benefit of capitalism flows directly to the centralized communist government. The Chinese government makes all decisions regarding economic policy, from fees and taxation. to tariffs, to permits, to sitting, to export quotas, to import regulation, to patent protection, ad-infinitum. In short, the Central Committee of the Chinese Government controls every aspect of every business transaction that occurs in country. All decisions are predicated on whether the outcome will benefit the Chinese government. That is the sole criteria and guiding principal.
The Chinese have followed in the footsteps of the South Koreans who followed the Japanese model of capitalism. These nations along with Taiwan have perfected a “Pacific Rim Capitalism” that puts their Premiers and his advisors in the drivers seat of corporate boards of directors, and all decisions are made to benefit the Nation first. If there is anything left over, the corporation is allowed to keep a small profit, and made to reinvest in research and development and infrastructure. One thing you will never see in Japanese, South Korean or Chinese corporations are exorbitant compensation packages for their directors .
China has been able to amass huge capital reserves because they were willing to make a huge workforce available to work for a pittance. The only cost to corporations to use this workforce is control of their company, and yet, even though they give this up, the profit margin is still huge and too good to pass up.
The reason that US corporations began outsourcing labor is that the tax code that was re-written during the Reagan Revolution made it advantageous for once loyal American Corporations to generate profits abroad. Prior to Reagan, any profit that was made offshore then brought back into this country was heavily taxed, and any product that was made off shore and brought back into this country to be sold was hit with a tariff equivalent to the difference in labor cost. Now we give a tax credits to corporations that out-source labor, and shake our heads when we have to give tax refunds to corporations that show multi- billion dollar profits for a year of commerce. Ah, but for the good old days, pre WTO, when we could actually protect our national workforce against unfair competition. Ah, but for the good old days when “what was good for GM” actually was good for America. Speaking of which, GM just built 3 brand new factories in China in 2010, yes they have returned to profitability, thanks to the American taxpayer, but that profit will flow to China!
The simple fact of the matter is that America, for reasons that only make sense to corporate CEO`s, decided to give up her manufacturing base economy, and China was only too eager to fill the void. It is hard to tell if the benefit of all of the rapid economic expansion in China is being felt by her population as a whole, the minimum wage is still equivalent to .21cents on the dollar, there is an interesting reversal of fortune though, with many Chinese now driving Buicks, and Americans are increasingly commuting to work [if they can find it] on bicycles and motor scooters.
Another fact that is omnipresent in the business world in China, and this is true for every player, no matter where the business calls home; Everything is illegal in China! Let that sink in for a minute….No matter what your venture, if you wish to use the Chinese economy, you do so with the realization that at any time your permits to do business in that country can be rescinded. This is the club that forces companies to give up their technologies and patents to the central committee, just for the privilege of manufacturing in that country. There have been some high profile battles over this, but I have been unable to find where the Chinese have lost a single one. There have been some positive examples by German companies who refused to give up their technologies, and have decided to stay home, which has been a huge boon to the German economy, one that rivals the Chinese in growth.
To my mind corporations have been hoodwinked into doing business in China, on the lure of a billion plus person market place. But it is most assuredly true that the huge majority of Chinese people cannot afford the products that are now made in that country, and in fact, by keeping the value of the currency artificially low, the central government insists that the people of China do not buy any of the junk made there, they are instead encouraged to save their money, and in a point of fact, China has one of the highest savings rates in the world.
The other sad fact about companies that have moved to China, is that now that they are there, they can never leave, kind of a Hotel California like nightmare scenario. These companies were made to divulge all of their corporate secrets that made their product unique and profitable. So let`s say they get pissed about a new regulation that demands higher taxes or permit fees, where are they going to go? And let`s say they actually find another place to build their product, how will they compete in a global market with a hostile Chinese central committee that will be intent on squashing their market share, especially if they no longer have a technological advantage?
The long and short of the Chinese capitalist system of running their economy is that they operate with a cutthroat, hardball, play to own the entire world type of mentality. Nothing else counts.
What has been proven by the Chinese is that communism and capitalism work exceedingly well together, most certainly better than democracy and capitalism. Economic decisions are made in China without the hindrance of an opposition party bent on scoring political points for the next election cycle.
The corporate buyout of the United States government supports this contention also, in that the messiness of democratic principals, and the potential for government to throw up regulation and road blocks to corporate enterprise are seen as a detriment to profit. Of course this buy out exposes our democratic experiment to foreign malfeasance by Chinese controlled money. The biggest difference between the Chinese program and the United States is that the Chinese have a strangle hold on Corporations doing business in their country, and the United States has thrown open the barn doors and let the horses run free! It is painfully obvious which method best enriches a nation.
BANGLADESH
My interpretation of the Bangladesh economic structure is in many ways a plea for a return to sanity in global economics, and isn’t it interesting that we get to hold up what has historically been one of the most impoverished countries in the world as an example of how to structure a capitalistic system of economy that builds, from the ground up, a means of living for the poorest of the poor.
Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammed Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist, and founder of the Grameen Bank an institution that provides microcredit loans to poor people who do not qualify for commercial bank loans, has demonstrated beyond question the benefit of capitalizing the people of the nation. The success of the Grameen Bank in helping its clients establish creditworthiness and financial self-sufficiency has given meaning to the lives of millions of poverty stricken in Bangladesh, who were caught up in the seemingly endless cycle of poverty. The result of these loans that averaged $85 is the creation of an entrepreneurial spirit in a population that only a few short years ago was destitute. The economy created by these small businesses is lifting the entire nation to the point that it is considered by many economic forecasters to be one of the next developing countries to achieve economic stability.
Although I recognize that the entire economic system of Bangladesh is not the Grameen Bank, the growth of the Urdu economy gives testament to the idea that not all forms of capitalism rely on the exploitation of a resource, and that there are very workable alternatives to the fat-cat model that seems to dominate the economies of the developed world.
CONCLUSIONS
We have looked at three distinct forms of capitalist economies in the world, one a very mature and well established system that has been altered and recast many times by many courts and administrations to benefit either labor or industry, yet seldom both at the same time. Second we examined a 20 year old system that is on steroids, and growing with the vigor of a teenage giant, whose appetite seems bent on elbowing the world out of house and home. And thirdly, we looked at an infant system that is nourishing its most needy with the equivalent of Mothers milk, and the world is watching the healthy results.
It is important to know that capitalism is very plastic in nature, that is to say it can be molded and shaped into so many varied forms, according to the needs and desires of the investor, and here is where the rubber meets the road, the stuff hits the fan, and the tough get going.
The needs of the investors in the American system, are in blunt terms, shortsighted, and focused on the next quarterly report, for that is how to keep bubbles inflating. Of course it has not always been this way, the current iteration is the result of 30 years of supply side economic theory, a revolution by industrialists that took back the reins of power from FDR, and his disciples. This revolution was fostered by Reagan, foisted on GHW Bush, put in high gear by Clinton, and pillaged by GW Bush. Aided and abetted by a power hungry incumbent legislature, enabled by a ultra conservative activist Supreme Court, ignored by a complicit corporate media, and ogled by a populace who thought they were going to get a piece of the pie. Of course bubbles burst, and a very few [those in the know] are in position to profit handsomely by shorting the bet, and in effect fleecing the populace of their retirement and their jobs.
It is an insane system of economy, because each successive bubble that burst is more violent and destructive to the fabric of the nation, and concentrates wealth into fewer and fewer hands. The objective lesson here is that concentration of capital in an oligarchy, results in a diminished and fractured society that soon looses its sense of Nation, because the ability of the populace to better its position is taken when the capitalization of the populace is taken. Frankly it is no way to maintain the great democratic experiment that is The United States of America
The needs of the investors in the Chinese model, are grand, and simple at once, for the investors are the collective communists of China, a billion plus population that desperately needs to raise the fortunes of its people who have lived at subsistence level since the communist revolution of 1949. The simplicity arises from the ease with which the ruling central committee is able to make economic decisions that are solely based on what is best for China, as a nation. There is no messy democracy to contend with, only a bureaucracy with which to exert the states will. Grand and simple indeed, yet not without difficulty, for the decisions about when to start allowing the great wealth that has been accumulated by China, to begin to benefit the people of China, is about to come to a head. There is great pressure both internally and externally for China to begin to supply their own population with the very fruits of their labor, which to date are almost exclusively exported.
History teaches that totalitarian regimes which do not lift the boats of the people must rule with iron fists of suppression. Since China must necessarily engage in the market of reputation, incidences such and the Tiananmen Square massacre, or the oppression of the Falun-Gong, or the Tibetans, only serve to bring the iron fist into full light. In today’s world it is unseemly to be seen whipping your children.
The Chinese should be admired if their overall goal is the lifting up of their nation to join the rest of the first world countries in prosperity. It is certainly time to turn their focus inward at the market place that is China. Unless of course their main goal is world domination, gained not by war, but by controlling all of the money.
I do not pretend to know the central committees plans, but it does seem that the communist Chinese are hell bent of domination. I cannot help but wonder, if it were the Russians who were importing all of the junk that American consumers seem to need, would we be so willing to shop at Wall Mart? Would red blooded Americans take an active part in outsourcing our jobs and livelihoods to Russia? And yet our seemingly insatiable appetite for cheap gismos and gadgets feeds the communist beast that stands poised to grind our bones.
It is indeed a disturbing thought that the communists will win, not because a communist economy will even function, it won`t, but because a communist government bests us at our own economic game, market capitalism.
The needs of the investors in Bangladesh are, amongst those compared herein, the only needs that could be considered altruistic. It is ironic that this can be said of a capitalist model fashioned by Muslims, based in the Zakah, the 3rd pillar of Islam, which requires of all Muslims, concern for, and the giving of alms to the needy.
In actuality, the needs of the investors of the Grameen Bank, are not measured in rates of return, or quarterly profit margin, but rather in the deed well done, facilitating a living for the least amongst them. In return, they are rewarded with a miniscule 1% default rate, which simply means that 99% of those who reach out for help, are indeed lifted.
I cannot think of a better example in all the world to show the benefit of capitalizing the population of a nation. The markets that arise from this simple model are as close to free as can be found anywhere. The demand for product drives the supplier to invest in the making of their product, thus creating true value and wealth.
I believe this essay has shown by example and logic both the danger, and benefit of capitalism, and how by the very way it is structured, can be made to either benefit the few, rule the world, or create a world worth living in. There is not a better system for the pathological money worshipers to thrive in, or for the beneficent to bring about real change in the lives of billions in the world today.
Capitalism can be used for the greatest good, or the greatest evil, how we use it, or allow it to be used in our names, measures each of us on that scale.
Peace on Earth, and Good Will Toward Men.
Bibliography:
Thom Hartmann, Unequal Protection How corporations Became People, and How We Can Fight Back, Second Edition, Barrett-Kohler Publishers 2010
Eamonn Fingleton, In The Jaws of the Dragon America`s Fate in the Coming Era of Chinese Hegemony. Thomas Dunne Books/ St.Maritn`s Press 2008
The Documentary; Pennies a day, made by www.izit.org, a 501 [c] 3 charitable foundation. http://www.youtube.com/thegreenchildren#p/f/5/veaVikY3u98
Sunday, January 9, 2011
My Bad
On Friday, Jan. 7, 2011 I posted an assignment on Facebook that several friends read and responded to. The proposal was to compare in essay form the capitalistic systems of 3 countries, USA, China, and Bangladesh. I stated that my essay would be posted tonight, Jan. 9, 2011.....well as the subject of this diary states, I am late with my homework, and beg my friends for more time to put this together.
I am afraid my excuse will not wash with any of the teachers I ever had, or who currently influence my life. To own up, I went skiing yesterday and today, and quite frankly I am exhausted....this is in fact a sophomore like mistake!
I fully intend to complete the assignment, and submit it here. The subject matter interests me deeply, and I actually look forward to putting my thoughts on this subject to words.
I will send out an e-mail notification letting everyone know of my efforts.
Best Regards!
I am afraid my excuse will not wash with any of the teachers I ever had, or who currently influence my life. To own up, I went skiing yesterday and today, and quite frankly I am exhausted....this is in fact a sophomore like mistake!
I fully intend to complete the assignment, and submit it here. The subject matter interests me deeply, and I actually look forward to putting my thoughts on this subject to words.
I will send out an e-mail notification letting everyone know of my efforts.
Best Regards!
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
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| The View to the False Summit from our Base Camp! |
We set up our base camp in a light drizzle, and gusty winds, but the storm broke about 2:00 am, and it was a beautiful day to climb!
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| Walking back to the South or False Summit, the actual summit is center left. |
We shared the summit with 25 or 30 other climbers, maybe not quite as crowded as Mount Rainier on that Sunday, but still a lot of people enjoyed the climb!
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| Mount Hood |
Looking due South to the spectacular Mt. Hood above a sea of clouds.
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| Mount Rainier |
Looking due North to the hulking mass of Mt. Rainier, also well above the clouds!
It was a wonderful climb, and sunburn aside, one I enjoyed very much. I think I would like to climb the North Ridge Route on this peak next year!
Thanks for stopping by to look!
BTW, click on the images to see them in full size! They are well worth the bandwidth!
Mount Adams, 8.8.2010
Here is a nice view of the actual summit of Mt. Adams, taken from the South, or false summit, as you can see, it is still quite a ways to the top from here!
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