History Unfolding

For the past few years, I have become increasingly fascinated with news on Hugo Chavez. I have always been a little bit of a history buff. I suppose I get that from my father, who is even considering retiring after an impressive career as a doctor to go back to college and study history. As a philosopher and theologian, I suppose I have been most interested in Roman history, particularly the rise of the Roman Empire and the demise of the Roman Republic. Elizabeth and I were both quite disappointed when HBO-BBC cancelled its series, 'Rome'. I suppose part of my fascination comes from John's book of Revelation, which details the Christian experience of the early Roman Empire. One of my professors at Drew, Dr. Catherine Keller, has written extensively about the rise of the US Empire over the last 50 years and a number of other professors there have written about neo-colonialism and economic hegemony.

I think all of these have fostered my utter fascination with Hugo Chavez. One big reason is that I, myself, was once an avid supporter of Chavez. Here is a man who united a nation and won re-election in a huge landslide, taking over 70% of the vote. He united the people because he fought corruption in the Venezuelan government. Prior to Chavez's reforms, most of the Venezuelan oil revenues went to make a Venezuelan aristocracy increasingly rich, while most of the country suffered impoverishment. Chavez nationalized oil and used the funds to build schools, infrastructure, and create opportunities for everyone in the country. Undoubtedly, the 30% that did not vote for his re-election were mostly the wealthy who found themselves having to work for a living. Chavez also nationalized public services, such as communications, roads, and health-care, making these services a right instead of a privilege. He has freed Venezuela from dependence on foreign subsidies and foreign aid and is helping to liberate neighboring states from these neo-colonial dependencies.

Because of his remarkable success and overwhelming popularity, the legislature decreed emergency powers to him on Jan. 31, 2007 so that he could continue to nationalize services and stamp out corruption. That was the moment when my support for him began to waver and soon thereafter, falter completely. The Venezuelan legislature basically renounced all of its power and gave it to President Chavez. He no longer needs congressional approval to negotiate trade deals, nationalize services, or even reshape the government. For all intents and purposes, the legislature brought an end to the Venezuelan republic and created a dictatorship. Unlike Julius Caesar, Chavez did not need to march across the Rubicon with the Praetorian Guard.

Yesterday, Chavez forced the closure of Venezuela's most popular TV channel, RCTV, denouncing the 53-year-old station as a "permanent attack on public morals." During his announcement of the closure, he said, "Sound the alarm in the hills, neighborhoods and towns to defend our revolution from this new fascist attack." Which attack would that be, exactly? Who, precisely, is the fascist?

A 'republic' requires checks-and-balances. The primary check comes from a balance of power shared by the legislature and executive. When the Venezuelan legislature renounced its power, they renounced that check-and-balance. A second major check is the freedom of the media. Whenever the president (any president) makes a statement, the media has the responsibility of investigating and telling us whether that statement is true, false, or (more typically) some mixture of the two. This is not the first media outlet that Chavez has closed, and if we read between the lines of his statement, it is not likely to be the last. He referred to Globovision, another Venezuelan TV station, as "enemies of the homeland," indicating his intention of closing that station, too. But what can be done? The legislature no longer has any power to stop him – they renounced that power!

We are watching history unfolding. We have seen a noble, well-intentioned (apparently, at least) liberator of the people and opponent of corruption turn a republic into a dictatorship – not by the force of arms, but by the force of popular support. But now that he has all of this power, public support is no longer necessary. There is no legal solution, even if the people of Venezuela decide that they need one. Venezuela is far from an Empire, but I think a case could be made that Chavez's efforts to 'liberate' neighboring states from US/World Bank dependence could easily turn into a dependence on Venezuela. It is not an end to neo-colonialism, it is merely a shift from one empire to another!

Over the last 30 years, and primarily during the Reagan administration, the US Congress has slowly passed more and more power to the Presidency. The leaders of both parties have consistently done this. Clinton secured fast-track trade powers and even a line-item veto (fortunately, that power expired). GW Bush has invented an entirely new Presidential power with his so-called 'signing statements', not to mention the Congressionally approved Patriot Act. The tenth amendment (states' rights) has slowly been sapped of all of its power, mostly through the use of Eisenhower's Highway funds act. Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution says "Congress shall have the power to... declare War," but Congress has not actually declared war since June 5, 1942. This Constitutional provision has basically lost all of its power as a check-and-balance of Presidential power. Why is it that Congress is not pursuing its investigation of the federal prosecutor appointments in anything other than a political/superficial way? Isn't it because the Democrats fully intend to repeat the practice when they enter the executive?

Where is all of this leading? What are the logical conclusions that must come from this? Perhaps most importantly, what, if anything, can be done about it? Do most US Americans (or most Venezuelan Americans, for that matter) actually understand the difference between a "Republic", a "Democracy", and an "Empire"? Can we see any parallel at all between Blackwater USA, and the Praetorian Guard? If the degradation of congressional and judicial powers continues, would there even be a need to "cross the Potomac"? Can we see any parallel between Julius Ceasar's cry to 'free the slaves' and the current push for immigration reform? If there is no appreciable difference between the two parties, then does the alternation of the executive make any difference at all? In his state-of-the-union speech, Bush declared the state of our union to be stronger than ever. That may be, but what of the state of our freedom and liberty? What of the state of our republic?

Sorry, I know I said my next post would be more casual. I guess I've been working too hard lately. J

We'd like to introduce you

Well, most of my posts have a tendency towards the serious, with many an attempt at profundity. Not today kids! Brad and I, in our desperate need to adopt all of the animals of the world, have gotten ourselves a kitten. We've named her Kali. She's three and half weeks old and is already a bundle of fun. Her new favorite place to sleep is behind the books on my desk shelf.

And yes, we're bringing her home with us next year. Morgan and Stanley will be miffed that they once again have to share us with someone who is younger and livelier.

Kali in her bed, playing with Brad. She's smaller than his hand!

She likes to sit and play in her litter box. It's a little gross, actually.

This is our girl Morgan. She's living with Brad's sister and
is waiting anxiously for us to return to her, I'm sure!!!

This is Stanley. She's chunky and is much better fed by Brad's
mother than she ever was by the two of us.
I'm sure that she'll be sad to leave the
"House of Perpetual Food and Constant Attention"!

Can consumerism be a good thing??

Yesterday afternoon, I ran errands in town. Both of our watches needed mending, Brad was running out of notebooks and I needed a day planner. This took me, among other places, to Garuda Mall, one of the largest shopping centers here in Bangalore. Across from the mall is another smaller shopping center and when I pulled up on my scooter to the mall, I noticed a new shop had opened. MAC.

For those of you who don’t know, MAC is a cosmetics company. They have fantastic products and were a staple of my New York existence. Those of you who know me know that I am not big on wearing make up, however when I buy it, I tend to opt for MAC. They have more colors than we could have ever imagined on our own and the make up tends to wear really well.

Just the sheer familiarity of it drew me into the store. I walked around, bopping to the music playing on my iPod and touching EVERYTHING. It was great. The colors were a veritable rainbow splashed across a shimmering palette. The cosmetic brushes were standing proudly, waiting for an artist to come along and paint a beauty never before seen. My smile was tracing from one ear to the other and I felt comforted just being there.

A similar experience happened when I went to Bangkok in March to take my GRE. I had a lot of time to kill while I was there and spent most of it meandering through Bangkok’s shopping district. If New Jersey is the land of strip malls, Bangkok is the land of megamalls. It was one Mall of America after another, stretching on for blocks and blocks. I wandered through the shops, dropping in on the stores that I always loved window-shopping in: Coach, Gucci, Prada. You name it, they had it.

As I wandered through the malls in Bangkok, I stumbled upon the store I miss the most. I wandered in and breathed in the joy that it gave to me. Up and down the aisles, my hands strayed to touch things that I could never find here in India. Up one row, down the next, I finally found myself frozen and unable to move any further without making a selection of the most important items they had to offer. In front of me, a wall of spices teased me into the remembrance of home. Ground nutmeg, tri-colored peppercorns, white pepper, lemon and garlic seasoning, it went on and on. While India is one of the spice capitals of the world, there is a dearth of options at the store outside of those that the average Indian uses in their daily cuisine.

Before finding myself in the nicest grocery store I’d been in for the past 9 months, I felt like a horrible individual. Walking through the stores, I found myself craving my life in New York and the job I once had there that made shopping in some of those stores a possibility. My hands reached out and touched clothes, shoes, books…you name it, I fondled it. But the grocery store made me realize that what I miss is the familiarity of shopping. I spent 27 years with one type of shopping system. One set of rules governing the products that I saw. When I came here, the rules changed and therefore so did the shopping. There is no shame is wanting, craving, the familiar. The brick of Parmesan cheese that was a staple in our house back home. The bricks of chocolate that made baking easier. An oven to bake it. Row upon row of tank tops in every style imaginable in a society where I feel comfortable bearing my shoulders. I miss these things and I look forward to seeing them again. But now, in Bangalore, there is the power of New York in a MAC store where I can always go to remind myself a little bit of home.

The Scandal of the World Bank - Updated

This blog may not be about what you think it is, if you have been following the news.

Many 'citizens' of the US are not very aware of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The average person in the US, in my experience, does not know much about these organizations at all. To most people in the US, the letters 'IMF' refer to a series of movies starring Tom Cruise and the 'WB' is where to tune in for replays of 'Saved by the Bell'. This is, I think, because most people in the US are not directly affected (or so they think) by the WB and IMF. I wouldn't be surprised if most people in the US asked "what is the World Bank?" when the news began to break that Paul Wolfowitz had promoted his girlfriend and gave her a nice fat salary. Even more scandalous than Wolfowitz's behavior is the fact that most people (in the US) did not even know, before the scandal, that Wolfowitz was the chief of the WB, and even fewer questioned his credentials in that post or his agenda there.

To many people outside of the US, and especially in places like Africa and India, the WB and IMF are quite prominent aspects of their lives. Hugo Chavez, in fact, has taken it as his mission to 'liberate' Latin American countries from the grips of these groups. (My feelings on Chavez are ambivalent, at best, but shouldn't we at least ask why it is that this is so important to him and his constituents?) My intention here is not to educate whomever might come to read this blog on the activities of these organizations – rather, only bring them to light and encourage some level of interest in what they do and don't do. I also don't want to paint a monolithic picture of these groups as inherently evil or without good intentions, as Chavez has done – and especially not to portray them as without great possibility to change the world. Actually, I truly believe (some would say I am foolishly optimistic), that if more US Americans took an interest in these organizations, there might be hope to reduce the rampant corruption, manipulation, strong-arming, and cultural imperialism so prevalent in these groups today – and perhaps even improve the lives of the world's most desperately poor. US corporations and special interest groups give millions of dollars to US political campaigns (of both parties!), and one of their primary concerns is the selection of bureaucrats to head the WB, IMF, and participate in the WTO and UN. The fact that most people in the US couldn't care less about whom is selected is one of the greatest joys of these political contributors. It means that someone like Paul Wolfowitz can get appointed, and really no one in the US cares or is even aware of it.

Those who know me, know that I am a true believer in free-market exchange and free-development. These organizations pose as protectors and securers of free-markets, but what they say and what they do couldn't be further divided. They epitomize neo-colonialism and cultural imperialism. I would be very interested to hear/read someone who tries to make a case otherwise.

I am also a true believer in free-speech. I believe that corruption cannot withstand the bright and shining light of public awareness and scrutiny. This is precisely my point with this blog – to simply generate a little bit of concern over these organizations and encourage people to care about them a little bit. The true scandal of the World Bank is not Wolfowitz' form of nepotism, and not even the corruption so pervasive in its form of neo-colonialism… the true scandal of the World Bank is that most people in the world's wealthiest and most powerful nation neither know nor care.

I promise my next blog will be a little more light-hearted!

Addendum:

When I asked her what she thought of this blog entry, Elizabeth was kind enough to be honest and let me know what she thought was missing… namely, a point. I think she is right, so I want to elaborate a little and hopefully spark some discussion from those who agree or disagree.

Basically, my point is that people in the US don’t know or care much about the World Bank. But why should we care?

Well, the aims of the World Bank are to alleviate extreme poverty in the world and to provide much needed capital to developing markets. These are both wonderful aims. However, much of the funding is given to governments of developing nations in the form of loans and grants. Obviously, the people who decide whom receives this money are in a position of great power to set the terms necessary to receive the money. This is precisely the reason that we should care who runs the group and how they run it – that is, assuming that we care about alleviating extreme poverty and developing poor economies. The World Bank, for example, has given considerable funding to the government of the Sudan, but much of this money has been used by the government to fund genocidal efforts in Darfur. Of course, the decision by the WB/IMF to fund these terrorists (can there be another name?), has nothing to do with the massive oil reserves in Southern Sudan. Sudan sells its oil to China. It’s not as if the US & European ministers who run these self-less organization think that they can convince the new regime to sell oil to them just by bribing them with a few billion dollars – that would be immoral. Why is it, then, that they continue to fund them?

On smaller scales, loans have been given to create clean water resources in small villages throughout Africa. This is a good thing, but more often than not, these resources have been set up as private enterprises which charge local residents to use the water – not exactly a means to alleviate poverty! When I visited Ghana, I visited a few farms where the World Bank and IMF have provided low-interest or interest-free loans to farmers to buy fertilizers and pesticides. Environmental concerns aside, most of these loans were given with stipulations regarding the crops to be grown – usually coffee, cocoa, cotton, etc. In order to receive the funding, many farmers stopped growing essential crops for the residents of Ghana and started growing cocoa and other crops for export to the US. The farmers benefited (at least in the short-run, until the over-supply of these goods caused market prices to plummet), and the US markets benefitted in the form of cheaper chocolate & coffee, but the residents of Ghana and other West African countries have suffered as a result of higher food costs and not enough food to go around. Even many of the farmers starve to death – finding cotton somewhat unpalatable. As a further result, exports of US crops (especially corn & wheat, both of which are heavily subsidized by the US government) have increased to Ghana and other countries.

Now, as a firm believer in Smithian economics and free-trade, I ask – how are such manipulations ‘free’ or ‘fair’? Many defenders of the WB & IMF say that the US and other member countries have every right to place stipulations on the financing that the offer. Well, of course they do! But they can’t, then, say that they are promoting free-trade! It has to be one or the other. They say one thing, and then do the opposite. But why not? Who is calling them to task? You? Me?

As for Wolfowitz – how does the former Deputy Secretary of US Defense get appointed as President of the World Bank? Are there really that few economists that we can’t spare a single one to alleviate poverty and promote free & fair trade on the global stage?

OK, my rant is over. Although somewhat more ‘pointed’, I hope the ‘point’ is also more clear.

Holi

Last month, India celebrated the festival "Holi". This is primarily a Northern Indian festival, but it has become a national holiday over the last 10-20 years. "Holi" is basically a Springtime festival, celebrating the return of colors and warmth and fun. The first night, there are different rituals and singing and eating and dancing - At our apartment complex they were all very nicely dressed and rather formal. The children sang songs for the adults and there was a formal catered meal and socializing in the party hall. The next day, however, is completely different. Most people wear all-white clothes and some people where the same clothes that they wore the previous year for Holi. Many people (kids and adults of all ages) carry around colors... colors means powdered dye - just powdered colors - and they throw colors on one another. At our complex, there was a big color party out in the courtyard and people even brought super-soaker water guns filled with colored water. Other people had buckets or just piles of dry color. Unfortunately, I missed the excitement because I had a Sanskrit lesson, but driving accross town I saw people all over the city dousing one another on the streets with color, having a great time. I saw men and women riding motorcycles down the street - as if everything were normal, but they were completely covered from head to toe with every possible color! When I got home, Elizabeth met me at the door with a big smile on her face - and big red marks on her cheeks and forehead. She explained that our chief of security, Sanjay, had knocked at the door and she opened it to find him covered all over with colors and a huge ear-to-ear grin - and one hand behind his back! She said that he asked about me, hoping to get us both. When he found out I wasn't home, he got Elizabeth with some red colored dye on her cheeks and forehead and warned that he'd be back when I got home. We vowed that next year we would be involved in all the functions - the party the night before and the festival of color, too. This year, though, Elizabeth got some great snapshots of Holi from the balcony of our apartment - and one of herself, too :) (click the photos to see them more clearly - especially the one right below)