Case Study: Thailand

To be honest, I'm a little confused about what's going on in Thailand.

The former Prime Minister Thaksin is in England in self-exile. There was a military coup because PM Thaksin was accused of corruption. Charges included selling his family's controlling stake in telecommunications company Shin Corp. to Singapore's state-owned Temasek Holdings for a tax-free $1.9 billion. Critics allege the sale involved insider trading and complain a key national asset is now in foreign hands.

Thaksin also has been accused of stifling the media and mishandling a Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand that flared under his rule.

Here's the thing. People’s Alliance for Democracy, the coalition of businessmen, academics and activists, has accused the new Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat of being a political proxy for Thaksin, his brother-in-law. The PAD is now going for broke, according to many political analysts. The arrest of two of PAD leaders, Chaiwat Sinsuwong and Chamlong Srimuang, who were detained on treason charges in for their roles in the anti-government group's late August raids on government buildings, signals a renewed campaign to attempt to topple the government. Many believe Chamlong orchestrated his own capture to fire up the PAD protestors, whose enthusiasm for the battle has waned in recent weeks.

But, the Thai who live in the large rural sections of the country love Thaksin. Villagers point to the homes they built during Thaksin's tenure from 2001 to 2006, the refrigerators they bought, the general store they opened - all a result of the low-interest loans his government offered.

"Thaksin was the savior of the poor," said Kamcham Pokasang, 68, a farmer from Kok Loi in the northeastern province of Buriram, where lush green paddies of jasmine rice stretch to the horizon. "Before Thaksin we had nothing, only rice fields. Thanks to Thaksin, my family now has everything."

What's most sad is that the political crisis is a tug-of-war between Thaksin's supporters in the countryside, where two-thirds of Thailand's 65 million people live, and an educated middle class who feels threatened by the rural majority's growing political clout.

This isn't to say there hasn't been corruption and that Thaksin's opponents don't care for the poor - like our Republicans. They, unlike our Republicans, Thaksin's critics want to jettison his policies promoting privatization, free trade agreements and CEO-style administration.

There is more to be read about this story here, from BBC News Asia-Pacific, which leads with the fact that you know something ain't right when doctors break their hypocratic oath and refuse to treat injured policement. Also here, Bangkok Post General News details more Thaksin legal troubles.

Admittedly, I came upon this story because my mom has some thing about no one in the house changing the internet homepage, and the story popped up as soon as I opened the web browser. I caught glance of it just before I began to type in the web address to my email account. But, I think there's something here for us Americans to glean. And it does have to do with the difference between socialism and democratic socialism.

First of all, wow! I mean really politicians, do enter politics because you're corrupt? or is it that you were led astray?

Second of all, another wow! at how Asian countries deal with their corrupt politicians. Can you imagine what America would be like if we got rid of our corrupt politicians? And it's not even like Thaksin illegal invaded and sovereign nation or anything like that, and he's had to leave the country!

Third of all and actually most important, all kidding aside, I'm concerned that 1/3 of Thai people think they know what's best for the other 2/3. I'm concerned because maybe the 2/3 were bought off with the new houses and help entering modernity. I'm concerned because maybe the 1/3 are being so legalistic, they see the forest for the trees.

All said, I'm concerned that these groups can't come together and about the swirl of rumors of lies which are believed no matter how sensationalized or ridiculous. Sound familiar.

Listen, Americans. You can't make political decisions based on what you think is best for you as an individual. I mean, you can, I just question the wisdom of such thinking. And you certainly can't make a decision based solely on what the politicians are saying. Get informed. Find out what happens when. And especially, don't believe what one guy (McCain) is saying about the other guy (Obama, for whom I just voted!).

And you can't vote based on "scary" words like "socialism" or "spreading the wealth." Especially if you don't have any wealth, then, dumb- , er, I mean dear voter, you're gonna get some help from the government, which you probably deserve.

And you know what, I just can't figure out how we've gotten to this notion that a person worth is based solely on their paycheck. That if you don't make much, it's your fault, not the fault of the CEO who's milking your labor for all it's worth.

You gotta understand, in a capitalist society, labor is a form of capital. And many of us are allowing a labor to be undervalued. Whether it's because we're believing lies labor unions hurting rather than helping workers. Or, whether it's because you actually believe affirmative action puts whites, especially white men at a grave disadvantage. Or, maybe it's because you think we're being "invaded from the South of the border." Your labor is being undervalued and it's you're own fault. You don't keep yourself informed. You don't read all the different points of views about an issue. And Lord knows it seems like you can hardly read the truth about an issue, Mr and Mrs "I can't trust Obama because he's an Arab."

So, let's do some informing.

socialism: 1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole. 2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory. 3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.

democratic socialism: a form of socialism with a democratic government; the ownership and control of the means of production, capital, land, property, etc., by the community as a whole -- combined with a democratic government

Now, am I saying that we should move to a completely socialist society where everybody makes the same no matter what work they do or how hard they work? No, no quite. What I'm saying is we shouldn't privatize corporate profit and then nationalize corporate losses. What I'm saying is that instead of being a proud know-nothing, maybe you should find sometime to learn what's really going on. And, trust me, when it comes to telling the truth, NY Times laps anything owned by Ruport Murdoch. (And by the by, am I the only who thinks it's funny the truth always happens to be "liberal.")

And while I encourage everyone to vote, especially for Obama, for the love of all that's good and holy, don't vote for a fellow proud six-pack know-nothing, which amounts to a drunk idiot. And yes, that's a shot a Sarah Palin, I'm sure you couldn't tell.

Kill McCain! He's a Terrorist!

Yeah. That's right. I'm an Obama supporter and I'm shouting "Kill McCain" and "He's a terrorists" and "Assassinate him!"

Yeah. That's right. Soak it up conservatives. Let that marinate for a minute.

Oh. I'm not finished. He is a terrorist. And not a very good one at that. We had no just cause to go into Vietnam. In fact, from what I recall, we never declared war. We just there killing innocent Vietnamese and dying by the thousands. That makes his as much a terrorist as any "Arab." And that makes the US as much a "terrorist state" as supposedly Iran and Syria.

So chew on that conservatives. How does that feel? How does that sound?

Now, I don't actually think of McCain as a terrorist, or at least not yet, and I don't wish him to be killed or anything like that. But for McCain to say this morning that he's proud of all his supporters, even the ones who think Obama is a single-cell Arab terrorist who should be killed . . . I can't even put it into words. Honestly, I was already upset that McCain spent much of the debate last night lying. I certainly didn't like his stance on the "health" of the mother in the case of abortion. And I honestly didn't think my opinion of him could be any less. I thought it hit rock bottom last night. But this morning, when he declared his pride for all his supporters, McCain dug a hole and fell right into it.

And for all that guy on Hardball said, John McCain has not corrected people shouting "kill him!" and "he's a terrorist!" concerning Barack Obama. And like the guy on Hardball is saying now, John Lewis is absolutely right: it only takes one crazy person to assassinate someone. So, McCain pride is just repulsive.

And that reminds me of something else. Let's drop this illusion that Ronald Regan is such a good president for having ended the Cold War without spilling blood. That's a lie. Maybe he "ended" the Cold War. But he personally called for the spilling of Grenadian blood as part of the "Cold War." The Vietnam Conflict was about the "Cold War." Osama bin Laden earned his bonafide as a mujahudeen fighting for Afghanistan in the "Cold War." The Congo is in the mess it's in partly because the US assassinated Patrice Lumumba, helped support the cleptocracy of Mobutu Sese Seko. And now, over 5, maybe even 10 million people have died and millions of women are raped daily over a conflict that started because of the "Cold War."

The notion that the Cold War ended without blood shed is not only a lie - tens of thousands of Americans died - it's racists - millions of people of color died.

So Much To Talk About

First of all, Tucker Bounds, spokesperson for the McCain campaign, is despicable, I think.

Secondly, PAYING HIGHER TAXES IS PATRIOTIC. Let's talk about who'll be paying higher taxes - people who make a quarter of a million or more. The hedge fund managers who've made millions in the midst of this financial crisis that's required a government bailout. And seeing as how the military is made up overwhelmingly of young people from the working class, it wouldn't kill the chicken hawks to pay more in taxes so that people in the working class have more options than joining the military.

What else has happened in my life?

Oh. I've finally reconnected with a friend I haven't spoken to in a couple of years. Though, we probably won't be as close as we once were, the whole thing is kinda odd. There was a time when I needed her friendship just to maintain my own sanity. And now, two years later, I'm fairly sure I'm sane. Pretty sure.

It's just odd how much can happen in a couple of years. There are many ways in which I've grown and matured. And there're other ways in which I'll probably never change. For example, I now know I need to open myself and my heart to new people and experiences. On the other hand, my crooked way of view the world and expressing what I see hasn't changed. Another friend actually prayed that in that vane, I don't change. Which makes me wonder, is there something I actually should consider changing . . . I wonder but make no effort in that vane. I'm cool.

Then there's just life itself. Since I last talked to this friend, my brother has gotten married. I've gotten over my college crush. For a few months, I thought I had found the man I would marry. And I know all the reasons why I felt that way. This person not only met every standard I have, he added one! To me, that's amazing.

And I'm living the life I want to live, my health notwithstanding. I couldn't say that two years ago. Then, as now, I wanted to bring intellectual stability to the Black church. But now, I have a greater sense of how to do that.

I'm meeting people from around the world. I'm imagining a life beyond America. Two years ago, I couldn't imagine life beyond my house and the aunts and uncles up and down the road from me. Today, I can imagine life years from now. Two years ago, I couldn't imagine life much beyond any particular day.

Which is odd. Cause two years ago, it killed me that I couldn't imagine life not hardly a year out. But today, I enjoy each day on its own merits. And because I'm receiving better treatments, I can start to imagine years out. But, it wouldn't bother me if I was just marking from one day to the next.

Two years ago, the stock market was at all time highs! Do you remember that? Do you remember when the Dow Jones kept brushing up and down 14,000? At this moment, it's at 9,556. And even two years ago, it was apparent that prosperity wasn't trickling down.

And here's why I've had to take a break from American politics. See, I have a low tolerance for shear stupidity. Now, despite the mess conservative philosophy has made of the economy, people are still considering voting for McCain/Palin. Is that not shear stupidity? This whole, supply-side theory has never worked! We've always had to borrow money to make up for the loss of revenue from lowering taxes on the rich.

It's the conservative philosophy that has us in this energy crisis. If we had followed President Jimmy Carter's advice 30 years ago, the cost of gas wouldn't matter that much. And people are still considering voting for McCain/Palin. Isn't that shear stupidity?

Neo-conservatives have gotten us into Iraq. The conservative policy of privatizing everything gave us the Katrina disaster. Conservatives want to "drill, baby, drill." Meanwhile, it's just becoming clear the environmental damage the previous hurricane has had, including oil spills and damage to oil rigs in the gulf. And not only are there people who are considering voting for McCain/Palin, there are some idiots who will vote for McCain/Palin. They're buying this idea that Barack Obama gets "touchy" when his record is questioned and that that should make them question Obama. I mean, do they not recall how indignant McCain gets anytime someone questions his record. And this whole Rev. Wright issue only serves to prove how racist mainstream America is.

And the McCain campaign has decided to turn the page from talking about the economy to bringing up guilt by association issues with Obama. And there are some idiots who will go for it!

Shear stupidity.

So, that's my post for today. More of less stream of consciousness. I tried to find some theme so my post would make sense to you, the reader. But . . .

Oh, yeah! That reminds me. The most ironic thing about this particular friendship is that she graduated with a BA in biology. I majored in history and minored in creative writing. Now, I use my writing skills mostly for the blog and recently for writing essays for grant applications. And she has a website advertising her professional writing skills! Everything from poems to technical writing. I haven't touched fiction in at least a year. It's amazing to me. Then again, it could be my crooked way of viewing the world that I should or shouldn't work on changing.

And let me give a "shout out" to my 22nd rank UNC football Tarheels! You better do it, boys!

SNCC: White Privilege and the Election (Corrected)

From: MALIK M. CHAKA
Subject: FW: white privilege and the election
Date: Sunday, September 14, 2008, 12:49 PM

Essay by Tim Wise

For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are
constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list
will help.

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and
everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal
matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every
family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar
"challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters
of social decay.

White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," like Bristol
Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll
"kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun,
and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law
to be) rather than a thug.

White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like
Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to
after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions
your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who
did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got
in the first place because of affirmative action.

White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than
most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same
number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready
to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with
laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and
constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."

White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in
the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding
fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from
holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and
the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s--while believing that reading
accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the
Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it),
is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.

White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people
immediately scared of you.

White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist
political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto
was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family,
while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so
she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately
think she's being disrespectful.

White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work
they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for
civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think
you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a
small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a
class she took in college--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.

White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with
you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway,
because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in
these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."

White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political
campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician
who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from
the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.

White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors
say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are
going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job
of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and
who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's
punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just
a good churchgoing Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black
pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense)
that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks
about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist
who probably hates America.

White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a
reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick
question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the
queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem
overly intellectual and nuanced.

White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at
all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing
racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a "light" burden.

And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone
to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the
time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes,
inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion,
just because white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know,
it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same,
which is very concrete and certain.

White privilege is, in short, the problem.

I'm Tired

No, really. I'm tired. With the CFS, that's not unusual.

But I'm tired of politics right now. The Republicans are only lying and deceiving the American people. They're making false claims of sexism and elitism and "raising taxes on everybody." And I can't take it anymore!

The Democrats are hit back a little harder than normal, but between the early morning news and the primetime news, nothing's changed.

And I'm tired. I'm tired of all these problems we're deal with in America that people don't realize has to do with the way the vote. I mean seriously, blaming the problems of the last 8 years on a Congress that's only had 2 years of Democratic control? And the Democrats seem not to have the balls, neither inside or out, to call out Republicans for the obstructionism the way the Republicans called them out every chance they got.

We're dealing with a military-industrial complex (MIC) and a prison-industrial complex (PIC). We spend more money on incarcerating people than educating people. Is it any wonder we're in the shape we're in now? And with the military-industrial complex, is it any surprise everytime you blink, another neo-conservative wants to go to war.

Some tell me honestly, how are our neo-cons any different from the "Islamofascists" they claim pose such a great threat. Hmmm. Someone explain something to me. Seeing as how there are close to if not more than 1billion Muslim in the world, why are we spending so much more trying to fight the relatively few who would do us harm. And they don't hate us for our freedom. They hate us because we're the bully of the world. That's all we do: bully countries, not into being democratic, but into opening their markets to us. Then we our GDP grows, their GDP slumps, and of course there'll be some evil mad man who's will to sell or give away guns to help the angry dispossessed do what they feel is necessary to be heard over the sounds of "ching, ching!"

Check it out. We really don't care about spreading democracy around the world. We've allowed ruthless and bloodthirsty dictators to maintain power so long as they otherwise gave us access to their oil or whatever else they have that we want.

And I'm tired of it. I'm tired of a media consolidated and owned by the very corporations who need the MIC to protect them, not us. Regular Americans aren't in danger. It's the multi-nationals and the governments that protect them that the "terrorists" are upset about.

And the American electorate is too dumb to realize what's going on. BushCo wants every child left behind some when that child grows up, s/he'll be so worried about the mortgage and/or health bills that s/he'll have no choice but to accept what the plutocracy - cause let's be honest, that's really the government we have - tell them. And even if they had time to question, these people who see everything in black and white and think the question of when life begins is clear cut either don't have or aren't using the intellectual capacity to question the world around them. Instead, they snub the ones who speak out as being "anti-American" or "blame America first." People like the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright.

And this whole argument that Sarah Palin is better qualified to be president than Barack Obama because she's had "executive experience" and all he's done is "community organizing," is crap. If my health were any better, I'd be community organizing right now. Community organizing is precisely what Republicans claim to be about: initiative, self-help, personal responsibility. In fact, just as soon as I figure out here, I'm going to head up some community organizing by way of conference phone calling. Watch me do it! And besides, I was the leader of my student Christian organization in college, president of the young adults of my church's Baptist association for 4 years. Does that qualify me to be president? And I had to get things done with no budget! What d'ya think about that Republicans?

And so help me Lord, if those lily white Republicans are using community organizing as some kind of code for "he's really, really black" because community organizing is something you usually associate with social activist groups; or if they're using community organizing for code "organizing=black community=he did do crack, so maybe he used to be and still is a crack dealer," I . . . I don't know what I'll do. I have to be careful about my health. But you can best believe it won't be good.

So to finish this off, don't be surprised if I don't blog for a while, or blog about things in my personal life. I would blog about something now, but just in case the person involved reads this, I don't want this person to know I'm still thinking about our previous conversation. But I swear, this person is so unvain, I could write their name and they still wouldn't know it was about them. It's one of the qualities I love best about this person.

But anyway, but for now and perhaps, for a while. I'm tired.

And I'm tired. So unless something especially egregious happens, or I do extraordinarily well in my fantasy football leagues, I'm taking a break.