Category: political inheritance

Slavery, The West’s Crime

On By nalexIn America, political inheritance, slaveryLeave a comment

Slavery reparations are due from the West to countries where it stole labor and the lives of many to extract progress for itself.

Nothing short of a massive transfer of wealth from the developed to the underdeveloped world, and to the descendants of slavery and colonialism in the west, can heal the deep wounds inflicted.

We now enjoy the fruits of our forefathers. Is it not entirely logical that these fruits falling from trees planted from the purloined heritage should now recognise the enforced investment by the ancestors of one group of people to another? Or should the boundaries of an undeclared war be respected?

This is a difficult and divisive question but the answer depends on what your situation is vis a vis “The West”.

Slavery is a crime. War is a way to bury crimes. When a war happens in society rather than the battlefield, it is hard to know from the result, who indeed is the winner? Was the Cold War “won” by the collapse of the Soviet Union? How is that winning when now American Government domination of its culture is in the hands of the most wealthy. Will Trump now start to lash out with budgets at disasters or war provocations from North Korea? Or will he act like a surgeon and excise with exact and incisive negotiation, the exact words required to permanently solve the most dangerous problems in the world? Not so far.

The “we have excellent weapons” arguments only go so far before they result in escalation. But it worked for the slave masters who were our great-great-great-great-grandparents, possibly. One of the reasons for the Second Amendment is that it makes slavery less likely. One of the reasons for the First Amendment is it makes despotism less likely. The UK’s role in gathering slaves was not taught in English History at school. Not that I recall.

The British were involved and derived much wealth from the Slave Trade until it was made illegal in 1833 with “apprenticeships” an interim arrangement in which slavers were “compensated” with “20 million paid to the planters”.

Not many Slaves, the people who were harmed by slavery, remain as victims of the West’s social cannibalism. The descendants of slavery are now citizens proper and whether their lives have suffered or gained due to the upheavals of slavery, it is debatable, but the singular fact must remain, they have lives and share in the spoils of progress.

So are they owed a financial reparation for the crimes of our great great great great grandparents? I am not sure if that would make sense or even do good. But sure, why not? They bail out the slavery based banks so why not?

Slavery can never be fixed. It should not have been but it was. I think cases of reparation that hark back to the disadvantages present in 1833 are interesting, but it is a stretch to consider that it could be heard. But if they should, then, of course, the Justice system must hear such cases.

The one thing that the West could do however, without cost or pain, is to treat all citizens with absolute equality, no matter where they or their grandparents came from. That is something that America needs to do better. It is the very least we can do to repair the damage of Slavery. Treat each other right.

The British Disaster

On By nalexIn political inheritance, UK PoliticsLeave a comment

The British had a disaster in its political life. Although the leaving of the EU is the most traumatic and in my mind stupid decision, the respect for democratic choice should be honoured with more than an afterthought. There should be an examination of the vote and the lies told to the electorate and at some stage in the not too distant future, the nature of the decision should be revealed. For example: votes cast in PENCIL could be subject to doubt; inadequate margin for a constitutional change (a Brexit campaigner started a petition to ensure that REMAIN did not win by the narrow margin LEAVE won by, and 4.1 million signatures indicated dissatisfaction with the “result” being such a slender margin, and a decisive victory for REMAIN in Scotland brings the unity of the UK into question); complete falsehoods being told to the voting public; a committed campaign of anti-immigration propaganda; the departure of all the LEAVE campaigners including the laziest and most absurd politician in history, Nigel Farage.

No, the disaster is the one that has just ended. The era of David Cameron and George Osborne; the blaming of the previous more successful administration for anything that was wrong for the first five years of Cameron’s reign, followed by a year of bullying and condescending humour at the Ballot box during weekly self-congratulatory PMQs, an opposition that has become neurotic about the choice of leader by its grassroots.

We welcome Theresa May’s new administration with trepidation and justifiable fear. Anything is better than being lied to, but it is the sacking of the old school tie, the removal so far of the worst front bench under David Cameron that is to be celebrated: Michael Gove, George Osborne, Nicky Morgan, Jeremy Hunt, Micheal Whittingdale: ALL GONE.

Let us hope that Boris can grow up and apologise to the British for his lies. Let’s hope he can start to realise that our relationships with other countries matter. I have a sneaking suspicion that he has been with May all along, sick and tired of the antics of the previous administration that factually can be blamed for causing the near breakup of the United Kingdom.

Italian Left Lurch

On By nalexIn capitalism, Europe, political inheritance, political responsibility, PoliticsLeave a comment

Twenty five percent of the vote in Italy went to a party that want an exit from the EU and a return of the Lira. The Monetary Madness continues apace. When a country could inflate away its debts and then revalue again after it had cleared its path back to being an attractive place to spread into some of ones’ investment risks. As part of a common currency they can not con each other in this way – they have to borrow to cover the shortfalls that stem from corruption in the political class. Italy has rejected austerity but the 25% is not a protest vote. It is a game changer. It is a kick in the face of the EU. It may be fatal.

However, if the PIGS were to leave the EU, they could form their own trading bloc – one hopes they call it SPIG rather than PIGS or GIPS or the less pronounceable IGPS – they would then be able to inflate their way out of their primary problem, together.  And then they could then rejoin the EU as a block and create economic treaty zones, consider an example set of economic zones:

  • Central EU (Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg),
  • South EU (SPIG),
  • Eastern EU (on or adjoining the Eastern border),
  • Northern EU (Scandinavia, Denmark, Holland, UK)

Each part of the EU has an exchange rate balancer, so if they want to devalue, they can by negotiating revaluation elsewhere.  The four zones have floating exchange rate mechanisms with each other relative to capital value.  So any shift of liquidity between the zones has its economic effect.

Monetary conditions are created by a mechanism like the trading of bonds (not cash) between the Super Governments – here are a group of talented long range analysts can set the degree of valuation (this model may in effect be five currencies), the democratically preferred flavour of financial control and regulation levels that at least disallow fantastic risks with people’s pensions that maybe once paid off but now wear away at value.  Perhaps Super Governments have no other function.

Each bloc contributes to a common currency pool and sells bonds to it to maintain an economic state of relativity.  However something like that may or may not work it should be understood that the awareness of very different political system is required.

Europe without a central federal body probably leads to too many demands for regulation being imposed in the wrong markets as well as the more significant, in body count at least, the absence of regulations that would have prevented disasters evaporating vast tracts of wealth in an instant.  Such an ephemeral quality wealth can turn out to be. Protecting it irrationally may backfire.

The central purpose is to introduce long range capital increases where they are needed. The absence of any Government led stimulus or infrastructure corrections that long range planning needs to consider in its calculation of growth.  You can squeeze an orange once, but a healthy tree means more future oranges and you better have the infrastructure to squeeze them.    

“a far less great Britain struggling with a mere percentage of its economy left yet more people to employ and an inability of the state to collect fair taxes”

The apparent Tory creed of demanding tax fairness, while protecting the tax avoiders who support them, will seem shallow as the record shows a far less great Britain struggling with a mere percentage of its economy left yet more people to employ and an inability of the state to collect fair taxes means it stubbornly refuses to finance progress. Italy may serve to push the EU into progress and reform the lumbering beast.

Head of IMF says keep stimulus

On By nalexIn political inheritanceLeave a comment

When the head of the IMF speaks, the bankers sit up and listen. But is his advice going to be any more accurate than anyone else’s?

It is hard to continue to mount up the debts investing in stability when jobs replacing all those that have vanished from the economy seem to fail to appear again anywhere else.

Governments may not recognise it is not just stability of the institutions that exchange and invest funds but the intergenerational pause that may work out far more costly.

There is a tendency to inherit old political stances and watch polls, instead of knowing what you are doing and hanging on for dear life as your popularity finally rises toward the end of your term.

More… Change is necessary