It Says It All...China Trumps America

I just wrote a rather biting post about the irony of a crippled America ravaged by its very own neoconservative, 'free' market dogma. I think I proved my point...

And then I came across this brilliant cartoon that so blithely illustrates just how much the US of A has allowed itself to be screwed most royally by that Empire-in-the-Making, the People's Republic of China...



It really does say it all...

RAVE: Chopsticks Made in America!

I came across such an interesting little article a few days ago. Simply: it detailed 10 products still made in the United States of America. The link: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-American-Industries-Still-minyanville-2666915551.html



For a country in such interminable industrial and manufacturing decline, not to mention teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, it was a very sobering read.

A once great nation built on an economy that made things, all types of things, and was damn proud of that too - well, how very little it has to show for itself today. The list of '10 Products Made in America' is depressing - socks, sparklers, compact discs, ironing boards and pencils - yip, American industry has much to be proud of.

Well, I have to admit - I actually found myself laughing. Laughing quite loudly in that knowing, Machiavellian way of someone proven right, if I may say so myself.

Oh, America! You, the country that foisted the dogma of 'free trade' and globalization and cheap labour upon the rest of us like some cheap, tacky religion, are now yourself living proof of why what you preached was so pathetic, so hollow, so self-serving and, ultimately, your own economic harakiri.

My personal favourite? The fact that the biggest maker of chopsticks in the world today is...yip, an American company! It's biggest market? China, of course. 

The irony is so rich, it's almost unreal...

You had it coming to you, America, I'm sorry to say. And what a pity that is.

Do you get my point?

RAVE: Thank You, Jane

I recently had one of the biggest pleasures of my life to date: I got the opportunity to see Jane Goodall speak in person.



Well, to be very honest, it was already a few weeks back that I had the honour and the privilege to sit and listen to this remarkable lady, as she wooed an audience of a few hundred at a Dinner with Jane, the wondrous Champion of the Chimpanzee, at the Sandton Sun here in Johannesburg.

Yes, it was already a few weeks ago now. I confess. That is how long it has taken me to process just what an effect this small lady of 77 years of age had on me that night.

I was struck by so many things that night:

• Her soft-spoken, lilting voice, that held an entire audience in the palm of her hand
• Her humour, her grace, her insight
• Her astounding, simple wisdom
• Chimpanzees at Gombe her life, and now still tirelessly travelling the world with new projects of hope
• A wonderful project called Roots & Shoots that trusts in the best - the young
• Her commitment, which is total, and continues unwavering
• Her belief in nature, the environment, the youth, the human spirit, in us

It was a defining moment in my life. That much I know. She made me reflect a lot on what she has accomplished, and how little I have in comparison. I wasn't crushed by that nor did it sadden me. It was a simple realization about too many compromises made that I can only hope will embolden me in time to come.

And that was the least of it, if that can be understood.

It was very humbling. And very, very inspiring.

I was profoundly moved by Miss Goodall. And I shall be forever grateful for that.

Thank you so very much, Jane.

RANT: Unemployed Need Not Apply

More than a month has passed since my last post. The month of August has passed in a flash, with more than enough news and tidbits to pique my interest and (for the most part) scandalize or upset me no end...

My inertia can only be put down to a hibernation borne by a particularly long and often quite cold winter (well, at least by southern African standards)...

That, and being a lazy bastard with my writing.

Some news stuck with me, however. A headline discussed on RT and the Keiser Report earlier this month still continues to play on my mind and irk me like few headlines have done this year. It's a byline that has reportedly become quite common in job postings in the recession-ravaged USA and shows to what putrid lows casino capitalism has sunk:

Unemployed Need Not Apply

Uh huh. And how exactly are people who are unemployed supposed to ever get their lives back on track if their current reality is a de facto disqualification from even applying for a job?!

Unbelievable. Incredulous, angered...and even a little stunned is how I felt knowing that this is how bad an economic downturn can get. And how capitalism (or what's left of it today) can 'justify' its actions.

The various machinations of just how bad, how VERY BAD this little paradigm shift in corporate oxymoronic thinking really is boggled my mind then. And continue to boggle my mind all these weeks later.

Do you get my point?