9Friday, October 05, 2007

With globalization and modernization almost encroaching every inch of our societies, the world has probably never seen such a leap of advancement since perhaps the dawn of the industrial age.

We all see it as a step into the modern world, ever-changing, for the better of mankind. News traveling faster than the speed of light, New York to Tokyo in a split second, our world has integrated itself into a global nation.

Taken cumulatively, the integration of our world as a single entity, principally in terms of economic globalization and perhaps the current qualities of a “free market” capitalization, represents a absolute empire of its own.

Many of us are unable to escape this unique revolution. With the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and of course the World Trade Organization, every nation has been compelled to accept “structural adjustments” and “conditionalities” that have been imposed or rather arbitrated by these juggernaut entities.

It is faster becoming a reality that by the end of the lifetimes of our current generation, the economies of the world would merge into a single global, free market.

The idea of a global nation and economy sounds like a rather rational and practical idea to you, doesn’t it? Yet, many doubt its progress, let alone its fundamentalisms. I for one am not an ardent supporter of this modern system.

I have to say it I guess. We all live in a world of rampant corporatocracy. As the world progress, gargantuan multi-national corporations have begun to take over the world. Everywhere we go, colossal business entities ensnare us in their bureaucracy.

Take the US for example, it’s an open secret that political parties and MNCs work together hand-in-hand for profit making. The policies that they enact have often only benefited a handful. They don’t represent the views of the majority, let alone the minority. Rationale and practicality has perhaps overshadowed liberty and dignity.

I am not saying that I’m not a supporter of US policies, I think they are fundamental in bringing us into a new age of prosperity, but those who are left behind, it’s downright cruel.

From the US invasion of Panama to Iraq, they have yet to be justified. The then leader of Panama, Manuel Noriega was accused of tyranny and collusion with drug-traffickers and because of the misdeeds of one man, the United States invaded Panama in the name of liberty. Hundreds and thousands of people killed just for that one man, how can it be justified?

Perhaps, Panama is a strategic nation in Central America. The Panama Canal, of course, is built there. A major shipping passage linking the east and west, no one could resist the profits that could be made. Panama had earlier discussed an engineering contract to develop the canal with Japan; however, this thought was exceedingly uncomfortable with the US. It would stand to lose billions of dollars worth of contracts and it wouldn’t have a grasp of this strategic location and this invasion was the best idea to secure the canal.

The end of the war resulted in the re-instatement of a puppet government and the Panama Canal has been run under the US ever since. Moreover, major US energy, engineering and oil companies were given contracts by the puppet government to build the infrastructure of the nation and the money the government paid out was loaned from the US. You get the idea do you? It’s a vicious cycle, in the end; Panama has forever been indebted to the United States.

Incidents like these don’t justify the process of globalization. I don’t even have to elaborate on Iraq, we all know how much oil this nation sits on and why wouldn’t the US use the same tactic to secure its own interest.

The message I’m trying to send is that this world is is not what it probably seems to be. Whatever we will work for, it may just be another lie. We see the messages everywhere, in the media especially, we have heard about it, yet we do nothing about and instead we live our lives with our eyes closed. We’re all to busy making money for our own survival and we neglect the real problem that this world is facing. It’s a fragile world I can tell you.

The United States has a national deficit amounting to $7 trillion dollars. Most of these debts are owed to Asian countries like China and Japan, who purchase US Treasury securities with funds accumulated through sales of consumer goods.

In normal terms, this would have been a catastrophe for any other nation, yet this anomaly does not affect the country in any way. It’s still the world’s most powerful economy and nation to date. This is because everyone in the world has given full trust to the US Dollar and if the world continues to accept the dollar bill as the standard currency, everything will just be fine. Amazing right? You have to know that the US currency isn’t even backed by gold like other currencies.

The only major obstacle that the US could probably face in the near future is the mighty Euro. It is growing in prestige and power. Let’s take it this way, should the Euro one day be the world’s standard currency, the United States will perhaps write its own death warrant and the catastrophe would be irreparable.

I’m not sure, to this point, whether any of my readers understand what I have been trying to convey to you all. Perhaps, it’s just another load of conspiracy garbage to your ears but this is just an opinion that I have, it’s not a belief. Don’t mark me as anti-American.

I just want to let see another side of this picture-perfect world. I have never believed in corporatocracy and the sleazy maneuvers of juggernaut entities (i.e. WTO, IMF) They have their goals and purposes, yet they contradict themselves.

Our new generation should one day learn to lead this world with our hearts set in place, not just our brains. Have you heard about the story of the condor and the eagle. The condor is an animal representing the heart, intuitive and mystical while the eagle represents the brain, rational and material. I don’t have to explain the differences but you see which way our world is going.

There has to be a balance in this world, unfortunately, this balance doesn’t exist. We all veer dangerously towards the representation of the eagle. Our greed has engulfed us and perhaps already corrupting us. It’s time we started thinking with our hearts and our brains at the same time and provide a balance to this world.

Let’s globalize this world the way it should be done, with dignity, respect and integrity. We must learn from the mistakes of our fore-fathers. The days of purging the weak and helpless should stop. Recognize the people who are trying to make a difference to this world, like the venerated Omar Torrijos, Noriega’s predecessor, who was widely claimed to have been assassinated by the CIA for going against the values of the corporatocracy.

All he wanted to do was the protect the rights and sovereignty of the people of Panama He wasn’t even anti-US or pro-communist (which were the main reasons that the US would accuse anyone with if they stood in their way), he was a nationalist.

If we all continue to ravage this world and not respect this planet, I would say apocalypse will just draw near, and our extinction will be our own to blame.

I hope that from reading this entry, you don't begin to give up on our current system. I still believe that there is so much that this system is able to offer even if it can also destroy our very own being. See it as a double-edged sword. These institutions and concepts are not faults, in fact, it is our perceptions of the manner in which they function and interact with one another, and of the role their managers process that determines the outcome.

The world is as we all dream it, and we can trade that old nightmare of polluting industries, clogged highways, and over-crowded cities for a new dream based on earth-honoring and socially responsible principles of sustainability and equality. It is within the power vested in us to transform oursevles, to change the paradigm.

There is so much that we can do to make globalization a more positive and fruitful process and I can enumerate the boundless opportunities avialiable for us to create a better world. We can provide sufficient food and water for the poor and hungry, medicines to prevent diseases and epidemics, raise literacy levels and provide communication to everyone in this planet, most conveniently, through the inernet or perhaps, inventing techologies that can aid in developing more ecological and efficient inventions for humans.

Let's do our part today and make this world a better place to live in.
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9Thursday, October 04, 2007

The incessant chatter,
it doesn't really make any more sense than time and gravity.

Mute the world please,
the uncanny silence is so much more convivial.

Give my thy strength, thy faith, thy confidence;
it's time I realized.

I'm with myself now,
a conflicted mind no more, a truce in heart, mind and soul.

A steely façade,
an impregnable fortress.

Don't EVEN attempt,
I won't commit; no compromise.

I'm KOON HAN,
good bye to the tainted.

Peace.

Mute the world;
SILENCE.

Just Me;
ALONE.
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