15 March 2010

Class warfare is the new black

Ok, so Greeks seem to get fairness, but everyone knows the leaders of "old Europe" are soft. You want to see the fight ramped up, you need to go to Asia baby.

The boys and girls in Thailand are leading the way with a little street protest.

The leaders of the Bangkok street party have also given a name to the public outrage at the fat bastards on top taking all the pie – class warfare.

People tell me class warfare, like the rest of Marx, is so ancient history. But, in my view, its the comeback kid of economic theories for the second decade of the 21st century.

Whether or not you think Thaksin Shinawatra is a corrupt bastard with a bit of a thing in respect of public telephone companies, you have to concede:

1. He was the author of massive land and social welfare reforms which put more Thai Bhats in the back pocket of the poorest in the country; and

2.The ruling party is so concerned about wealth accidently flowing down to the poor, they want to abandon democracy, because the little bastards keep voting in the wrong guys.

I’m pleased that, at least in Thailand, the social/economic combatants can take off the masks and have an honest fight.

Its really the same fight they are having in the US between the “conservatives” and “liberals”. Only difference is that over in the US they insist on dressing it up in silly patriotic fantasies.

In the US, you can’t just say “screw the poor”, you have to talk about “Real American Values”.

You get to the same position - “I’m buggered if I’m helping anyone” - but the route is meandering and throws up some rather bizarre characters.

Frankly, I prefer the Thai approach.

11 comments:

  1. The "fight" in the US between the conservatives and liberals is a sham. A stage drama drummed up via Rovian "wedge issues" and perpetrated to keep the proletariat busy yelling at each other whilst the country's wealth is pillaged.

    How many health care reforms could you have for the $14T in financial sector bailout funds?

    http://motherjones.com/files/images/the-real-size-of-bailout.jpg

    If you're not struggling to hold down a job and pay down your record consumer debt, then you're busy trying to convince your neighbour to let gay dudes get married whilst they try to convince you that the black guy is a socialist (socialists make baby Jesus cry).

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  2. BORING!!! Write something inflammatory that makes me what to hit you.

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  3. So are you saying I should go for the red shirts or the yellow shirts when I am watching SBS news? Who should I put my money on?

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  4. I think your links should open in a new tab.

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  5. Yellow shirts are for the current government. Reds are for Shinawatra. I'm not telling you who to go for. I'm just saying that the party in power are for the rich and the Reds are more for the poor.

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  6. Click on your right mouse button and select "open in new tab"...There! I have fixed it!

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  7. If the yellow shirts are for the rich, how come so many of them have marched previously? How do you get that many rich people together to fill the international airport in 2008?

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  8. It's called astro turfing. I'll do a piece on it.

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  9. I know that the yellow is symbolism for Monday which is the day the King was born. Where does the red come from?

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  10. Hmmm, I m more in favour of equality of opportunities than equality of outcomes and some folks are simply better off when being led.

    Anyway, what is it they are protesting "for", I mean if the only thing they want is to make the government step down without having any clear idea of what to do after that happens, then I don´t take anybody´s side.

    There s no guarantee, that if they seize the power they won´t become a mirrorlike reflection of their today´s enemies (at least those individuals who will get to the top)

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  11. Hey Kat,

    Thanks for joining the discussion. Next post is a little closer to your neck of the woods. I'd love to hear your views.

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