“This was a crisis that was fostered and boosted by the irrational behavior of people who were white and blue-eyed, who before the crisis they looked like they knew everything about economics, but now have demonstrated they know nothing about economics,” he said, mocking the “gods of wisdom” who had had to be bailed out. “The part of humanity that is responsible should be the part that pays for the crisis,” he added.Brown was reportedly “mildly uncomfortable” at Lula’s comments.
The Brazilian leader also spoke out on the multimillion dollar bailouts of banks by Britain and the U.S. Lula also remarked on other issues like immigration and noted how “prejudice is a factor against immigrants in the most developed countries."
(My quick take – though they were a poor choice of words it’s important to figure out how the economic crisis emerged so as not to repeat it. Lula’s comments on immigration were spot-on and highlight the sometimes poisonous nature of the immigration debate in the U.S. and Europe).
Online Sources- YouTube, Guardian UK, ABC Online, Times Online
5 comments:
Lula's choice of words was excellent, both rhetorically and substantively. First, this kind of provocative framing is exactly what we need to shake people out of the delusional thinking that led us to the disaster we're in today. We must never go back to business as usual. (cf. Nobel economist Paul Krugman's editorial today)
Second, to the extent that the global financial system has developed as an outgrowth and reinforcer of White/European supremacy and (neo)colonialism, Lula's words are spot on. A race analysis is key to understanding why certain models/analyses have been elevated to objective truth status in the first place.
Shawn's point about neo-colonialism echo my sentiments. "Globalism" is the cover verbiage - "colonialism" is where it's really at.
Most folks look at China, now colonized by thousands of stinking walmarts, mcdonald's, kfc's (which have a LARGER presence than mcdonalds!), and starbucks and think, "How cool, see, capitalism works!"
But for whom? And is this "capitalism"?
I argue it's not. Because if old school colonialism flowed from "the barrel of a gun" to paraphrase Mao, today it flows from the multi-national conglomerates - HUGE consolidations of power that colonize via their franchises and branches.
Proponents argue for the upping of living standards and cite Japan, Korea and Taiwan. If that's true, then you also have to say in the same breath how inextricably tied, like a crack haid to the pusher, those countries are economically to uncle scam. Think that's a small point?
Hilary did something unprecedented for a sec of state; historically, first sojurns for sec of state are to the states' ancestral roots - Europe. Instead, she broke with history and went to ASIA. And what did she do there?
It was one of the two; she begged China to continue buying our bonds, or she demanded it. Think she has no bargaining chip in terms of the latter? Walmart is China's number one consumer. In addition to the thousands of other jobs and contracts american companies provide to China (think about the millions of pound of beef and poultry flowing to mcdonalds and kfc alone) and it's not hard to see how uncle scam's colonization works, always always always hedging the bet in his favor.
The effects of the new colonialism are unprecedented and arguably much more far reaching than old school style. They are also evolving as we speak.
Example; Hong Kong since the British ceded political power back to China. But is that "decolonization"? I say no. Why?
HK is a MAJOR economic player on the global financial scale now. So the British cede politically - does that then mean that HK is now "Chinese"? Maybe in name, but in reality? While the possibility exists for HK to decolonize and become "Chinese" the odds of that happening now are so slight as to be not even considered. It is forever changed.
So what IS HK? I don't know - no one does. We are literally watching history unfold.
THAT's global capital; THAT's one of the consequences of conglomeration on the multi-national corporate scale; THAT's the effects of "outsourcing"; in short, that's post-colonialism, in which the developing world, sucking like the aforementioned crackhaid, shuffles up to get a hit and Joneses for another.
The bottom line; who holds the cards in THAT scenario?
Hint: it ain't the mud peeples of Africa, Asia and Latin America...
Kia ora (greetings and Lifeforce Wellbeing) everyone. I am very pleased to be reading your comments here on this multi-dimensional issue. I acknowledge and recognise all of the approaches and words used to talk about the crisis facing the Human Family today especially our Responsibilities to our future generations. Having said that; I make these additonal comments as a mother of six and grandmother. Jiddu Krishnamurti can be listened to on Youtube but I highly recommend his writings for the sheer nakedness of his observations about the human condition and the limitation of imagining we can 'think' our way out of our current predicaments. In my Ocean world here in the South Pacific there is an adage; talk the talk, and walk the walk. It is profoundly simple. Do I live what I am talking about?
No amount of overdertermined analyses will feed a starving child, provide shelter to the recently jobless and homeless or be a shoulder to lean on when compassion is needed from human warmth, sharing and caring. The human condition cannot be organised for by a prescription for caring and sharing. It is a fact of living in its wholeness. It does not exist outside of this wholeness of life. All attempts to abstract it have led to this present day illusion that crisis just arrived. All reductionist modes of thought have created this crisis. The Heart is where our battle is. Our heads have already failed us, the blunt instruments that they always were. Globalism? Multi-Natis? Boil them down and what do you get? People. People who are mean and unhappy and in very powerful positions of influence. Thats all. And what will turn this situation around? People.
Have a magical sprinkly day
Illumination and calm be the robes
of your sharing
In Prayerful respect
Mereana
Just what we need; more crazy liberal rantings.
And you assume I know nothing about Krishnamurti. I grew up an hour and a half away from Ojai, and saw him speak more times than I can count. If nothing else, we, at least I, am not saying that we can "think our way" out of these problems, but if you who claim to be so intimate with Krishnamurti's teachings know ANYTHING about him, he ALWAYS stressed looking at what is, not rambling about fuzzy feelings.
All Shawn and I were doing was deconstructing *what is* - you can't logically expect to think that the bastards running amok on Wall Street are suddenly going to pick up "Beyond Violence" and have a change of heart. What you're suggesting is no less than crazy. Seriously.
You remind me of the crazy liberals that Dambisa Moyo writes about in "Dead Aid," who actually believe that first world aid to the third world, in her case, Africa, really helps. And the celebrity around that, from Bob Geldof to Bono, just heightens the hysteria and craziness of the situation.
While I see the conservative agenda as outright psycho, Moyo is but one example of how crazy (more often than not, white) liberals are very tough to deal with because they operate under the guise of "helping" and "good intentions." All it takes is a look at reality - history - what I suppose in your "pat you on the head" manner label an over-determined analysis, and the picture's quite different.
Visit Fourbucks Outlook blog for great visuals and great commentary on Lula's lulu in lala-land!
http://fourbucksoutlook.blogspot.com/2009/03/nyt-white-blue-eyed-scum.html
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