Chinese Buffet Economy September 17, 2008

Last week I had the pleasure (opportunity?) to go out for dinner with my family to an all you can eat buffet. Since I had spent the day fasting for such an occasion, I was excited to see rows and rows of food under the infra red lights.  The chicken balls were bigger than any actual part you’d find on a chicken and I’ve never actually seen that many red jello cubes before in my life.

Unfortunately, the food tasted gross.

I have never been to China, but I just some how know- or choose to believe- that their food isn’t this rancid. The problem with these buffets is they make the food in mass quantities which compromises the quality of the food more often than not.

I fear the same is true for the economy. Focus is placed solely on growth; high GDPs, new markets etc.

But perhaps we’re backward. Maybe quality economies should be the goal.

Now, I’m not about to throw out Adam Smith with the bath water. That’s a bit bold. Obviously, economies can experience stagnation; there needs to be some growth.  But when focus is placed solely on growth then communities suffer.

I have already written about Ghana (See: International Monetary Fund: Beginning of the End?). The once subsistent country that fell victim to the “growth” scheme by converting all their agricultural sector to the production of cocoa. What is the benefit of having an economy with high growth if the benefits are out of reach for most people?

Its hard to understand how volatile the free market is when talking outside your own experience, or atleast something that is far from home. So lets take the recent stock market news. Perhaps you are not feeling the closing of banks in a tangible way yet or maybe you can’t put two and two together. But this occurrence shows that the “invisible hand” is not always on our side. The world hasn’t fully recovered from the economic crisis of 1979, the early 90’s etc. We can’t just place our trust neo liberalism; let us not mistake clouds for stairs. It is easy for naivity to be confused with the “American optimism” on which the country was apparently built.  It will be interesting to see if and what change will be made. A more regulated market? more monopolies? Tumble weeds tumbling down wall street? Its far from over. Hopefully we can be distracted by Sarah Palin’s PTA experience a little while longer.

And now we wait for the others.

Canadian Commie-Sutra September 3, 2008

Not to be out done by our netherally neighbors, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has saved us a whole bunch of grief/acted opportunistically and will be calling an election for this Thanksgiving season to avoid a stagnant parliamentary session.

Growing up in a politically unimaginative sub-urb the election ballot was always simple to fill out. Conservative, Liberal and NDP. Those were/are your choices. If you so choose to be politically aware you have three political parties with functioning 2.0 websites to help you learn the important details.

Moving to Canada’s largest city, voting became more of a challenge/puzzle. The ballot was flooded with options, as if everyone’s diverse values and backgrounds could not be condensed into the platforms of those three populist parties.  What confused me most was that of the options, there is both a Canadian Communist Party AND a Canadian Marxist-Leninist Party.

I’m sure there’s a “Smucker’s commercial”-esque story explaining  the nasty division between these two parties. But folklore aside, those who find themselves on the left side of the political continuum are put in a compromising situation when picking which party will win their vote.  So, as a service to the Canadian reds I have created a short list, from the information that was available, to help you distinguish the difference between the two parties and hopefully decide which ring you will throw your Che berret in.

Communist Party of Canada:

Platform:

- To re create Canada as a socialist state.

- Fighting for jobs, democratic rights, Canadian independence, peace, socialism and working class internationalism.

- Aims to scrap NAFTA

History:

- Originally created in 1921 and aligned itself with USSR values

Fun Facts:

- The party had its lowest voter success in the last federal election (2006) winning .02% of the votes.

- The Party was originally made up of Jewish, Finnish and Ukrainian groups.

- The website looks strikingly similar to the Toronto Transit Comission’s site. Very 1998.

Marxist- Leninist Party of Canada

Platform:

- To uphold the dignity of the working class

- No party funding

- Anti war

History:

- Created in 1963 as a split from the Soviet brand of communism to the sino-maoist brand. Thus the split between the two parties

Fun Facts:

- Becoming a member of this party, you will not be addressed as Mr. or Ms but as Comrade.

- The website looks like an old diner. OR a plate filled with ketchup and mustard. Not that this should matter. I just thought I’d warn you. Its pretty offensive.

So I hope this helps. I personally won’t be extending my vote to either of these parties (along with roughly 99% of Canadian voters) but I would hate for someone to feel as confused and overwhelmed as I was when searching out their options.

But options, who needs them.