Even though I am rather too busy to write these days, I still follow in awe the new recession running our way. Benefiting of a few minutes, I decided to check out what chavismo and its XXI century pals had to say. In no particular order and for your amusement only:
Prensa Latina from Cuba suddenly starts writing about the Paris stock exchange among others, explaining to us that the AAA rating of the French debt is now threatened. Since when does Cuba delves in such loving details on the CAC40 index (or any capitalist tool for that matter)? Could it be because Sarkozy is a main bomber of Tripoli, Havana's twin city?
The Venezuelan AVN is certainly not going to remain behind and enlighten us about the measures that UNASUR will take to stop any speculative actions against South America. Was not UNASUR meant as a defense tool in the military sense? How can Kristina vice presidential candidate dares to say that UNASUR will stab the Dow Jones? Trading generals fro traders maybe? Or something like that. Boudou, brilliantly, says that South American countries should use local currencies for their exchange. Conveniently forgetting that they are all dependent on the euro or USD for their mutual exchange rates. Or is Boudou suggesting that Brazil's Real becomes our continental currency? Only an Argentinean politician running for office can say that and get away with it. But of course AVN always willing to help suggests to use the SUCRE of Chavez and Correa for currency exchanges...
But AVN is always such a trove of XXI century idiocies that I cannot resist a few more. For example Alvarez, one of the "economists of the regime, tells us, without getting red in the face I assume, that our fast increasing agricultural production is putting us at arm's length from the coming crisis effect (he also says that capitalism is collapsing in Greece, Spain, UK and the US, same difference all of them). Well, that may be, but AVN also let us know that Nicaragua and Venezuela are planning new "intercambio de cafe". Yes, that is right, Venezuela massive coffee importations in XXI century speak is called "exchange". When you find the strength to go through the sort note you learn that the "exchange" is because Venezuelan bureaucrats are going to Nicaragua to learn how to grow coffee in a non capitalistic way.... I suppose no one told them that once upon a time, capitalism and all, Venezuela lived off its coffee exports, when no one even talked about Juan Valdez. Since 2006 (8th year of Chavez tenure) coffee imports have gone from 272 tons to 16,000 tons. Need I say more?
Since I am already getting tired and depressed, a last one. Giordani tells us that the new economic model of Venezuela is the only one growing up this year and that Europe and the US have failed because they do not care about the human factor like Chavez does. Yes, that is right, the guy who over the last 12 years has presided over the demise of the Venezuelan currency (>90% loss of value or 1000% devaluation if you prefer headline style), the guy that has presided over the economy becoming a single product economy (oil), the guy that lost our national drink to Brazil and Nicaragua (Coffee), the guy that has presided over the largest budget deficit and corruption in our history has no shame in pretending other wise.
Idiots, all of them.
Just to be a smart ass:
ReplyDeleteIs the Paris "stick" exchange where Frenchmen "se caen a palos"?
:-)
May be these idiots should be replaced with the useful idiots like Sean Penn, Oliver Stone, Michael Moore etc.
ReplyDeleteTake solace in the fact that stupid and bulletproof are completely unrelated concepts.
ReplyDeletecorrect the coffee figures please from 272000 to 16000
ReplyDeleteOk, Daniel, c'est pas la joie au Venezuela, mais c'est tout de même pas Chavez qui a foutu le bordel dans le monde. Que le socialo-bolivarisme ne soit pas une alternative au libéralisme, certes, mais il va bien nous falloir trouver une troisième voie, sinon ça risque de faire très mal.
ReplyDeleteseu francis
ReplyDeleterelis bien. je ne suis pas entrain de dire que chavez a foutu le bordel. il l'a fait au venezuela, mais si la bourse se casse la gueule a new york cela n'est pas de sa faute.
ceci dit, je trouve de mauvais gout que des gens comme giordani ou prensa latina qui passent leurs heures de travail a chercher des excuses pour les régimes qu'ils servent se gargarisent de joie a voir une débâcle a paris ou new york. ils n'ont même pas l’intégrité de la fermer alors que le capitalisme va de crise en crise mais se démerde pour survivre contrairement a leur régimes qui vont de pire en pire, sans jamais trouver de solution provisoire a moins que ce ne soit de voler les autres comme cuba a fait avec l'URSS et maintenant le venezuela.
quant a une troisième voie. je ne sais pas si tu suis mon blog depuis longtemps mais après la victoire d'obama j'ai été déserte par de nombreux lecteurs nordamericains qui ont confondu mon opposition a chavez pour une appartenance a la droite. ce qui n'est pas le cas car je me suis toujours identifie avec la "gauche" américaine, Liberals, ce qui bien sur est plutôt à droite du parti socialiste français. une nuance qui leur échappe bien sur :)
si je te dis ceci c'est pour que tu saches que je suis loin de défendre le désastre financier que nous avons hérité de reagan, même si ce système est bien plus défendable que le socialisme à la con du XXI siècle. je suppose que dans un sens, même si non explicite, je suis partisan d'une troisième voie (même si blair s'est cassé les dents dessus).
tudo bem?
aqrmando tirado
ReplyDeletemy numbers are those of entorno inteligente link (who might be wrong of course but that is another matter, the poinbt being that venezuela has gone from exporting to importing coffee)
but i am writing something more on this respect soon.
Daniel,
ReplyDeleteI don't think people have considered you on the right because of being anti Chavez, I think some have thought so for some of your opinions on International politics.I for one have never seen you as rightish...but no matter, who really cares?Labels are only that labels, and not reality.
In my opinion we live in a world where there is little ability to handle problems with objectivity instead of image.The minute people do not agree with a different thinking other , he or she is labeled in such a derogatory way that the clarity of the issues disappears in the simple process of life itself.I am sure some people label you as a righty, in order to disqualify your ideas.
If anything can be resolved it will not be within the realm of current political thinking.If a true NEW way opens up in politics and its related concerns it will only be when political thinking becomes something it isn't in today's panorama.
Actually, Chavez calls businessmen, elites "idiots"
ReplyDeleteand of course-never "el pueblo"-they are forgiven for being stupid in the "empire's world"-now-Chavez will save them.Chavez focuses now on even small mom and pop businesses-small famers must be retrained-replaced by cuban-style farmers-mugabe style, iranian style-anything except capitalist style- so Chavez/chavistas -call everyone who oppose them idiots..
It's a strange miracle!! I love it!
ReplyDeleteYulia Tymoshenko has answered the call for a "replacement President'
for our derelict Chavez who ran away, jilted us, robbed us, betrayed us, even betrayed our flag and married President of Cuba.
She will serve until we have debateful process and democratic elections.
(Maybe she can be our "President for life") Don't wake me-I must be dreaming...
Seu Francis,
ReplyDeleteA third way assumes there are 2 others ways preceding it.Those 2 other ways are fought for by the vast majority of people in our reality.Some are blinded on the right, others on the left.Even those in the Center are often just fanatically adhering to the middle in a false center so to speak, that is chosen from dogma and not from seeing the necessary step at the right moment in time.
In order to reach a higher reconciliation or true alternative ( the 3rd way), there must be an acceptance of both ways, not just blindness, as there must be a decision to say both yes AND no,not yes OR no: or negative And positive,not negative Or positive- assuming the viewpoints are on a continuum or polar opposites in the minds of most.
By including both, and seeing that both simultaneously exist as valid, one can reach a third more inclusive view which would be through a harmonious development of consciousness in both sides of a particular coin .
This will never be reached by those who hate, insult, or lie about the opposing views, and we are all guilty,yet some more so than others.It matters not what label we apply to our thinking.What matters is the essence of truth,and seeing each truth as a part of a whole, representing the bigger picture.At that point we are free to pick and choose the best answer for each situation, avoiding the dreaded, deadlocked and dangerous ideologies.
Daniel, you are right (not right wing), these are talking heads, nothing more. The sad part is they repeat what the Comandante says and he is totally ignorant when it comes to political science. Yes Europe & US are in crisis, but the reason they are is precisely that they experimented way too much with the notion that a happy medium between “Free Market Capitalism” and “Socialism” can exist, and that is false. These countries have departed gradually from the basic idea of a capitalist free society and the results are clear to me. ( I.e. Europe banning short selling today, a Prime Minister in UK talking about banning, social networks because of the riots?)
ReplyDeleteIn the case of US, Obamacare, the Bailouts, the Stimulus package, Cash for clunkers, QE2 & QE2, and on and on, now they are talking about extending the Unemployment benefits, (they last for 99 weeks now).
The problem is people in Venezuela, Argentina etc etc, are so deep in the hole, that their baseline is worthless, therefore they fail to see the fall of their own, and these talking heads keep entertaining them all the way down.
Wake up people in Venezuela, look at Chile, look at Singapore look at Estonia and see what a free society can do.
[...] "le capitalisme va de crise en crise mais se démerde pour survivre", dites-vous Daniel. Mais à quel prix ? Deux guerres mondiales et bien d'autres conflits (que je préfère ne pas qualifier de périphériques), soit la bagatelle de quelques dizaines de millions de morts et de blessés. Et faut-il remonter aux sources du capitalisme, à l'esclavage en particulier sans lequel il ne se serait pas développé à ce point ? Par conséquent, en ce qui me concerne, le capitalisme, non merci !
ReplyDeleteThere is no "middle ground".
ReplyDeleteGuaranteed. Dealing with
Chavez is a one-way street.
"The problem is people in Venezuela, Argentina etc etc, are so deep in the hole, that their baseline is worthless, therefore they fail to see the fall of their own, and these talking heads keep entertaining them all the way down"-right on, Beto.
ReplyDeleteseu francis
ReplyDelete2 guerres mondiales? je veux bien mettre la première sur le giron du capitalisme mais la seconde, c'est plus compliqué.
de toutes façons la discussion n'est pas sur le capitalisme mais sur les conneries de chavez.
ceci étant dit, si vous voulez parler de capitalisme comme le grand fauteur de trouble il faut aussi parler de ses bénéfices. par exemple, le capitalisme a long terme ne peut prospérer que si les sociétés sont ouvertes et passablement démocratiques. guerre mondiale ou pas. prenez l’exemple de la chine: ils sont certainement pas démocrates mais depuis qu'ils ont adopté un capitalisme sauvage, les chinois qui ont de l'argent (sans être milliardaires, ils y a les tours pour cela) peuvent au moins voyager en dehors de leur pays et ont accès a des informations, certes encore censurées, mais infiniment plus variées que celles sous le maoïsme. l’évolution vers une forme de démocratie est inévitable, est freinée par une culture qui ne le favorise pas. et pourtant cette culture partagée par des pays comme taiwan, singapour ou hong kong, montre bien que les valeurs chinoises ne sont pas une barrière infranchissable vers le respect de l'individu, vers la liberté individuelle, vers une forme de démocratie.
l'exemple contraire existe aussi, de sociétés capitalistes et relativement démocratiques qui ont entamé un déclin certain le jour ou elles ont choisi d’échanger une démocratie, même faible, pour d'autres voies pas si capitaliste que cela: autarcie (japon), nationalisme (allemagne), droits matériels a égalité avec les droits civils (venezuela), etc...
il faut éviter de tomber sur des simplicités et comprendre que l'accumulation de capital dans peu de mains est aussi l'ennemi du capitalisme a long terme. c'est ce qui se passe dans la crise de nos jours, depuis que reagan a laisse les capitaux spéculatifs se développer dans peu de mains. a ce sujet de concentration de capitaux et de moyens de productions, les états unis avaient déjà conscience de ce danger il y a très longtemps, sous théodore roosevelt par example, qui fit de la loi anti trust une de ses grandes armes politiques. mais a l’époque le parti républicain était autre chose que la racaille réactionnaire et fanatique qui le tient en otage depuis les années 70.
si elle existe, cette troisième voie ne pourra pas se passer des principes de base du capitalisme, tels que l’initiative individuelle, le droit privé, etc.. a laquelle elle joindra une conscience écologique et un besoin de modération au niveau macro social.
c'est mon opinion personnelle que le jour ou les écologistes s'affranchiront de leur dépendance de la "gauche" et sauront chasser leur votes sur toutes les terres, ils pourront peut être nous offrir une troisième voie.
Great, I am an idealist at heart as well, but,in the meantime,
ReplyDeletelet's get rid of Chavez.
When your house is on fire, it is not time to chat...
Chavez talks a lot about "socialiism'-and the word society-denotes a form of socialism. Cummunity-etc.
ReplyDeleteThese are really "frontss" -everyone knows it is a Military
DICTATORSHIP- Chavez prefers to be called "Micommandante" and el pueblo bow down and call him that.
I would like to say right now- Stop that nonsense.
And-the "cuba model" -Venezuelans get this through your head- Chavez doen't want you to make any money- oh-yeah-beyond money.
Like Cuba-owes Venezuela over 11 biilion dollars and Chavez claims Cuba is paying "with Sucre" -which I call "kisses"-so that is why Chavez goes to Cuba so often-to "get paid"..
Get off your knees,Venezuelans,
stop bowing down to a traitor.
"l'accumulation de capital dans peu de mains est aussi l'ennemi du capitalisme a long terme" : sur ce point nous sommes d'accord, Daniel. Ce que nous vivons aujourd'hui démontre que la machine s'est emballée, que plus personne ne la contrôle (sauf peut-être les dirigeants chinois) et que cela nous a fait entrer dans une zone de turbulences dangereuses, comme vient de le déclarer le président de la Banque mondiale à un journal australien.
ReplyDeleteQuant au clown Chavez, il ne pèse pas lourd dans toute cette Histoire. Il ne tardera pas à "dégager", comme on disait en Tunisie. Espérons que cela sera pour le mieux...
Quant au clown Chavez, il ne pèse pas lourd dans toute cette Histoire-I know you're discussing the "big picture"-world economy-but- Chavez is the largest disaster
ReplyDeleteever in Venezuelan history.
(Pardon for interrupting)
Why do I suddenly recall RR Revolution?
ReplyDeleteCapitalism responsible for wars? To not realize that EVERYTHING comes together to produce an action is to see only one side of the coin.Then upon blaming others, we ourselves start a war.First with words, then with actions.What is happening in socialist Venezuela is a war against the people.Please listen:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/9eYvhel45EU
Oh, God.Devolution manifested.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what to do with
these "things"-I am not racist.
They are sub-human.
Please-don't blame it on the
elites, orYanqui's-it seems to
be spreading worldwide..
Seu Francis,
ReplyDeleteWhat is your proposal?