P.S. Asian-style Democracy For The Asian Century, Part 1

Recent surveys again showed that the most transparent developed economies in the world are Hongkong & Singapore. They are also among the wealthiest per capita in the world (the world's richest is Qatar at almost $100,000 GNP per capita). A country should be democratic in the Western mold  to really excel, so goes Western propaganda, right? Alas, just like Qatar, both cities are labeled as not quite democratic: Singapore for being allegedly a "managed" democracy, Hongkong for allegedly being under the thumb of China. China is supposed to be undemocratic but it is now the banker of the supposed bastion of democracy, the supposed to be wealthiest but actually terminally highly-indebted US. So, how come these "undemocratic " countries are excelling while the "democratic" ones are declining?

The Philippines is supposed to be a bastion of democracy in Asia but despite its democratic pretensions, it has been left behind by most of its neighbors. I still have to read any account from any of our neighbors where they look up at us, extolling our adherence to Western ,democracy. More likely they look down on us because they've left us behind. The proof of the pudding is how poor you are after all the years of "Western-style democratic" daydreaming.

30 years after the ousting of supposed dictator Marcos, have the Filipinos really felt a big difference in the freedom that they enjoy in their personal lives? Is there freedom in widespread poverty? Freedom of the press? How could there be freedom of the press when you just transferred control from one puppetmaster to another? The most ridiculous of all, the same faces and gimmicks in politics remained. So was the same poverty and low respect to Filipinos as the word "Filipina" came to mean "maid" in Europe. 30 years after Marcos, it is still is, but no longer just in Europe but nearly throughout the world.

 And the Filipino, still poor and not respected, should be happy just because it fought for "Western-style" democracy?

Actually, most Filipinos would have preferred a Lee Kuan Yu than any of our democratically elected Presidents. More than gloating about Western democracy, we want to keep in step with the progress of our neighbors. One by one, they zoomed in front of us, and they did not have to fool themselves that they needed Western democracy to achieve success. It came to the point that the wealthiest country on earth is now a neighbor. And wonder of wonders, it is not an adherent of Western democracy either..

Our neighbors also had corruption but still they zoomed ahead. Could it be we played so much the game of disrupting our national systems whenever the bogey of political manipulations was stirred by rabble-rousers who seemed to materialize out of nowhere, curiously screaming democracy every time as if most common Filipinos even care ( Corruption is the favorite "rallying cry" though corruption is still with us up no now. )? Above are the seeds of the now famous "People Power" covert operations which have lately came to mean  "regime change" in a sovereign country, subverting democratically elected governments, most commonly implemented by the very same countries which are now unmasked as hypocritical icons of democracy. Are they actually espousing their type of democracy so they can easily manipulate other countries and inflict them their extortionist rackets? In Ukraine, Western leaders were shamelessly intervening in Kiev itself, and considering that these countries are up to their necks with debts, where did they even find the gall to stir an almost bankrupt country which they won't be able to help adequately anyway unless they imposed their usual "loan sharking" rackets which have victimized so many countries in the past including the Philippines? Isn't it curious that "corruption" was also  the main  theme of the script of the recent Ukraine "regime change", same as that of EDSA and in the other phony "People Power" revolutions -it had the same climax, the public opening of  the Presidential palace in Kiev  a la Malacanang & voila, the hidden wealth was for all to see (what, no Imelda's thousand shoes?) Did they check the gold reserves in Kiev, Marcos was reported to have lost 63,000 metric tons of Gold from the "extortions" of the CIA during the EDSA Revolution, as narrated in a book by David Guyatt, "Secret Gold Treaty".

Is democracy just one kind- the Western one which didn't prevent the Western nations to now decline?

The start of the Asian Century means we should find our bearings in our region, now the engine of the world. Time to write a better Asian plot and leave behind the baggage and delusions left us by previous Western occupations. We'll remain patronized suckers there. It doesn't have to be the Western type of pretension still. Curious, we developed many of the supposed rights without the political mantras which have poisoned the social atmosphere of the socially and economically regressing Western countries (we rate one of the highest in the women & sexual minorities development indexes in the world though we don't have disruptive feminist or sexual minority  movements). The outdated Western political spectrum from Left to Right has exhausted its possibilities as it's been obvious that politics under that setup were easily captured by  cold private capitalist interests, manipulated at both ends,both funded to produce the intended result, paying lip service to the people as their main business at hand. Ask the dissipating middle classes of America.

Lee Kuan Yew's style was similar to the present Confucian evolution of originally Western socialistic theories in China. That type of Socialism was for the consumption of  innocent Asians at that particular moment in  time, it's just right that the Chinese are now calling their evolution as Confucianist and regain their real selves in the process .  The Asian Century doesn't require that the previous outdated Western concepts are still relevant.  As China consolidates its  wealth and power, we see there the justification for its own principles. Most importantly, they worked. How can we forget what Japanese Prime Minister said about "obligation"? Is it any wonder that though Japan is highly leveraged, it is in a much better shape than the US because, like China, it has surplus money  and if ever it has big debts, 80% is to its own people, a people known for their deep sense of obligation so they will "stick" come what may. Money is created from nothing as long as you can sucker anybody to believe it is money. That has been the gist of the Mafia gimmicks of the gangsters who took over the free people of America (they were not above using terrorism like "People Power" covert operations, the hypocritical variant, to intimidate other nations to accept that their nothing was money). The creation of money out of nothing  must rely less on Mafia extortionary tricks for the gentler people of Asia.

No need to be distracted by current intramurals like the territorial disputes. A $30 trillion economy in 20 years just across the China Sea is a bigger market than anywhere else. The realization that real wealth is already produced here will erase all the persistent political dynamics left behind by the fading system, even the so-called Filipino "colonial" mentality. We tend to automatically readjust to the new richest neighbor in our neighborhoods.  It's obvious one doesn't need Western-style democracy to get rich. Most of the wealth for investments already come from within the region anyway, it will ultimately be demented to rely on the usual poseurs and their terrorism and racketeering schemes. The Philippines needs to find new models, time to think out of the box and ditch the old useless tactics.

We'll flesh out our vision of Asian-type Democracy in future posts.


NOTE: This isn't even about Nationalism, it's simply practical economics and politics.


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Black Humor: Terminal Desperation In The Early Days of the Asian Century

In the dawning of a new era in Asia, & the world, it would be foolish not to expect a caveat: we're seeing it now. In Ukraine (where the Foreign Ministers of EU countries themselves were part of an attempted coup d'etat, so it was both sides of the Atlantic working), Venezuela (after failing with Hugo Chavez, they are still trying it with the new President, same tactics), Turkey (Erdogan wisely crushed the mercenary demonstrators immediately unlike the smart-aleck Yanukovitch, but also "agreed" to buy $3.5 billion Sikorsky helicopters, playing on the "weakness' of the gangsters), etc. Don't be fooled by the gore: the trick with contrived revolutions is don't blink (Yanukovitch enjoyed so much his game of playing the EU vs. Russia that he now doesn't have any recourse but to run to the Russians). These rear guard maneuvers are just that: doomed attempts to forestall the inevitable.

There's only one point why it is over: the fact that big financial institutions supporting the present world capitalist system have been found to be manipulating the very basis of financial transactions all over the world but were only tapped on the wrist with fines & not incarcerated as they should have been. The very basis of the system is crime. It only ensured that the fading system was run by virtual criminals. Where then would their pretensions to democracy & justice, the justification for a holier-than-thou posturing in ruling the world,  come from if the system was kept alive by criminals? The crime was endemic actually: the subversion of sovereignity of nations as the current rear guard maneuvers have shown, were part of the crime narrative that was underpinning the previous dominant system.

The old system is only expected to plod by the perpetuation of more crimes. Having lost the moral pretensions altogether, it's only expected the world will get tired laughing at the mischievous antics of a naughty child. Because the aggravation has started to affect everybody: the US Fed is already the biggest debt holder of the $17 trillion US government debt because nobody wants to buy it anymore. And while its propaganda machine is all awash with reports that the US taper has affected badly the emerging economies (hilariously, even including China), the fact is that that won't save the moribund US economy either: it is highly indebted and merely subsisting on money-printing, losing control in the process of a wide swath of the world economy to the newcomers. Moreover, the China-Russia partnership ensured the creation of a worthy counterweight: the money & market of China combined with the natural-resources/military of Russia just will help ensure the security of a nascent world.

The contrived appearance of the Dalai Lama in the White House was part of the script to include China in the current rear guard maneuvers. Cute, no?

This is how they are doing the deception in Venezuela.From Globalresearch.ca, taken from Dawgs blog, link below.

Constructing the Deception of the Anti-Government “Protests” in Venezuela: A Photo Gallery

By Dawgs Blog

Global Research, February 17, 2014

Dawg's Blog 16 February 2014

The polarized politics of Venezuela are again in the news as demonstrations by pro- (see the first photograph below) and anti-government forces are taking place, with, at this point, four deaths: a government supporter; an opposition demonstrator; a police officer; and one of uncertain provenance.

Minor Comedy in the Early Days of the Asian Century

All over but the shouting? Somehow, you know a leaf has turned. Asian Century it already is. Like in the old system of smokes and mirrors, the usual can still scream and pretend as if still old days (the prestitute media that we now know nobody reads are still in life support, somehow), but sooner or later, one will wake up in a dawn of exhausted screams fast fading in an indifferent echoing chamber. The credibility gap finally caught up. The last echo was the last-ditch attempt to crow about the  "effects" of the contrived narrative of alleged emerging countries-dominoes which were supposed to "fall" as the US Fed untapered the "hot money" (which were already discounted beforehand  by the more  discerning ones). This is seen by credible quarters as the last card of the highly-indebted to still brandish its supposed "clout", but its obvious, it has not wrought the desired effects  ('lessons" they were called in the old times). There were a few minor devaluations (part of a general ruse to sidestep a dying fiat currency), but despite the usual destabilization from the usual NGO's, the now hackneyed script finally broke down and, almost hilariously, nobody found themselves really "falling". None was ready to offer their ass again this time. The fact is, everybody  already had their own plans to unload the worthless fiat all along & defending themselves with the usual prescription will only deepen themselves mired in outdated discredited claws. Fortunately, taking the light punches for now (perhaps for the last time) will mean liberation in the end.

Amusing that at the end stage, some of the so-called "alternative" American press sold out. They were still free with their criticisms of what's wrong with the US economy, but (too apparent now as "trade-off" for something), they also became  stringent in singing the prepared operetta of the "failing" emerging economies refrain. Lately, even after a series of laughable duds, they became strident in including China with stories that were even rehashed everyday as if they were so anxious that their "paymaster" would find their knack for propaganda lacking. There you go, the loss of credibility became total. It only opened eyes to the desperation.

I actually think, America will be better off without the so-called gangsters running its empire, especially the financial section (the current "drama" of actually attempting, no matter if it turned out ineffective, to create emerging-market dominoes is proof of the malignancy of this one), and the political operators. The latter are just as malignant. But at least, they know how to entertain. Recently, there was a rash of Keystone cops operations, and the most hilarious came out of Ukraine. The latest bumbling just gave the world a peep on how to go about planning a regime change. Fuck you, Eu!

If ever you're curious what goes on behind a "People Power" covert operation, watch this.

In flagrante

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Anyway, better days are ahead in America, finally. It will be a real Land of the Free again just like in the early days of the union. Thanks to the Asian Century.

LIGHT MOMENTS FOR THE NEW YEAR (WELCOME TO THE ASIAN CENTURY): It's The Gold, Stupid!

"People Power" is really dead, it has become a farce and stopped being a legitimate vehicle for people's aspirations. This becomes obvious as we are witnessing a wide array of rear guard maneuvers to forestall the inevitable collapse of the usual, all using "People Power" as ruse. That something is struggling is palpable- the Forbes Magazine "authoritative" article-cum-China disinformation that the People's Bank of China suspended remittances (Forbes promptly removed the post afterwards, merely eliciting laughs) was apparently timed to include China in the contrived "narrative"of emerging countries allegedly experiencing the "ill" effects of the start of the Fed QE taper (allegedly, money are now returning for safety in the US where, hilariously, everybody is actually predicting the mother of bubble burst which might just occur any moment now). But after the dud of the leak of a list of Chinese elite money offshore, a succession of duds exploded against the background of the usual destabilization dramas simultaneously flaring throughout the world- Brazil, Turkey, Ukraine, the Middle East, etc.(Not taken so seriously actually- a great help in the quest for truth was the loss of credibility of the mainstream presstitute media so the propaganda which was so effective in the past has become a joke today, leading to the present duds galore). The sudden flurry of events, unfortunately  bloody in parts (though purposedly, for maximum psywar), means only one thing: the climax is at hand. I would say the Asian Century has just arrived without us noticing it.

Follow the gold. The glitter shines through the clutter.

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts wrote an article which, if you're fast, just about explains everything. From Globalresearch.ca.

Naked Gold Shorts: The Inside Story of Gold Price Manipulation

 By Dr. Paul Craig Roberts and David Kranzler

The deregulation of the financial system during the Clinton and George W. Bush regimes had the predictable result: financial concentration and reckless behavior. A handful of banks grew so large that financial authorities declared them “too big to fail.” Removed from market discipline, the banks became wards of the government requiring massive creation of new money by the Federal Reserve in order to support through the policy of Quantitative Easing the prices of financial instruments on the banks’ balance sheets and in order to finance at low interest rates trillion dollar federal budget deficits associated with the long recession caused by the financial crisis.

LIGHT MOMENTS OF HISTORY: Bye Bye, "People Power"

In a way, it is lamentable because it is now really over the hill. Still, it was conceived in the Philippines after all. "People Power", I mean. Only it didn't leave the scene with fireworks but with resounding laughter.

The past few weeks have been a comedy of errors on the part of the EU in Ukraine after it was made clear once & fall by the Ukrainian President that gone were the days of its appeal and leverage so he rejected an Association Agreement with them. The "people power" hauled in from Western Ukraine (the poorest part of the country while the Russophone East, The Ukrainian President's bailiwick, is where the real wealth is) was the expected Western  "not-so-secret weapon", just like when they pressured Marcos to give 63,000 metric tons to the CIA during the first "People Power" test-run in Manila. Well, only the usual Western mainstream presstitute media & the NGO-mercenaries in Ukraine themselves were left interested in the topic this time around. The hapless Western Europeans, already saddled by prolonged economic depression and high unemployment rates with poor prospects of ever regaining their previous standard of living, were actually thankful of the prospects that  no Ukrainian can again steal their meager job options. However, the desperation wrought by a very public humiliation threw away decency from Western officials, both Western European and American, as they openly intervened in favor of their mercenaries. But can bullying arrest their dwindling influence? After all, the Ukraine episode has become the final confirmation of two game-changing facts: the loss of their financial muscle, and the consequent loss in their political power.

Well, the EU has its own "mysterious" mission order and it just played its last card after the ridiculous meddling of American Senator Eugene McCain in Kiev itself: the EU suspended the talks, apparently a move to "enrage" the "people power" more, but it's obvious, that would never resuscitate a dead elephant. The usual talk of sanctions and other "leverage" maneuvers were ominous in the past, but just add to the hilarity of the moment now. The EU, realizing its position just turned ridiculous with the presence of McCain, had no choice but to execute a last-ditch effort to save face: I imagine a ditched suitor saying: "No, it was not her who broke up with me, I broke up with her first!'

The Ukrainian President  has proved himself to be a worthy Poker player. However, at this point, he can discard the poker face and react freely instead to the punchline: time to laugh, baby!

Let them play. Nice comedy routine, EU (with special headstand tricks by McCain!).

People Power had its heyday, but people now are familiar with its tricks. It is now officially outdated.

COUNTDOWN TO THE ASIAN CENTURY: The New VIP's and Some Scheming "Dalahiras"

It turned out that the fatal flaw of Western-style democracy is that the most  logical choice for the good of a  country can easily be hijacked by a few simpleton section of its society, the latter being handily whipped up by domestic and foreign villains who are not necessarily mindful of their interests. Unfortunately, when brains were distributed, most didn't receive a sharp one (brains are more exclusive commodities than beauty, especially in Ukraine, the sexual playground of Europe). The case of the current Ukraine mass action is a very timely example. Their current contrived people power doesn't invite sympathy, much less solidarity, because it's obviously a mass of ignorant people who probably thought the world was like what some foreign-funded NGO's have hoodwinked them to imagine it to be (Which reminds me of the Philippine People Power which didn't really change the life of the Filipino except for more frequent recitation of the mantra "Democracy"- most Filipinos thought that meant a better life, but it really was only about 64,000 metric tons of gold being "extorted" from them). At its current state, the EU is swaying precariously beside a cliff, and not a few experts are predicting there are no guarantees it won't break up. It's obvious the major countries, highly indebted and gasping for air economically, are not exactly welcoming them wholeheartedly because of the unwanted  Eastern European migrants who flooded their labor markets earlier. The enthusiasm is obviously artificial: the EU authorities just recently warned they immediately needed nearly $3 trillion injection because of shortfalls from hard-up member countries so its obvious they're toying with the ignorant section of the Ukrainian populace who most probably didn't understand  the implications of their country's current flirting with bankruptcy.

But the real story isn't about the EU  because people power as a political destabilization weapon isn't their specialty. That there were sudden petitions for American help right in the White House website were the proof that foreign destabilization is at work here. The dark intention was not hidden, that's part of the given in this kind of political weapon- telegraph the intent for psy-war effects. Unfortunately, the world has changed recently without the usual fanfare: the effect now is actually comedic. The main problem of Ukraine is economic, it needed money but the IMF couldn't force its usual extortionist tricks. The Ukrainian President didn't only reject the IMF offer, and since the Western Europeans are just as hard up (and highly-indebted America neither had the money), he also rejected the EU itself for a better deal with the cash-flushed Russia. The Western media disinformation tried to make this appear as a fight for the West and their alleged values, but the drama is actually just a proof of the changing dynamics in the world.

If you're hard up and can't fight frontally with cash, the cheapest option is just to destabilize. In a neighborhood, one-upmanship is almost a given. The eclipsed lady in the corner, unable to come up with the money to shore up her pretensions, will try to spread gossip and intrigue instead to destroy the reputation of her newly-rich nemesis. The battle tactics of a broke "dalahira" or "intrigera". That's what the EU (and America) has been reduced to now. While before, when they clearly lorded economically over, these kinds of destabilization spread fear. But now, they have become hackneyed  and, viewed from the prism of a dawning Asian Century, strangely amusing.

Here's the joke: the other side thought they could dictate the terms as usual, but ironically, it strengthened the hand of Yanukovich instead. It will still be hard for the EU next time because it will still have no money and Ukraine will still be near bankruptcy. In the end, just as America's pivot to Asia will eventually realize-  power means actual, tangible money. Especially in Asia.

Welcome to the club of the New VIP's- only CASH admission here, please. Definitely no credit, especially to highly-indebted nations.


NB: (DEc 4, 2013)
It gets more amusing. His country is still on the brink of bankruptcy,  so, while some of his more ignorant countrymen were still  being conned to do a  "People Power" because they wanted to be associated with the supposed "rich" West (which they haven't fully appreciated has no money to help them & was precisely conning them to "revolt", paving the sneaking of the IMF magicians through the backdoor), President Yanukovich just embarked on a trip to seek help from where the real money is- China & Russia. If the real state of things is not still obvious to the most stupid sucker, I don't know what is. I didn't expect, the countdown towards the Asian Century would be hilarious...

LESSONS FOR THE ASIAN CENTURY: Presstitute 101

The biggest con game of the present Powers-that-be is the so-called free Western mainstream press. Well, as recent events steadily revealed the underlying putrefaction even of Western democracy itself, the credibility of the Western mainstream media is fast disintegrating into tatters. The coming Asian Century should strive to forge a less hypocritical media: this fading one leaves a disgusting taste to the mouth- it had the gall to present itself as authoritative and credible but it was just another racket from a gangster's bag of tricks after all. There are not really many Filipinos watching CNN or other foreign networks, and the few who do are educated enough to be suckered to swallow everything, but it's still tasteless to realize this racket continuing. I just hope Asians will have more self-respect to avoid it in the Asian Century.

That the Western mainstream press is an important part of the hegemonic structure over the world is just too evident with this piece. Below is a nice lesson on the anatomy of "presstitutes" from RT.

Ukraine & EU: Why some protestors are more equal than others

 Neil Clark 

One thing’s for sure: if you live in the US or Western Europe, and haven’t spent the last three days locked in a wardrobe, you’re probably well aware that protests against the Ukrainian government have been taking place in Kiev.
That’s because western news networks and media outlets are making sure that you know about them. ‘Tens of thousands rally in Kiev for closer EU ties’ the Washington Post posts this AP article . ‘Thousands protest Ukraine’s rejection of trade ties’ says the New York Times.
Leading western media outlets have not only have deemed the protests to be a major story, but their reporting makes it quite clear whose side they are on. Here‘s the New York Times talking about two of the protestors.
“For young people, the future is brighter with Europe,” said Maria Lyskenko, 20, a student, who stood with her friend, Alyona Zorina, also 20, holding a sign that said, “Europe = Future Ukraine. Ms. Zorina said that President Viktor F. Yanukovich was acting out of selfishness and self-interest in deciding not to sign an agreement with the European Union.
 In its report on the protests, CNN quotes a Mr David Kramer of ‘Freedom House’, described as ‘a US-based nongovernmental organization‘. "He (Yanukovych) has left his country vulnerable to Vladimir Putin's threats and pressure‘, Kramer told CNN. That will be Yanukovych's legacy if he doesn't reverse course."
It’s revealing to compare the highly sympathetic, high profile western coverage of the Ukrainian protests with the way other protests have been covered in recent years.