Banana republic watch
Here’s The Economist:
Siren song of the strongmen
In a presidential race, a thuggish mayor leads the polls
AT MID-AFTERNOON in Dagupan City, hundreds of people sweat and jostle politely in an arena awaiting Grace Poe, one of five candidates vying to be elected president of the Philippines on May 9th. When she arrives, the crowd surges to greet her. But during her well-rehearsed stump speech, attention wavers. People shift in their seats. Some leave. Afterwards, some clamour for T-shirts she tosses from a truck, but the overall response seems more dutiful than passionate.
Ms Poe needs to do better than this to win. As the vote approaches, she appears stuck in second place; she must energise her supporters and attract more. But she seems too much of a trapo—a pun on “traditional politician” and a Tagalog word meaning “old rag”—for an electorate in an anti-establishment mood. This year, the more experienced candidates are doing worse in the polls. Battling for third and fourth position are Jejomar Binay, the vice-president, and Mar Roxas, a former cabinet minister who has been endorsed by the outgoing president, Benigno Aquino. Behind them is Miriam Defensor Santiago, a former judge who has served in all three branches of government.
The front-runner is Rodrigo Duterte (pictured, in striped shirt) a vulgar, impolitic mayor who has never sought national office, is not backed by any big party and appears wilfully ignorant on policy. His simple line—the system is broken; I’ll fix things—resonates with millions of people.
What would make Filipino voters reject traditional politicians, and go for a thug with no experience who makes empty promises to fix things?
Because the trapos are polished and cautious, Mr Duterte’s rough bluster gives him an air of authenticity. His emphasis on crime and the difficulties of urban living appeals to ordinary folk. But he has a darker side. He reportedly forced a tourist who violated Davao’s anti-smoking ordinance to eat a cigarette butt. He called the pope “a son of a bitch” and, in speaking of an Australian missionary who had been raped and murdered during a prison riot, lamented that he had not been first in line to abuse her sexually. When American and Australian authorities tweeted their disgust at the “joke”, he dared both countries—allies the Philippines needs to counter Chinese assertiveness—to cut ties.
More worrying than Mr Duterte’s boorishness is his contempt for democracy and the rule of law. He has spoken approvingly of the extrajudicial killing of suspected criminals, and sneers at Westerners who “want to rehabilitate instead of just killing” criminals. He promises to end crime within six months of his election, and says his presidency is “going to be bloody. People will die.” People who fret over human rights, he said at an event on April 27th, are “cowards”. He praised Ferdinand Marcos, a longtime dictator who was overthrown in 1986, for his ability to “change the system”. (Mr Marcos’s son is near the top of the vice-presidential polls.)
To supporters, such talk shows that Mr Duterte will get things done. “Voters don’t care about process,” says Alan Peter Cayetano, Mr Duterte’s running mate: they just want things to work. Another Philippine politician once said something similar: “The times are too grave and the stakes too high for us to permit the customary concessions to traditional democratic processes.” That was Marcos in 1973, months after he declared martial law. He went on to torture and kill thousands of his countrymen.
Contempt for the rule of law?
Fake “authenticity”?
Torture?
Arguing with the Pope?
Threats of violence?
Tasteless sexist jokes?
Mindless nationalism and bluster?
Wilfully ignorant of policy?
Simplistic claims that he’ll fix things?
What’s wrong with Filipino voters? Is the Philippines some sort of banana republic? Maybe we should cut off immigration from the Philippines. We wouldn’t want that sort of person moving here to vote, messing up our wonderful democracy.
PS. The Economist also has an editorial on the subject, in the same issue:
Ahead of the ballot on May 9th, the field is narrowing to two leading candidates. One is Grace Poe, a foundling, adopted daughter of an action-man actor (the late Fernando Poe junior, a failed presidential candidate), and now a telegenic senator. She promises continuity with Mr Aquino’s pro-business policies, but her CV is thin and her campaign lamentably vacuous.
The front-runner, Rodrigo Duterte, is downright alarming. The mayor of the southern city of Davao, he likes to play the hard man. . . .
If he does not get his way within a year of being elected, he says he will declare a “revolutionary government”. . . .
The leading candidates thus present voters with a ghastly choice between vapidity and vigilantism; neither shows any sign of being up to tackling the many serious issues facing an archipelago of some 100m people. . . .
President Aquino (the son of a former president) has endorsed Mar Roxas, the competent interior minister (and grandson of an ex-president), in an attempt to institutionalise some sort of party system. Alas, Mr Roxas is a hopeless campaigner and is far behind in the polls.
What should Filipinos do? This newspaper’s view is that the dull but diligent Mr Roxas would make the best next president. But if on May 9th he obviously has no chance of winning, then they should swing behind Ms Poe. Better the novice foundling, surely, than the beast of Davao.
I agree. If the best man has no chance, voters need to hold their noses and vote for the vacuous woman. The beast must be stopped, at all costs.
PS. Niall Ferguson has some very interesting comments about populism around the world, I particularly liked his remarks on how Latin America seems to be coming out of the populist nightmare, just as the rest of the world is flirting with the idea. Interestingly, he finds one of the US candidates to be right on the borderline between populism and fascism. But hey, Ferguson obviously doesn’t know much about history. Not like my commenters.
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5. May 2016 at 05:37
Lol, Scott, the Filipino guy sounds just like Trump! JMO Donald! So, Nial Ferguson is an empire guy, who has said, in the past, that America should war a lot more. He is a NWO dangerous thinker, and very influential in the world. Ferguson is a populist for Israel and the UK empire. That is no secret. He is a Newsweek favorite, after all.
5. May 2016 at 06:50
“More worrying than Mr Duterte’s boorishness is his contempt for democracy and the rule of law.”
He seems to be pretty good at the democracy part, like Trump. I’m trying to understand how folks who just love democracy but hate “populist nightmares” manage the cognitive dissonance.
5. May 2016 at 06:56
I say we repeal the 22nd Amendment and call another election in 2 years. Otherwise, HRC will be fine although I concerned with her Hawkish ways which likely to lead to an poorly planned national intervention. Although I find it rich that Niall Ferguson who loves the idea of American Empire that led to the Republican Party pursuing the decision to invade Iraq. (Yes there is a housing bust/financial crisis in 2009.)
5. May 2016 at 07:10
“If he does not get his way within a year of being elected, he says he will declare a ‘revolutionary government’.”
If the Congress won’t act, then he will?
5. May 2016 at 07:16
Tasteless sexist jokes?
So Trump’s a horrible person because he hurts SJW feelings ?
When did Americans become such wimps ?
5. May 2016 at 07:25
Voters around the world just can’t do the right thing these days. Philippines has done pretty well under Aquino (including four sovereign credit ratings upgrade – though I don’t care for sovereign ratings in principle), but we are still looking at Duterte / Marcos pair.
https://twitter.com/Luxury_Duck/status/728243443793723392
5. May 2016 at 07:27
Here’s a question Scott, if Mr.Trump gets fed up (pun intended) with Yellen and appoints you, will you do NGDPLT, making American Great Again and him look good, or would you sabotage him? That would be a Faustian moment for you!
5. May 2016 at 08:31
Slightly off topic (maybe not), but in the 1790 King George III sent an emissary to the Chinese emperor in an attempt to open up China to the West. Emperor Qinglong’s rejected the idea of a British embassy in Peking. Then he goes after the issue of trade, by writing;
‘…we possess all things. I set no value on objects strange or ingenious, and have no use for your country’s manufactures.’
and;
‘…our Celestial Empire possesses all things in prolific abundance and lacks no product within its own borders. There was therefore no need to import the manufactures of outside barbarians in exchange for our own produce.’
In effect, the Chinese had built a wall to keep Europeans out of their country. However, with British traders having discovered all the tea in China that they paid for with gold and silver, other Brits realized that that filthy lucre could be regained by finding something the Chinese wanted.
Which turned out to be opium (further off topic; there’s a fascinating description by Emily Hahn in ‘China to Me’ of her own addiction to smoking opium and her cure by a German expat doctor). Hence, the Opium Wars, which China lost in a particularly humiliating defeat that led to the so called ‘Treaty Ports’ and European enclaves in cities like Shanghai and Honk Kong.
Which led to the Boxer Revolt and then the revolution by Sun Yat Sen and the Kuomintang. Then to civil war with Mao and his forces…eventually ending in the humanitarian disasters of The Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.
Not that a Donald Trump in time couldn’t have avoided.
5. May 2016 at 08:50
The 22nd amendment is one of the best parts of the Constitution.
Otherwise, I suggest Filipinos try out Mr. Duerte. After all, Japan had a strong death penalty for several hundred years, and look where it is now. The one clear flaw about him may be that he is too inexperienced the economic reforms necessary for the Philippines to grow like pretty much any other Asian country.
Let’s wait for Lopez to comment on this; he knows more than I.
“If the Congress won’t act, then he will?”
-Hm; interesting. Reminds me of another politician, currently in office in a country outside the Philippines.
5. May 2016 at 08:56
“Is the Philippines some sort of banana republic?”
-Well, yes. What else do you call the slowest-growing non-socialist economy in Asia over the last thirty years? Also, the Philippines has lots of bananas, so it counts.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/1987/11/a-damaged-culture-a-new-philippines/7414/
“Maybe we should cut off immigration from the Philippines. We wouldn’t want that sort of person moving here to vote, messing up our wonderful democracy.”
-Most of the Filipinos I’ve seen in the U.S. have been intellectually unimpressive. Currently, they’re not much of a threat. But, yes, if twenty or more million Filipinos decided to all of the sudden come here, I’d be worried. New Philippines (an old name for Texas) sounds, if anything, less attractive than New Mexico. But, currently, that’s extremely unlikely.
5. May 2016 at 09:08
Brian, You asked:
“I’m trying to understand how folks who just love democracy but hate “populist nightmares” manage the cognitive dissonance.”
Simple. Populist bullies are far more likely to become president in non-democratic countries than democracies. Latin American and African dictatorships have had dozens of Trump like people serve as “President for Life”
On the other hand,m a cerebral, professor type has zero chance of becoming president in the dog eat dog world of dictatorships.
Justin, I would obviously decline the invitation. But if I were Fed chair I’d obviously do the right thing. You must be new to my blog, I’ve made that point many times in other contexts, like allowing former felons to vote, even though they’ll probably vote for people I don’t like.
Harding, You said:
“Let’s wait for Lopez to comment on this; he knows more than I.”
Everyone, When I do posts like this, don’t reply as if I’m serious.
5. May 2016 at 09:11
Harding, You said:
“Most of the Filipinos I’ve seen in the U.S. have been intellectually unimpressive.”
I don’t know what ethnic group you are a part of, but unless it’s Indian or Taiwanese, you are less impressive than the Filipinos.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_groups_in_the_United_States_by_household_income
5. May 2016 at 09:16
That Duterte guy sounds like a hoot. Ain’t democracy fun!
5. May 2016 at 09:18
“Niall Ferguson (…) on how Latin America seems to be coming out of the populist nightmare …”
“What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there a thing of which it is said,
‘See, this is new’?
It has already been,
in the ages before us.
The people of long ago are not remembered,
nor will there be any remembrance
of people yet to come
by those who come after them.” Eclesiastes 1:9-11
In 1993, then Undersecretary for International Affairs of the United States Department of the Treasury (what a mouthful!) Lawrence Summers told perennial Brazilian candidate Lula Brazil should follow Mexico and Argentina’s successful liberalization policies. The two Carlos, Salinas de Gortari and Menem, were held then as models of neoliberal wisdom by the American government and the Brazilian press. An uncompromissing Lula was defeated in the 1994 elections (his second of three defeats), Brazil started cutting expenses, selling state-owned enterprises, tolerating an unemployment rate higher than the one we have nowadays when government has effectivelly ceased to exist (the president is being impeached, the vice president is been prosecuted for benefiting from illegal donations, the House Speaker was thrown out by the highest court, the Senate President has been threatened with jail time for years, and jugdes are threatening to jail everyone who received or gave kickbaks (which means most politicians–some are already in jail– and most big companies’ CEOs). The failure was so massive, it made the previously invictus (is it what we call someone who never wins?) opposition leader Lula the kingmaker of Brazilian politics.
By the way, Brazil’s current big government was engineered by a military regime that negleted social spending, reverted the populist/nationalist policies of the last civil presient, controlled unions, fought wage increases and prevented the Congress from creating expenses — I doubt “populist” is the word we are looking for here.
A few years later, the neoliberal model’s failure made a kingmaker out of Lula, broke the PRI’s 70-plus hold on power in Mexico and bankrupted Argentina (hence the Kirchner Couple rise to power). Meanwhile Bolivia was applying shock therapy policies to break the back of inflation (unemployment rates soared), Ecuador gave up its own currency and Venezuela’s reform attempts made a popular idol out of failed coup leader Hugo Chávez . Those countries, minus Mexico, were to be the nucleus of the late 90’s/early 2000’s populist revival in Latin America. It is a shame economists can’t be sued for malpractice. Also, the 60’s/70’s military coups, which had some measure of popular support in the beginning, also were welcome as proof Latin America was coming out of the populist nightmare. So, yes, America is coming out of the populist nightmare and is doing so for the last half century. Those who can learn from Latin American history are doomed to repeat themselves.
All things considered, it is almost as if bad economic policies could create populist reaction (maybe there are some lessons for Americans buried here after all- Economist, never send to know for whom the Trumps tolls; it tolls for thee.
5. May 2016 at 09:29
I said “intellectually unimpressive”, not “unimpressive at sorting themselves into high-paying jobs”. Filipinos in the U.S. tend to go into lucrative fields like nursing and tech. They know where the money is. And second-generation male Filipinos in the U.S. generally earn less than White males, due to regression to the mean:
https://www.academia.edu/6347302/The_Socioeconomic_Attainments_of_Second-Generation_Cambodian_Hmong_Laotian_and_Vietnamese_Americans
And come on, you read the Hive Mind. You know the correlation between IQ and income isn’t that large within countries.
5. May 2016 at 09:30
The man with the X name in Asia’s most populous nation…how does he fit into global populist hysteria?
America? Oh please. Cupcake politics. Trump is a cream puff.
There are countries where men high hats and epaluats seize power from elected officials…and then seize their passports…
America? Are those eclairs at the bakery too tough for you?
5. May 2016 at 09:31
Very sad. Philippino’s are some of my favorite people in the world.
5. May 2016 at 09:38
Populism is any popular view that you don’t like. Arguably democracy itself is populism.
A strongman? The most powerful position in the nation and arguably the world is by definition a strongman.
Simplified messaging of fixing problems? Has any leader throughout recorded human history ever won an election without making simplified promises of fixing problems? What else would a leader do besides fix problems? Make more problems? Just breathe air and hang around?
Contempt for the rule of law? Every candidate loves the rule of law when their team writes the laws and hates the laws from the other team.
Arguing with the pope? People love the pope only when he reinforces what they already believe. When the pope was critical of homosexuality and abortion the left hated him, the new pope switched sides, and the left loves him. And since when would such an outrageously secular professor defer to or care about the Pope?
The linked Niall Ferguson interview is literally comparing Trump to Hitler and fascism and Hugo Chavez. Sumner is comparing him to some crazy guy from the Philippines. How about Pol Pot, Jeffrey Dahmer, the devil, the abominable snow monster! You are the populist for making such simplified outrageous comparisons.
In all seriousness, I do think the increased polarization and decreased social cohesion is bad. And I fear things may get worse and would like to avoid that. I do think society should move away from voting on leaders, populists or not, and move towards letting people vote with their feet and actions on what types of social institutions that want to participate in.
5. May 2016 at 09:43
Latin American and African dictatorships have had dozens of Trump like people serve as “President for Life”
Not recently in Latin America. The Castro brothers are very unlike Trump in their methods, background, objects, and ideology. Ditto Rafael Trujillo, Alfredo Stroessner, Augusto Pinochet, and the Somoza clan. Getulio Vargas might be the closest to Trump among any and all who’ve run a Latin American country in the last century.
5. May 2016 at 09:58
As always, Benjamin Cole gives a grounded perspective. As far as populism in China, my close friend has one of their coveted business visas, yet he is required to leave the country for 60 days each year, lest he set down roots!
5. May 2016 at 10:07
FWIW Trump came out in support of low interest rates today. Maybe that is the most important issue of the day.
5. May 2016 at 11:19
When did Americans become such wimps ?
If you’ve noticed, the animadversions directed at Trump are most intense concerning his disregard of the conventions which define in groups and outgroups in and among the professional managerial bourgeoisie. High school never ends, and much of this complaining has next to nothing to do with policy or ideology.
5. May 2016 at 11:41
This fellow is 71 years old and has been a working mayor for 20-odd years.
5. May 2016 at 11:45
Arguing with the pope? People love the pope only when he reinforces what they already believe. When the pope was critical of homosexuality and abortion the left hated him, the new pope switched sides, and the left loves him. And since when would such an outrageously secular professor defer to or care about the Pope?
Whatever Sr. Duterte’s problem with the Pope may be, he’s the object of considerable dismay among faithful Catholics because he fritters away his effective teaching authority on BS and has been attempting to change antique Church teachings on the sacraments just to amuse himself. Perfectly useless and embarrassing almost all the time, even if his mother isn’t a dog.
5. May 2016 at 12:28
Art,
Fritters away his effective teaching authority? Are you kidding me? He has opened a path for divorced catholics to take communion given the permission on their local bishop and diocese after a period of penance. This is a change, no doubt. But everything else remains completely intact. Don’t loose sight of the forest for the trees. “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:17, Matt 5:32.
The only thing he has changed is the tone, moving away from condemnation and toward mercy. If that doesn’t echo the tone of Jesus, I dont know what does. Beware of being too much like the elder brother (in the parable of the prodigal son) and the jealous laborers in the parable of the workers in the vineyard.
Pope Francis is a breath of fresh air and a beacon of light within the church. God bless him.
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.” 1 John 1:8-10
One more thing, go read your catechism, you make Catholics look bad.
5. May 2016 at 12:35
I cannot fathom how a catholic that knows his church history and catechism could in any way even attempt to support Trump. He is the opposite of all that is catholic.
Just a tiny tiny sample:
Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you. – James 5:1-6
Who is the covetous man? One for whom plenty is not enough. Who is the defrauder? One who takes away what belongs to everyone. And are not you covetous, are you not a defrauder, when you keep for private use what you were given for distribution? When some one strips a man of his clothes we call him a thief. And one who might clothe the naked and does not—should not he be given the same name? The bread in your hoard belongs to the hungry; the cloak in your wardrobe belongs to the naked; the shoes you let rot belong to the barefoot; the money in your vaults belongs to the destitute. All you might help and do not — to all these you are doing wrong — Basil of Caesarea
I am often reproached for continually attacking the rich. Yes, because the rich are continually attacking the poor. But those I attack are not the rich as such, only those who misuse their wealth. I point out constantly that those I accuse are not the rich, but the rapacious; wealth is one thing, covetousness another. Learn to distinguish. — John Chrysostom.
I could go one all day…
5. May 2016 at 12:43
“Student”‘s remarks read like they were dictated by the Vatican Press Office to someone who just returned from Mars.
You wanna drink the Kool-Aid, Student, go ahead. I’m not your confessor or your spiritual director or your godfather.
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/
http://www.steveskojec.com/
http://wdtprs.com/blog/
http://the-american-catholic.com/
http://dprice.blogspot.com/
If anyone wants some astute lay commentary on this papacy. Francis is a careless man. His successors will indubitably spend many decades cleaning up the messes he has made.
http://dprice.blogspot.com/
5. May 2016 at 13:49
For a half-minute there, I thought Mr. Deco was accusing the mayor of Davao City (“whatever Sr. Duterte’s problem”) of frittering away his effective teaching authority and attempting to change antique Church teachings on the sacraments just to amuse himself. And then came the weirdest 30 seconds of my life. Oh, the Pope, I guess it makes more sense.
5. May 2016 at 17:06
Ferguson IS wrong, though, but mostly as his lens is too narrow. He speaks generally of economic populism for the entire continent, but then only mentions three countries. I’d counter it by noting that populism in Latin America actually refers to the rise of indigenous assertion in politics and point out that these countries (Bolivia and Ecuador, notably) have since seen GDP more than triple.
A lot of pundits have pointed out Morales’ defeat at the polls recently as a rebuke to his policies. Well, the vote he lost was a referendum to augment the constitution to allow him to run for a FOURTH term. A vote he lost 51-49, and probably wins if not for the sex scandal.
Ferguson just isn’t doing himself any favors by speaking so loosely.
6. May 2016 at 05:55
Thiago, Don’t know the point of that long and inaccurate rant, but I’m sure it’s in there somewhere.
Harding, You said:
“And come on, you read the Hive Mind. You know the correlation between IQ and income isn’t that large within countries.”
The books says nothing about the correlation at the ethnic group level, only the individual level. I think you missed the point.
Massimo, You said:
“In all seriousness”
It’s reassuring that you understand that nothing before those three words are to be taken seriously.
Sean, You said:
“Trump came out in support of low interest rates today. Maybe that is the most important issue of the day.”
I would say that Trump’s views on interest rates are among the least important issues of the day. Trump probably doesn’t even know that interest rates are not monetary policy. In any case, president’s don’t determine interest rates.
Art, Why so serious? I dislike the Pope, so I certainly wouldn’t blame anyone for doing the same. I think you are like Harding and Christian, you have trouble with reading comprehension. This post was intended for entertainment, not edification.
Student, You said:
“I cannot fathom how a catholic that knows his church history and catechism could in any way even attempt to support Trump. He is the opposite of all that is catholic.”
You obviously haven’t read the Bible, where it says “America First! And to hell with the rest of the world. Those refugees are not our problem.” Yes, it’s all in the Bible somewhere.
Note to Art, the preceding is a joke.
ChacoKevy, Well, there’ll always be a Bolivia.
6. May 2016 at 09:11
Art, Why so serious? I dislike the Pope, so I certainly wouldn’t blame anyone for doing the same. I think you are like Harding and Christian, you have trouble with reading comprehension. This post was intended for entertainment, not edification.
You’re not entertaining. Give it up.
6. May 2016 at 09:34
“Don’t know the point of that long and inaccurate rant, but I’m sure it’s in there somewhere.”
The point is obvious: Latin America has “come out of the populist nightmare” many times before– every decade since the 1970s- and will keep doing it forever.
6. May 2016 at 09:37
“Well, there’ll always be a Bolivia.”
Which, populism and all, never has been in better shape (not a high bar, I know).
6. May 2016 at 11:05
“I’d counter it by noting that populism in Latin America actually refers to the rise of indigenous assertion in politics and point out that these countries (Bolivia and Ecuador, notably) have since seen GDP more than triple.”
Yeah, percentages get funny near the zero bound. Warren Buffets GDP is 7 times that of Bolivia.
Bolivia vs. Ditka.. Ditka!!
6. May 2016 at 17:38
“Yeah, percentages get funny near the zero bound.”
Except percentages never got that funny under neoliberal reforms plans. Unless economic collapse is funny.
7. May 2016 at 02:52
“Except percentages never got that funny under neoliberal reforms plans.”
Sure it did, several times. It happens when you print lots of currency against your GDP at the zero bound. Bolivia could look like freaking Norway, minus the tall people thing, of course…
“Except percentages never got that funny under neoliberal reforms plans. Unless economic collapse is funny.”
Thiago, when I read the news from your country I really don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Bolivia is just a cocoa farm sitting on gas that will never produce a Victoria Secret model, easily ignorable.
7. May 2016 at 02:54
oops.. coca not cocoa
7. May 2016 at 08:24
“Thiago, when I read the news from your country I really don’t know whether to laugh or cry.”
You should have read them 15 years ago when the neoliberal reforms crashed so badly the clowns currently in charge (who had lost every single national election they contested) started to be the best alternative avaiable. And you can’t compare a country that never fought a war of aggression to one that keeps preying upon the weak.
“Bolivia is just a cocoa farm sitting on gas that will never produce a Victoria Secret model, easily ignorable.”
I guess economic laws only work after a country succeeds at producing a Victoria Secret model. Maybe Bolivia should use the coca money to put a woman on the Victoria Secret catalogue before the decade ends.
“Sure it did, several times. It happens when you print lots of currency against your GDP at the zero bound.”
Except that inflation is under control right now and has been for the last decade at least. GDP growth has been read GDP growth. America could use some right now.
7. May 2016 at 09:13
“You should have read them 15 years ago when the neoliberal reforms crashed so badly”
I beg to differ. I remember reading David Rockefellers bio in which he commented on the fact that every time Brazil would get a bail out, the following day, the political leaders would show up in NYC with briefcases of cash. Your problem goes way beyond the quasi quasi attempt to partially quasi implement neo-liberal reforms. It’s the cultural acceptance of bad behavior. Being proud that your most well known city, very appropriately, has a malandro for its mascot.
7. May 2016 at 13:19
” beg to differ. I remember reading David Rockefellers bio in which he commented on the fact that every time Brazil would get a bail out, the following day, the political leaders would show up in NYC with briefcases of cash.”
It may have happened in the 70’s and 80’s when Rockefeeler was chairman and the Brazil was under a brutal pro-American dictatorship, but surely not since then.
“Your problem goes way beyond the quasi quasi attempt to partially quasi implement neo-liberal reforms. It’s the cultural acceptance of bad behavior.”
I see, there is no cause and effect in this world. Unemployment rates soared and real growth faltered as soon as the reforms started, but it is to be blamed on something that was always there. Well thanks God you are not a lab mouse, otherwise you would never escape the labyrinth.
” Being proud that your most well known city, very appropriately, has a malandro for its mascot.”
Maybe you are talking of Jesus Christ’s statue (Christ the Redeemer). Or maybe you are thinking of Joe Carioca, which is an American creation. Or maybe you just don’t know what you are talking about.
Again you can’t compare a country that preys on the weak to one that neve, ever fought a war of aggression because its moral standards are too high.
8. May 2016 at 02:57
“Maybe you are talking of Jesus Christ’s statue”…
I forgot about the statue. Is this it??
http://salveamalandragem.blogspot.com.br/2013/04/linha-de-malandros-ou-linha-de-ze.html
“It may have happened in the 70’s and 80’s when Rockefeeler was chairman and the Brazil was under a brutal pro-American dictatorship, but surely not since then.”
Yeah, they switched the theft part to Switzerland, and apparently privatized brutality and sold it off to the pivetinhos and marginals who really raised the efficiency to global record levels.
“a country that preys on the weak”
You mean like giving people with a kindergarten level of education R$75 a month to get their vote so that you can steal Billions. In all fairness, I do wish America kept to their own business a little more than they do, but counterpoint is every time they don’t step in, they get criticized for that as well. It’s a lose-lose.
8. May 2016 at 05:11
I must confess I had never heard of this spiritual being (Zé Pelintra) before. It is somewhat funny that you are more familiar with an African-Brazilian entity worshipped by a cult that ranks in importance with the Westboro Baptist Church than with, you know, Jesus Christ and his big statue. It probably tells more about you than about Brazilians though.
“Yeah, they switched the theft part to Switzerland, and apparently privatized brutality and sold it off to the pivetinhos and marginals who really raised the efficiency to global record levels.”
Quite the opposite. Real corruption, as opposed to anti-Brazilian propaganda, is rare in Brazil. This is exactly why it causes such commotion. The House speaker was removed for not dclaring his Swiss accounts. To quote Mr. Goldwater, “Now, certainly, simple honesty is not too much to demand of men in government. We find it in most. Republicans demand it from everyone. They demand it from everyone no matter how exalted or protected his position might be.” So do Brazilians. This is why the House Speaker was removed, this is why the president is being impeached (in fact, she was caught in a technicality– the investigations concerning her involviment in corruption are still ongoing), this is why the Senate president is under federal investigation and this is why the vice president’s donors are being investigated. This is why bankers, big civil engineering companies’ CEOs and former ministers are jailed. Some of them may be innocent, some certainly are guilty, and it is the justice system’s duty tell them apart. You just can’t compare a country which is ready to leave no stone unturned in its search for justice to a country ready to accept sheepishly whatever its rulers throw at it. Our presidents don´t sell presidential pardons. We don’t need protest candidates to express a loss of faith in democracy and the existing political parties.
“You mean like giving people with a kindergarten level of education R$75 a month to get their vote so that you can steal Billions. In all fairness, I do wish America kept to their own business a little more than they do, but counterpoint is every time they don’t step in, they get criticized for that as well. It’s a lose-lose.”
Poor Fascists, the world begs for their carpet bombing…
8. May 2016 at 09:20
Art,
The Vatican press office circa 387 maybe. Poor Francis sounds a lot like the early fathers and doctors of the church to me. It is today’s “conservative” Catholics that are deviating from the original message. They are the modern day Pharisees.
8. May 2016 at 14:53
Poor Francis sounds a lot like the early fathers and doctors of the church to me.
Francis sounds like St. Augustine and St. Jerome? If it helps you feel better, I suppose that will have to do. There is no truth to it.
9. May 2016 at 03:52
Yeah, Augustine toed a harder line on divorce, not disputing that.
However, compare Francis’ teachings to those of Polycarp (what we know of at least), Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Basil, John Chrysostom, Thomas Aquinas, Francis of Assisi, etc.
If you ask me it’s the Ross Douthat types (note even he doesn’t like Trump btw) that sound more like the elder brother and less like Jesus.
More recent, consider even Benedict XVI (a conservative Catholics Pope)…
“If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation,” he boldly wrote: “Can we remain indifferent before the problems associated with such realities as climate change, desertification, the deterioration and loss of productivity in vast agricultural areas, the pollution of rivers and aquifers, the loss of biodiversity, the increase of natural catastrophes and the deforestation of equatorial and tropical regions?”
“It is alarming to see hotbeds of tension and conflict caused by growing instances of inequality between rich and poor, by the prevalence of a selfish and individualistic mindset which also finds expression in an unregulated financial capitalism.” – 2010 World Day of Peace Message
“Love — caritas — is an extraordinary force which leads people to opt for courageous and generous engagement in the field of justice and peace. … Charity is at the heart of the church’s social doctrine.” – Caritas in Veritate
9. May 2016 at 12:25
Wikipedia has a long entry on Duterte and he sounds great. Mayor of Davao for 20+ years. Spent 8 years as a govt prosecutor before that. Turned Davao from a crime den into one of the safest cities in Asia.
What’s not to like? If your problem is crime, the answer is to go after criminals in ways that deter their behavior. Which Duterte did. What is the problem here?
9. May 2016 at 12:30
Here’s Jim on Duterte. His argument is that western cops focus heavily on preventing vigilante resistance to violence committed by minorities, a condition he calls anarcho-tyranny. Whereas the proper response is to crack down hard on crime regardless of who does it.
http://blog.jim.com/politics/duerte-harry/