An expression of Disgust

We are where we are.

We did not get to choose where we are born into; neither did we get to choose who our parent will be nor their socio economic and moral, ethical standings' in any given society. But in this country, that parentage molds us to be who the leaders think we should be. 

We are defined by our race and religion.

And indirectly we will be who they think we are, growing up in the mold mentioned above but mostly We think we are basically individuals with no say in the running of our larger Family i.e our country. 

This is because we are trained from young to just follow orders and obey the general consensus. Nothing wrong in that (in absolute individualistic terms) and we are told from the very beginning that along a Schumacherian vein, the small man in his small house can be as happy as the big man in his mansion because, at any one time, both can only be in one place respectively so that in each instantaneous moment, the calculus of personal satisfaction is just a single-variable function of the personal philosophy of life.

This too, I do not doubt.

For, the happiness of the big man testing out every square foot of his mansion cannot be multiples bigger than the happiness of the small man standing in his meager lot because the happiness of either is only realized at each single place at any one time. Having two hand-phones does not enable one to conduct two conversations at the same time. 

Man is made for solitary singularity but can only survive in multiple pluralities.

It could be half the problems of the world are caused by forgetting there are limitations to everything. And the other half must have been caused by thinking there is no limitation to anything. People with money and power always forget this to their own detriment but unfortunately the time that passes between lessons for this group of people often means years of suffering to the common man.

That's why we have the middle class.

In the middle. Fence sitters . I take care my own business kinda people.  But mostly they consist of creative people.

A creative class normally will inspire the middle class to move forward in life and comfort zones..
A creative class is made up of highly educated and independent-minded individuals making their living by creatively solving complex problems.

The country I live in doesn’t have a creative class. We are a consumiming nation made of of enterprising businessmen.The entrepreneurs we have are people who burrow their way through red tape, borrow their way to finance their enterprise and barrow their loads in daily grinds to make an extra buck for tomorrow's dream.

They don't solve complex problems of the world. Because they were not given much of an education of any differentiating  standard. So they don't know what is needed to become classy creative’s.

They only compensate by trying to be independent-minded. But being so without an ecosystem to germinate ideas or share resources or create new uses and designs or solve hardy and tricky problems will not yield great solutions, for that matter the breakthroughs that world markets of worth demand in common pursuit of real improvements.

The people of the creative class are the people who will start the new industries that will push growth and create opportunities for the people of the middle class to rise up another notch.

Affordability and mobility are this century's pillars of the earth.

And , people will always want to improve.  But improvements cost money and thus inflation creeps in and Prices will always go up.

This is where able administration of the nations finances becomes one of the crux of a better future for the generation here today and the generations to come in the future.

If income disposed to buy improvements is static as in the case for most wage-earning middle income earners, then they will become poorer- as defined by increasing inability to buy what they want, let alone need.

What is galling in our case has been the false sense of comfort created by distorting our economic performance through subsidization from the very beginning.

This sense of performing well lulled too many into thinking we are competitive in the world market to which our economy and livelihoods are linked.

As subsidies get shaved off one by one, reality sets in because the life-support system in the earlier years is now unplugged when the patient has yet to be able to ventilate his own lungs  and predicated on this untimely economic move has been the loss of our Malaysian currency value vis-a-vis  the world’s currency basket; the global inflationary movement due to Quantitative easing conducted by the US Fed, Japanese Govt & Bank of China.... which causes the HOT MONEY created to seek interest paying markets... as opposed to their own markets which DO NOT pay interest.

To the false performance caused by ignoring our costs being subsidized, must also be added the false benefits of privatization which in our case has only served to socialize costs but privatize profits to the benefit of those close to the administarion.

And the effects of false privatization have in turn been magnified by unseemly spending of enormous amounts of public funds to no accountable effect for public good.

Meanwhile we forget a country can only be sustained in its development by the same thing needed to sustain the propagation of families ie proper planning, proper administration of cashflow and a concerted vision towards a combined better future….. for all races and citizens.

And unfortunately in this country,the obvious problems of the bumbling middle class :) is that of stagnanting incomes (except those in speculative activities such as the stock market or the property market and some would even say the financial services including banking) in the face of rising cost of living.

As in any country- big or small, First, people come together and get attracted with each other. Then biology takes over and some more are created. A sense of responsibility replaces both happy and go lucky, individual first feelings. Roots are sowed  marriage is perceived and families are born and then the great dailygrind begins. Along the way, the drama of life unfolds. Ups and downs;  round and round. Then mid way,we stock take and wonder why and where its all heading. Finally the curtain drops as things slow down to peter to a stop.

If the administration is run well, the principles of life and the discipline of conduct will see all through whatever the challenges and tribulations inevitable to come.

If otherwise, the administrator’s pilih kasih, the commitment of its citizens will break, people will go do their own thing, and the family will lose its identity, direction and role as anchor and safe harbor.

In short,the roof over our combines heads will be blown away. 

This is the end result of both bad leadership and unethical conceptual planning.

That's why we have submarines that cannot sink, stadiums that have their structural beams collapsing under the weight of screaming football fans & ceilings in public hospitals fall down three months after completion these days.