South Asian Socialism

Hamidum2 #123 {``salim mian,
it is not ``laissez-faire capitalism``, it is ``latte-fair capitalism`` ........
you are a well travelled man, what do you think - should i dump the dollar and buy the somali shilling ? ``}

Hamidum Sahib,
One of the things I learned about capitalism is the concept of absolute value. In the States, I usually bought Dunkin Donuts coffee instead of going to Starbucks - cheaper, better tasting, and usually accompanied by a carb-free doughnut filled with sugar-free jellies of all tastes. Also, while I claim to be a much better tipper than Veeresh, I do draw the line somewhere. Those stupid cups, stuffed with dollar and even five dollar bills by the employees themselves, placed at walk up counters, where we line up to satiate our own addiction to liquids, are the latest affront to genuine generosity.

Sir, please stay away from all things Somali. While those warlords may have defeated both American and Pakistani militaries, they are on a path of self-destruction. Seriously, I would consider the Euro. As it is, many wealthy Americans are buying up properties and businesses in Europe - I think that they are contemplating a Mayflower in reverse scenario.

I am sorry that I missed most of this Hamidum2 aka Adam Smith show about the joys of laissez-faire capitalism. We have seen it all - Lenin`s rule of the proletariat, Mao`s long march forward, Qaddafi`s green book, Saddam`s personal billions, Bhutto`s nationalization and Benazir`s embezzlement with both hands. The Christians` ``meek shall inherit the earth`` to the Jews` ``keep it liquid`` to the Islamic ``maal-e-ghanimat,`` to the Hindu ``Bhagwan, chappaR phaR ke de`` - no society has come up with a perfect economic solution to improve the world. Greed, the mother of capitalism, appears to be the only thing that works, and more importantly makes men and women work. So, before you guys redistribute the world`s wealth, please let me know so that I can decide what to do - work as hard as I can or wait around for redistribution to make me rich? Please make up your minds, and don`t change the rules once I have become successful. Thanks,

Re: # 122

salim mian,

it is not ``laissez-faire capitalism``, it is ``latte-fair capitalism`` ........

...... i am still wonderstruck by the starbucks phenomenon - as clever as i am, i simply can`t explain it ....... every morning i stand in line to pay three dollars for a twenty seven cent cup of coffee and walk away feeling like a million bucks ........ see, that is capitalism at its best - you invest twenty seven cents and turn it into a million bucks worth of value in no time ..... it is truly amazing ! ...........

...... you are a well travelled man, what do you think - should i dump the dollar and buy the somali shilling ?

this is a public service announcement:
(for the many chinese who visit this site) :

``When in 1970-1971 foreigners demanded payment for their dollars in gold, The U.S. Government defaulted on its payment on August 15, 1971. While the popular spin told the story of “severing the link between the dollar and gold”, in reality the denial to pay back in gold was an act of bankruptcy by the U.S. Government. Essentially, the U.S. declared itself an Empire. It had extracted an enormous amount of economic goods from the rest of the world, with no intention or ability to return those goods, and the world was powerless to respond— the world was taxed and it could not do anything about it. ``

Re: # 121 Hamid sahib,

Reading your lampoons is always fun. But it seems you are also half-serious in defending the honor and dignity of the Empire. Oh, but you even dispute the very idea that the US is a de facto “empire” in so far as it has managed to get a “free ride” at the expense of some others. Why? What’s wrong with being an imperial citizen? Roman were proud of it. We should be too.

I say “we” because like yourself, having taken an oath of loyalty, despite being born in the far flung provinces, I too am a citizen of the empire even though I presently live in voluntary exile. (It isn’t that I didn’t love all what our Rome has on offer. No. I loved the open markets in the Forum Romanum, the bath-houses and brothels, the abundance and opulence. I loved it all. It’s just that in our Caligula’s reign of terror his praetorian guards were getting a bit too high handed and the tax tribunes were relentless. Furthermore I didn`t quite care for the game shows in the Coliseum featuring the ball-gladiators either.) The point is that I am just as loyal a Roman as you. So let’s please dispense with this indignation you (and some of your wannabes) seem to express at my unpatriotic rantings. Otherwise I’ll have to start comparing you to Urstruly. Or worse yet, to tahmed. Banner-holders both. Blind loyalty to their brand-name first, any logic or merits of the argument be damned. I hope that after this assurance you’ll calm yourself down and be sure to not worry about any plastic explosives (or Molotov cocktails for that matter) concealed in my fanny pack.

There is always a disparity of power among people, groups of people and even among nations. This has always been the case and perhaps always will be. The dominant power of any era has always managed to get a free ride, to a greater or lesser degree, at the expense of others. So this is nothing new. This is not a value judgment and there is no need to get worked up about it. It just stating matters like they are without ascribing either diabolical or angelic attributes to them.

The interpretation of economic history I forward is just one way of looking at the facts. Consider it with an open mind and feel free to disagree. But don’t get hysterical like a jehadi does when one tells him that Islam was spread by the sword, for instance. Try this. Tell an Islamist that when the Caliph Omar wrote a letter to the ruler of a soon-to-be-invaded kingdom and laid out three conditions: (1) accept Islam, (2) Pay Jazya, or (3) prepare for war – it was an act of naked imperial aggression. Just try saying this. The jehadi in question will demonstrate the same indignant disbelief as the desi-babus, on this board who jump at any one who so much as says a word against the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

So, if it pleases your honor, let me just repeat the gist of what I said:

The US is the de facto empire of the day, so naturally it gets its lions share of the spoils of the world. Any empire would have done that – if even not much worse. (God help us all when the Chinese have their hey day.) But the empire is fast approaching it twilight. This empire has its days numbered because it has turned into an Empire of Debt -- particularly since 1985.

There comes a point where an economic unit has to sell its assets in order to meet its interest payments and debt obligations. That’s America today!

America has become a “Ponzi unit” as Hyman Minsky describes in his 1986 book, ‘Stabilizing and Unstable Economy,’. He identifies three distinct income-debt relations for economic units: hedge, speculative and Ponzi finance:

1) Hedge-financing units meet all of their payments from their cash flow.

2) Speculative units can meet the interest payment from their income, but are unable to repay the principal out of cash flow from operations. They need to roll over their liabilities.

3) Ponzi units are unable to pay the interest on their debts by their cash flow, let alone repayment of any principle. They depend on new borrowings or selling assets even to meet their interest bill.

It is a reasonable conclusion that the U.S. economy and its financial system on the whole have become one gigantic ``Ponzi financing unit.`` But before my pinko buddies uncork the Champaign let me hasten to add that these are historical trends that do not change over-night. It took Rome eight hundred years of slow decline until the end. The US empire should take at least eighty. Thirty of them have already past. Happily, I shall not be around to see the end. Like you, I hate the Chinks too..!!

...SR

Re: # 141

SR,

...... your posts are so nice and polite and so well written that it is hard to get mad even though i disagree with what you have to say about the state of the ``empire``....... why ? ...... three reasons :

1) as they say, history never repeats itself
2) chicken little was wrong
3) the ``future`` consists of the next thirty six hour because that`s how long the effect of cialis lasts......... okay, maybe a year at the most - anything longer than that is impossible to predict and completely irrelevant ..........

Re: # 143 {``... i disagree with what you have to say about the state of the ``empire``...

history never repeats itself...``}

Hamid ji, disagree with me all you want, but how can you say history never repeats itself? Didn`t you notice that there is an American Revolution brewing right under your nose, but you`re only smelling the coffee brew... It just like 1775... the people are getting fidgety. Their government is snooping around and sticking its filthy paws in their private business more and more. They are tired of the country being run by this idiot called George, who in fact was mad and whose only reason for being there was that he was the son of another idiot who was also called George. The people were having to pay through their nose to keep the cronies of George living in style. Quite like 1775 it is... and you say history never repeats... tsk, tsk..

...SR

PS: I`ll grant you the cialis time index for reliability of what happens next. Beyond that gravity always wins and nothing happens.

Musa Sami {``Whilst the government is busy looting our brothers and sisters we sleep easy congratulating ourselves on a pretty penny tucked under the pillow. Western corruption is endemic in this way of living. Surely we should be the first to take a stand and make a difference. ``}

Musa Bhai,

Aw, please give me a break! Once again you are asking American Muslims (and Pakistanis not to mention you threw in the Indians for good measure!) to take a stand. Sir, we all deplore the poverty, the hunger, the diseases, and the injustice afflicting the poor in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Perhaps, we American Muslims should have been consulted before our WTC and Pentagon offices were destroyed by suicidal fanatics. The loss of life in the 9/11 attacks, the loss of life and treasure in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the billions being ``wasted`` on security are all resources that could have helped humanity. While Sudan is killing its own darker-skinned Muslim citizens, while Pakistan refuses to repatriate its own darker-skinned citizens ``stranded`` in Pakistan, while Sunni Muslims are busy killing Shia Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, you are asking American Muslims to ``take a stand and make a difference.`` With the paralysis unleashed on us by our Muslim ``brethren`` from the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, we would be lucky to take a lemonade stand from a seven year old.

Zeena #1 {``We did not sell our souls to America. Middle Eastern retarded countries did.
America gave us pride , awareness, freedom, respect, equal opportunities without any CORRUPTION.

On the other hand, your corruption at every level is the second and first nature of all your Muslim countries............... ``}

Zeena,
I agree with all that you said here and I especially applaud the vigor with which you stated the bitter facts. Thanks.

#107 by echoboom

The Islamic Dinar of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is merely an accounting unit like SDR is of the IMF.

As for the other Gold/silver Dinar/Dirham, these are little more than collectors` items. The US Dollar is the undisputed and unavoidable settlement currency of the world.

Re: # 117

zeemax,

............. help ! ........... what do you think about SR`s theory that the US government`s diabolical plan on colonial taxation through inflation ?....... when do you think the US is going to default on its debt to the rest of the world and then start bombing beijing if it gets too uppity and demands its money bank ?......... should we all be converting our dollars into iranian dinars and somali shillings ?????

...... personally i like the somali shilling - you can get a bag full of 1600 of those babies for a buck !............ but how many grande lattes can i buy for a somali shilling ?

............ these are burning questions and i need an answer before the banks close tonight !

p.s. as ntsyed has pointed out, i am not an economist and am sincerely looking for professional advice ....

“Europe is literally melting away like snow in the sun, slipping from 15.6 percent of the world population in 1950 to 10.2 percent in 1985 and 6.4 percent in 2025.” [World Population at The Turn of the Century, United Nations, New York, 1989, page 8.]

“If you look at Europe and then at other continents, the comparison is terrifying. In demographic terms, Europe is vanishing. Twenty or so years from now, our countries will be empty, and no matter what our technical strength, we shall be incapable of putting it to use” President Jacque Chirac.

“It cannot be expected that the most powerful military nations will sit still while other nations reverse the balance of power by the mere process of breeding.” (Bertrand Russel, Marriage and Morals, 1929)

The excerpts above strongly indicate prime motivation of the West`s push for ``GLOBALIZATION``. Of course they need partners and facilitators in the 3rd World, thus a few millionaire & billionnaire entrepreneurs with western franchises and/or models, bureaucrats, feudals, and monarchs in the targeted countries suits them just fine. Not to mention the handful of mediocre myopic blowhorns like few male and female chowkies here do them tremendous service, who bend over forward and backward as whoring cheerleaders for the USA, Europe, and westernized criminals of the rest of the world.

That is also the reason for growing western economic fundamentalism and extremism supported by its militarism, for their goals could not be achieved if each nation is to have it`s own economic policies according to the beliefs and cultures of its masses.

I know, then how come so many desis are able to work in the West and accumulate paltry wealth? A simple answer that comes to mind is that the rapidly shrinking populations of the west need operators and other labor, in blue collars and white, to keep their machinery humming while they venture outbound across territories. To believe that these economic terrorists have found religion overnight and become model humanitarians is a fools dream. Otherwise there wouldn`t be famine and starvation anywhere on the planet earth. Bill & Melinda are exceptions to the rule and there are a few more like them, only a few.

Has anyone ever wondered about the most efficient agency of the UNO? World Bank! The rest of agencies have failed miserably. Phulllleeeeeelease don`t quote statistics here, for G. Carlin rightly puts it that 95% of all stats are made up on the spot and the UNO doesn`t count among the remaining 5%.

The struggle is not against the western opulance and their general lifestyle; it is against unjust hegemony and diabolism to promote freedom across the globe as long as it deepens the pockets of the corporate elite and their puppet politicians. Otherwise, there has to be a color coded revolution with the label of ``Freedom`` to force the masses into western slavery via proxy economics and governmental control.

I hope you all enjoyed the videos at the links I provided in 114 to be able to see beneath the covers.


:-)~~

Musa,

Re the breakdown of US debt, it is as follows as on April 30, 2006:

Marketable debt : $ 4.28 trillion (Held by public).
Non-Marketable Debt : $ 4.07 trillion (Held by intragovernmental holdings)
Total: $ 8.35 trillion.

What we are concerned with here is the Marketable Debt held by the public because the non-marketable one is held by `US Intragovernmental Holdings` i.e. various US government trust funds etc.

Out of the $4.28 trillion of marketable debt, $ 2.23 trillion is held by foreign central banks and institutions. Rest is by US corporations etc.

In short, half of the total US debt is held by US government itself towards pension liabilities etc, one/quarter by US residents, and one/quarter by foreigners ... mainly exporters to US e.g. Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea and UK.

Complete details are available below.

http://www.treasury.gov/tic/mfh.txt

http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opds042006.htm

``When Pakistanis, or Indians for that matter, come and sell their souls to the West, they all too often forget the reality from which they have come. ``

What nonsense accusation ......``sell their souls``......phew!!!!.....sounds like a sexually frustrated parisher.......

oak #57

`` Remember the point being debated is whether India`s handful of billionaires is a true marker of economic prosperity for the common man. Whereas I accept that Indian macro- prosperity has moved forward ($330.6 billion GNI 1990, $571.3 in 2003) the question is how much of this gets through to the common man. The indications of left wing electoral success ie Congress`s elections and the communist continuing hold in Bengal and winning of Kerala indicate a left leaning trend. I accept that elections are black and white results of complex interacting and underlying realities viz. alliances, ideologies, foreign policies etc. but to claim that the election trends have nothing whatsoever to do with the economy is to live in a fanatasy world. Everybody knows what the communists stand for and that Congress is left-wing. At least the 2004 election was a body blow to the BJPs campaign of `India Shining`. The Indian electorate has itself decided on the development of a few billionaires and the development of a super class. ``

Indian economy is doing much better compared to the 1980s.

`` I have no objection if India raises its people from poverty. Any steps in this direction are to be congratulated. But the fact is that poverty is ubiquitous in India. Any visit of India will confirm that. Farmers commit suicide under strains of debt. Whole villages put themselves for sale. Do you really think that India has distributed its economic gains wisely? ``

Do you have any stats on suicides of farmer ?
Fewer people are hungry these days. It corresponds to the abundance of food.

Its good that Zeemax & SR are on board here. Could the gentlemen give me their candid report on the development of the e-dinar & gold currency against the U.S dollar, not as a forecast but as it is already making a significant impact, if at all?

Also, their opinion on how could the U.S react , when push comes to shove, to prevent the havoc & possibly the civil war that might ensue in the U.S? Would she be able to muster any allies on this front?

ECO-KUWAIT-ISLAMIC-MEETING: NewsMay 15 Kuwait News Agency
ECO-KUWAIT-ISLAMIC-MEETING
IDB to issue important resolutions during upcoming meeting -- Al-Humaidhi

KUWAIT, May 13 (KUNA) -- The Minister of Finance Bader Al-Humaidhi said Saturday that the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is expected to issue a number of important resolutions on Islamic economic works during its upcoming meeting.....
.......
said at a press conference that among such resolutions is increasing the bank`s subscription capital from 8.1 billion Islamic dinars (one Islamic dinar = 1.5 US dollars) to 15 billion Islamic dinars.
Islami Mint
THE NEW ISLAMIC DINAR
Boudewijn Wegerif
Project Leader, Monetary Studies Programme
monetarystudies@hotmail.com
Sweden

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A New Phase in the Dollar`s Decline
by Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D.
Editor, Safe Money Report & MoneyandMarkets.com
May 8, 2006

``The dollar is falling and doing so at a quickening pace.``

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from Financialsense.com
Enter the Islamic dinar (gold) and dirham (silver) coin. Taken the size of the Islamic world population and their significant financial resources, we now have in place a major force to precipitate the erosion of paper currencies. Also, and of equal importance, is the fact that on 7/8/2003, China opened their silver market to all of its citizens.

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P.S: Hamidm2: This board is not your cup of Latte. You are a simple, non-cynical epicurean,
and the worries of the world do not become you. If you do not mind could you please revert to your dotted-line breathalyser tests.