caribleaper

2008-11-02T21:59:00.003Z

WORDS, WORDS & MORE WORDS

One of the good things about the present economic turmoil is the way one is forced, in the midst of the gloom, to come to grips with the operations of the holy of holies of the economic temple. For the uninitiated this is like a painful journey through a difficult maze. For the jargons are as numerous as they are mind-boggling in terms of a lay-person trying to make sense out of the intricacies of the operation our economic life.

Hence, we read of the “flight of capital”, the “dissipation of confidence”, “loss of faith”, “emerging economies”, “seizure in the credit market”, “globalised finance”, “economic fallout” “asset prices decline”, “asset bubbles”, “public debt”, “credit growth” and many more jargons and coded language. The bottom line however, is that as confidence dissipates there is costly pain all around, with the smaller and poorer nation (and poor people within nations) being the most vulnerable. In this situation it is not uncommon for the survival of the fittest to become the order of the day.

Indeed, the economy and our economic lives are in intensive care – though for those who have been affected the reality is more morgue-like. Neo-liberal capitalism and privatisation, we are told operate on the premise of profits for stakeholders. Yet, a most ironical fact is that it is public funds (that is, the money of tax payers) now being used to bail out private adventurers! And this is only one example of how public funds are used to fund private ventures. No wonder the word “private” in the Latin root has among its meanings that of “stolen”!

As the full impact of economic thievery continues to be revealed daily, we now hear, as one news report suggests, that the “R” word is on the lips and hearts of people who dictate our economies. And that “R” word is recession, as economies take a downturn.

There are, of course, other related “R” words that should also feature. There is “redundancy” as many lose their jobs, houses and much more. Regret is yet to genuinely flow forth from any of the lips. Responses of government can at best be likened to that of confused, dysfunctional and overprotective parents trying to pamper spoilt children by creating more bubbles in the bubble bath to cool down panic, divert attention and cloud reality. And the greatest challenge remains that of radically rethinking our economic lives so that the common good will be more than good: it will be just!

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2008-10-20T13:55:00.004+01:00

RE-FRAMING QUESTIONS

Among the many conversations arising from the “economic meltdown” and the “banking fiasco” was one that got my attention. It was around the question: ‘Has [neo] capitalism failed?” Pundits took clear views from "yes" to "no" and "not sure " with a note that capitalism is here to stay – as it will always find ways to morph into something else. Even a committed socialist amazingly conceded that socialism will be unable to provide an alternative system.

Contemplating on the foregoing and the way discourses and conversations have been going over the last month, I am struck by the fact that there is no sense of “repentance” or the ability for people in responsible position to express “regret” or say that they are “sorry”. Part of our dilemma is that we do not know who should be taking that responsibility. Should it be the phenomenally salaried CEO’s of the banking institutions? Should it be governments? Should it be the public for panicking with a loss of confidence? Perhaps, the inability for people to come forward may be related to the complexity of our economic lives that suggests, among other things, that we no longer know who is in control.

Yet, I wonder, how it would be possible to come out of this and not re-inscribe the very thing if there are no faces to the "sin" (to re-introduce a bad-word). Whatever fancy language or jargon we use to name sin in this context, it is still greed that assumes the garb of unregulated economics becoming gods accountable only to its own rules. This, I submit, must be sourced by human beings, not UFO’s.

In this regard religions and faiths have a tremendous role to play in putting “heart” back into our economic lives. Hence, one can appropriate the Psalmist: “Create in us clean hearts and right spirits, O Divine One.”

As I write from a Christian perspective, let me note for those who think (especially our pontificating pundits) that the Church is out of touch with this issue, I have some news for you: for quite some time, Churches (especially the World Council of Churches [WCC] and most of the historical Churches in the UK) have been speaking out, researching and writing on issues of the market, economy, economics and poverty. Their publications can fill quite a few bookshelves.

To use the title of a book the first General Secretary of the WCC, The Greatness & Wretchedness of the Church, churches in spite of all their weaknesses have been and are prophetic (their greatness). Unfortunately (fortunately some will say) church tends to end up in a no-win situation (same will be true of all religions and faiths). When they live and practice their prophetic ministry they are told to mind things “spiritual” and keep out of politics. And when it is perceived that they are silent, they are told off for their silence, hypocrisy and "pie in the sky in the great bye and bye" attitude.

To return morality, heart, and responsibility, and a spirit of repentant humility to our economic life, we need to rediscover our spiritual core and hence the critical and constructive role of faiths. The question, therefore, is not whether capitalism has failed: it is whether we can put back heart, soul and responsibility in our economic relationships. What shall it profit our generation and future ones if we gain the whole world and lose morality, conscience, heart, and soul?

image credit: jagessar

2008-10-10T10:22:00.004+01:00

Credit Disaster: Men Out of Control

Over the last few days, every corner one turns to, the talk is about the financial crisis. The people I meet are more concerned about the “few pennies” they have put away, their mortgage repayments, and job security, among the many thoughts on their minds. People are very worried. This is no longer a crisis. It is a disaster and the scale of things as they are being made public is mind-boggling. One is usually of the habit of associating such scandals (thanks to Western media) with corrupt governments in the majority world. What and how we now name this mind-boggling gambling of billions of pounds and dollars of people’s money would be interesting. And, who can blame people for a loss of confidence or faith!!!

Not even the joined up thinking and efforts of the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, and the central banks of Canada, Sweden and Switzerland of coordinating a half-point percent cut in interest rates offers stability. And try as much as the governments of China, Australia, India, Iceland, Mexico, Japan, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and others to cut interest rates, the downward spiral continues.

Lack of confidence means that “selling out is unstoppable” as “investors are gripped with fear”. Besides sounding like a horror film, I wonder who are the people doing the buying! Money, of course, is not what gives character and nerve to commitment. Morality is at the heart of commitment and this does not grow in banks. The reality is that we finally get to hear some honest sound-bites as market-gods are saying that their “monster baby” is out of control! Yet, habit is a terrible chain as now and again the layperson is given the impression as if there is this “monster” out there operating on its own!

Of course, we are not fools – the market is what we humans have created and nurtured over the years and where most of us have tied (or have had) our heartbeats to. And the fact is, our present financial predicament is a reflection of its human designers –mainly men- who are now unable to stop or control that wayward bull or bear on the rampage. Hence, one pundit is quite correct to note: “there is no domestic solution to a crisis like this one.”

And I am sure that our PM may be right to say that this disaster needs a "global solution" with bold and coordinated actions at “a restructuring of financial markets”. But this certainly has to be alongside putting human faces and hearts to our economic lives: and most importantly that this will not be a talk shop of the usual men's club. I submit that one of the reasons why we are here today is that our financial institutions are controlled and run predominantly by men - some operating like boys with new toys. If the market is out of control it is a reflection of men who are out of control.

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2008-09-27T12:06:00.010+01:00

The Dilemma of Making Moral Judgments

I agree and identify with the pronouncements of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York on the present financial meltdown. One can use all kinds of fancy language to name the “virus” that has taken over our economic life – but one stands out. And it is not new: it is age old and sums up the capacity for human shortcomings. It is greed – the inordinate desire for more (at any cost) that goes unregulated and becomes an end unto itself.

It is easy, however, for churches, religious leaders and pundits to pontificate on the sins around us. The present dilemma will provide sermon sound-bites that will make Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos and all the unnamed prophetesses sound extremely tame. Yet, if greed is a culprit, churches, religious organisations and faiths need to watch out for another deadly virus: that of hypocrisy.

This may have been the reason why the staff writers of Ekklesia quickly kicked back the ball into the playing area of the Archbishops with their challenge of putting the churches money “where its message is”. Their call reveals what most of us who are associated with churches know fully well: Churches are not “saints” when it comes to how their assets are invested. The people commissioned to do the investing, while they may be guided by the ethical policies of their respective body, largely operate with designed unawareness when it comes to speculating, and unregulated and deceptive practices. God, Jesus and Holy Spirit may be three in one, and Jesus may have provided for 5000 and more, but these do not secure pension funds and increase the assets to run the firm.

And those of us who think that we can just point to what Jesus said and how the early Christian lived and shared as the way out, need to be aware that there is no blueprint from biblical sources for running our complex economic lives. There are, however, numerous insights into values that should be core to the way we shape our economic lives. And, neither Christians nor our sacred texts should claim any monopoly on such shaping values.

While moral pronouncements such as the appropriate intervention of the Archbishops are timely, we also need to work hard on the faithfulness of our faith/moral pronouncements. After all, to remove that speck that has skewed the vision of global economics, demands of us to also work on the log of our own myopic lives. Making moral judgments is a good opportunity for self-reflection and confession.

And may I add, that perhaps Churches may be best placed to teach the markets and global economic about “regulating” and “controlling”. We have been doing this ever since Jesus rose and went his way: regulating Jesus, the Divine and Grace!

image credit: e-watchman.co.uk

2008-09-26T12:25:00.004+01:00

CRUNCHING NUMBERS, LIES & STEALING LIFE: FINANCIAL WOES

I used to associate the word “crunch” with either numbers or more to the truth about my over generous “abdominal area”, with abdominal crunches as crucial to get the unnecessary fat away. These days, as I struggle to maintain the discipline of “abdominal crunch” exercises, I have to contend with a different kind of “crunch” – the credit one. This is with regard to the present state of our economics and economies.

One would have thought that neo-liberal capitalism has become so triumphant (and hyped up) that economic salvation has been guaranteed once and for all. At least this is the truth that we are brainwashed to hold on to. But this seems not to be the case, as ever since the start of this New Year (perhaps earlier) and certainly at present, central banks are slicing interest rates hoping to check the “bad debt”, “sub-prime” losses and unfreeze the credit crunch. Yet, the crisis is far from over and every day laypeople like myself read of mind-boggling sums of losses that banks (that think and behave like infallible gods) are declaring and even more mind-boggling sums used to bail some out in order to restore credit-ability. This is besides trying to keep track of one’s few pennies in comparison to the millions that the CEO’s of these banks rake in as a yearly salary even when they have made a mess of things.

In the midst of all of this, we are informed by the economic pundits that this slide started when mortgage companies (in the USA) made billions of inappropriate loans to people with bad credit histories and then nicely packaged these, suckering top notched financial institutions to buy them and then they in turn selling it on to pension and hedge funds. The real scary stuff is that no one seems able to locate where these bad debts are sequestered in the financial system! So guess what: banks are now unable to trust each other enough to be able to lend, as no one is willing to take the risk!

In the midst of all the talks of recession, dollar dive, housing market jitters, and foreclosures it is easy not to notice the pathological trend of lying, denying and blaming that the financial institutions and their chief executive priests employ in order to win confidence. What is most irritating is that these "fat cats" think that the rest of us are idiots and cannot see through their barefaced lying.

A reality is, because our lives are so tied to growth at all cost and around an economic tunnel vision of the survival of the fittest – lying, denying and defending to win confidence is the order of things. And one lie leads to another, with us ending up in cycle of perpetual lies. This is serious degeneration (a sign that a civilization is heading over the cliff) when our lives revolve around one lie after the other or when confidence can only be boosted and regained by as series of statistical lies. What is truth becomes more urgent and necessary. In the meantime another significant question is this: who are the real losers? Who feels the crunch the most?

Whatever fancy financial jargon and language we use to analyse the situation, the bottom line remains common-sensical: our lives continue to be governed by uncontrolled greed: the inordinate desire for more and more to the extent that we suffer from any sense of the notion of a responsible limit. The dollar, pound euro and yen continue to rule our lives – in them we trust! It is time to become proactive and stop governments, banks, financial institutions and pensions companies from doing sinful things with our money.Does the economy of God, with its illogic (according to the wisdom of the market economy) and counter set of economic principles offer openings in terms of our response?

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WEARING TEFLON, FERTILITY & RIGHTS OF FUTURE GENERATIONS

2008-09-21T21:19:00.006+01:00

WEARING TEFLON, FERTILITY & RIGHTS OF FUTURE GENERATIONS

I recently accompanied my family on a rare adventure as a family – to shop for trousers for our sons as they prepare to return to secondary school. Our sons cannot stand the crowded stores so this was a rare treat to be out together in very crowded stores. It is a blessing, however, that they still have to wear “uniforms” to school (not designer clothing), though given that they both are now in their “A” level classes, there is some leeway for brands that will still fit the “uniform” mode.

But back to the purchase of school trousers: as we rummaged through the vast array of what was available. Out of interest I peeked at the label to learn more about the material that these trousers in the school section were made of and where they were produced. What struck me was the fact that they all were made from a “teflon” based material. I have since learned that one of reasons put forward for the use of teflon is that it makes the material tougher and there is no need to do ironing. But having just read through my latest issue of New Internationalist (September 2008) on “Drowning in Plastic”, I was more than conscious of the ways our lives are being ruined by the variety of petro-chemical products, including “teflon”.

Teflon is the trademarked name for Polytetrafluoroethylene , helpfully abbreviatyed as PTFE to avoid hurting our tongues. We need to thank Dr. Roy Plunkett (1938) at the DuPont research laboratories for discovering PTFE. This chemical used to make teflon (which makes things “non-stick”) in its use is considered a “likely carcinogen” (cancer-causing substance) according to some experts. Yet the stuff is not banned. It has taken over our lives, with the mere caveat that producers who use the stuff are obligated to ensure that it does not break down and leak into our lives – be it cooking utensils, pizza boxes, and clothes etc. Can you imagine such irresponsibility? Any science student at secondary school will know that within a few minutes under the heat of the stove, a Teflon coated frying can see the breakdown of the material possibly emitting toxic particles/gases.

Yet, this is not the only place where these deadly non-stick chemicals can be found. They are also there in the school trousers of our children with the promise of durability and stain proof. But, those non-ironing and stainmaster promises are actually deadly for our children as they cover up/carry toxic and cancer-causing chemicals. Whom can we trust to take our interest and well-being at heart? As parents we have been fooled into toxifying our children’s bodies with some scary chemical stuff that can have serious future health consequences (besides the environmental ones). This is not to mention that one may have wait in vain to see grandchildren as the fertility of our children will also be affected. At least there will be no need for contraceptives! While some of us can afford to buy clothing made of organic fibres, I wonder how many parents will be able to do so. My Rasta friend with his jute bag clothing was certainly forward thinking on the matter of generations!

Here is a moral question for government and businesses - for all of us: what consideration do we give to the rights of future generations? Do our present thinking unwittingly contribute to their erasure ? Do the rights of the future generation ever feature our radar screens in our business deals and making of policies?