Hi BernieYou mentioned the failures of liberal eco...

2008-02-19T00:51:00.000-05:00

Hi Bernie
You mentioned the failures of liberal economics that have sullied the reputation of liberal politics. I would challenge the notion of the overall success of liberal economies.
The economical structure of our times has evolved to become anything other than liberal. It is totalitarian in nature. Some multi national companies, who account to share holders on a base of profitability and share price only, have operating budgets bigger than those of some governments. Yet, their ‘chiefs’ were not elected by anyone but rather appointed by some interest groups or individuals.
Under the current model of globalisation, desperate cash starved governments trying to create local employment, are constantly courting the giant companies. The terms of most future ventures between these giant companies and the governements are likely to harm the local people in the long run whether it is by polluting their land or by eroding any worker’s rights. (it is great to get an Intel factory, but look closely at the demography of their young work force…as my Intel friend employee said… nobody over a certain age can live like this…).

For a middle class to expand, it should grow naturally over a period of time in a free economy. In China, the middle class grew as a bi-product of government controlled manufacturing binge that left China with 5 of the 10 most polluted cities in the world. Middle class needs minimum quality of life such as air fit to breath if it is to prosper. As people become middle class, it is harder to force them to co-operate with authoritarian regimes and then you see the cream of the crop migrating to other countries (which is what is happening today all over the world. Although you are starting to see middle class demonstrating in China and the brave few in Iran and Russia but not without risking ruthless regimes and therefore their lives.

You wrote about our compounded material needs that add up most quickly to the national interest. This need is the fantasy of today’s middle class. It helps them stay in a situation where many can no longer find happiness in their daily lives. A typical middle class life is comprised of work and miscellaneous family obligation .The wonderfull liberal economics, left the middle class with extended working hours. When the workday is over, one can barely manage to put out fires financially or personally. Because of the collapse of the education infrastructure, the family has had to pick up the burden of supplementing children education (when educational aspirations are to remain a priority within the family).

Educational infrastructure looks as miserable as the rest of the other decaying infrastructure whether it is the roads or the medical systems. It is the very perfect enviroment for mediocre politicians to keep their agenda while not being intelligently scrutinised by the destructed masses.

In fact in our cherished globalism there is no feasible way for a politician to be a visionary. Whether Clinton or Obama gets to power, it is likely globalism that will chart their political career and not their vision.(big interest groups managed to kill Clinton’s attempts for mandatory health insurance in the past and likely do so again). Today Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are attempting to take on charity/welfare to step in where their governments failed, as they likely can no longer ignore the massive social problems in their country.

Vision has been removed from the leading powers in democracies and is only afforded to dictatorial rulers all over the world who truly follow their vision. These dictators are, many times, the recipients of all or part of what benefit the global economies have brought their country. They are both the monetary recipient and the implementers of the policies under which business operates and wealth is created and distributed in their domain. Both are a far cry from free economy.

The sad part is that civil right watchers, whether it is labour unions or NGOs all over the world, have been plagued with mediocrity. They make very little impact on world’s problems and many of them have a self-serving comfortable existence.
The same way that China And Saudi Arabia are economically intertwined with the U.S by owning a slice of its economy; labour unions who own securities, cannot afford to hurt the economy for self serving economical reasons. In Toronto the teachers union pension fund, is one of the biggest and very lucrative financial force on the Toronto stock exchange. In the new world’s order everything is intertwined and amazingly self-serving to very few.

As we admirably turned to globalisation so have our problems. Jihadism is no longer a Palestinian problem and the Arab Israeli wars are now more global: Israel against the muslin world war (one that in my opinion cannot be won because of it’s shear size). Many Muslims who hate Israel cannot identify it on the map and know nothing about the conflict. It will take a miracle to turn that hatred around, as it is very difficult to reach these masses.
In the west, your average middle class person has no time to read about any issues. With globalisation that same person is asked to take a stand on issues while not being adequately informed.

So where do we go from here? Hopefully to less globalization

I forgot to add that I've corrected the error, so ...

2008-02-17T03:09:00.000-05:00

I forgot to add that I've corrected the error, so people coming to the blog from here on in will not understand the fuss.

Proof positive, if any more be needed, that blogge...

2008-02-17T01:20:00.000-05:00

Proof positive, if any more be needed, that bloggers suffer from a want of copy editors. My apologies to the memory of Caesar Chavez, who (of course) organized the American Farm Workers Union. A senior moment, alas.

great post. Minor error:You probably meant Hugo Ch...

2008-02-16T14:11:00.000-05:00

great post. Minor error:

You probably meant Hugo Chavez, not Caesar Chavez.

(feel free to correct the error and delete my comment! :D)

Comments on Bernard Avishai Dot Com: Small World After All

Hi BernieYou mentioned the failures of liberal eco...

I forgot to add that I've corrected the error, so ...

Proof positive, if any more be needed, that blogge...

great post. Minor error:You probably meant Hugo Ch...